Dialogue with Diaspora

The report presents an evaluation of the project “Dialogue with the Diaspora” undertaken by The Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue (NCPD), March 2012. The project consisted of a training course for 13 practitioners involved in peace and reconciliation work in Afghanistan, Iraqi Kurdistan, Bosnia HercegovinaHercegovina and people from the Diaspora living in Norway. The course was organised around the themes of identity and communication, dialogue, mediation, conflict solving, and the role of the Diaspora in peace building. Drawing on the accounts and feedback given by the participants, it is reasonable to conclude that the broad aims of this course have been achieved. The interviewees reported greater trust, self-confidence and more courage. Other important outcomes are better understanding of dialogue as an essential tool in for dealing with conflicts, and increased openness to learning about the background of the conflict situation. Still, there remains room for improvement in the area of developing of practice in the course. Likewise, it seems that there should be some changes in relation to strengthening the long-term cooperation and network among the participants and the NCPD