Doha: (NHRC-International Intercontinental Hotel: 30/05/2010): At the conclusion of the Doha workshop, which lasted two days under the title of “ The Peaceful Resolution of Disputes and Democratic Transition”, a final statement was issued this afternoon.
The event was organised by the Qatar National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), the Arab Democracy Foundation (ADF) and the US and Canadian ministries of foreign affairs.
Some 110 participants from different Arab and African nations, called upon the governments to remove all restrictions on NGOs and human rights activists especially in the field of peaceful settlement of conflicts and democratic transition.
The workshop was held in the context of activities leading to the VII Civil community Future Forum, co-chaired by Qatar and Canada and due to be held in Doha in December. The communiqué was read out at the closing session by His Excellency NHRC President Dr. Ali Bin Smaikh al-Marri.
The final statement stressed that the peaceful resolution of conflicts and transition to democracy has acquired added significance in the Mideast region which is the world’s most conflict-infected, and at the same time least progressive in implementing democratic change.
Accordingly, the function’s three sub workshops stressed the need to involve civil society organizations, the Arab League and other regional organizations in the resolution of local conflicts-a concept that requires the removal of legislative and political obstacles hindering the proper participation by these organizations and their acceptance as active and major partners with governments in achieving national reconciliation.
The sub-workshops also reviewed a number of practical examples in more than one country where non governmental organizations were involved in the search for the resolution of local conflicts-particularly in Yemen, Lebanon, Morocco, Algeria, Sudan, Iraq, Bahrain Palestine and Somalia. Also reviewed were regional initiatives for the resolution of conflicts led by Qatar, which though variable, could serve as extremely valuable if seriously studied and analyzed.
At the end of the workshop, major recommendations, such as the establishment of a regional centre for research on “peaceful settlement of conflicts and democratic transition,” were closely reviewed so as to be submitted to the 7th Forum for the Future chaired by Qatar and Canada this year due to be held in Qatar in December.
The participants also stressed that as a mechanism, the peaceful resolution of conflicts is both a valid and civilized process that could not only extinguish armed conflicts but also facilitate a viable crisis management system to safeguard the region and protect it against sliding into violence.
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