Update

SCGME Project Update

The Civil Society Working Group is planning to hold a meeting in November 1999 focusing on the topic of "New Challenges Facing Human Rights in the Middle East and North Africa," in partnership with the Malta Institute for Diplomacy. This program was generated in May 1998 by participants at the Fifth Consultative Meeting for Core Human Rights in the Middle East and North Africa held in Helsinki, Finland. The proposed meeting will likely focus on two topics: collective punishment and the rights of others (e.g., perceived enemies).

A Handbook for Citizens’ Rights, for use by Palestinian citizens and non-governmental organizations, will be published this fall. Its purpose is to outline, in an easy-to-understand manner, the rights presented in the Draft Law (1997), the Basic Law, the Palestinian Constitution (1987), and international covenants. Trainings will be developed to educate and promote citizens’ rights and responsibilities in their communities.

Development of an Arabic-language manual entitled Supporting NGO Growth and Effectiveness in the Middle East continues. Thirteen representatives from non-governmental organizations in the Arab world are creating this resource to help strengthen the management and operation of organizations. The manual will be published this fall and pilot workshops will be undertaken to utilize the manual to introduce practical guidelines and frameworks for NGOs.

The Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (LCHR), New York, has made available a document entitled Protecting Human Rights Defenders: An Analysis of the Newly Adopted Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. The Civil Society Working Group translated the document into Arabic and the LCHR published both versions together. To obtain a copy, contact the SCGME Regional Office in Amman.

The Conflict Resolution Group continues to work with the Palestinian Ministry of Justice to develop two court-annexed Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) pilot programs. The first three trips to the West Bank and Gaza have been extremely successful. The project team has now developed the program guidelines, selection criteria for program arbitrators, mediators, and staff, an intake book containing all relevant program forms, and a draft of the program’s evaluation component.

The Palestinian Legal Exchange Program (PLEX), begun in 1995 to educate Palestinian lawyers and judges in mediation and arbitration, is drawing to a close. The final set of training workshops took place at the end of August in the West Bank and Gaza.

In Gaza, our affiliate - the Palestinian Center for Helping to Resolve Community Disputes - has recently initiated two new pilot programs. The first offers telephone and face-to-face counseling and mediation services for family conflicts. The second new program provides a once-a-month forum for community members to gather and discuss, in a facilitated setting, important issues in the Palestinian community.

The Media Working Group, in partnership with the Center for World Dialogue, held a meeting on Cyprus in June to address the role that media plays in conflicts and peace-building. Editors, broadcast executives, on-air personalities, and other media professionals from the Middle East discussed ways in which they could better understand one another’s societies, improve communication, and contribute to the peaceful resolution of the region’s conflicts.

Two priority areas discussed were (1) working in one’s own media in one’s own country to promote the possibility of peace and reconciliation; and (2) strengthening professional journalism in the region. One medium proposed for facilitating these objectives is an Internet/fax forum to create opportunities for contact and exchange of information. Another priority area is development of media for the region’s youth. Journalist exchanges and the creation of a regional Internet-based news service were also discussed at the meeting.

In August, the Working Group brought a group of television, radio and print professionals from the region to the Seeds of Peace International Camp in the state of Maine, USA. For the past seven summers, Arab and Israeli youth have attended this camp with the goal of developing conflict resolution skills and friendships across borders. The week-long workshop brought together the media professionals and Arab and Israeli teenagers to train the youth in technical skills, and to produce programming and articles about the camp for distribution in the region. The group also explored program ideas that will address the need for coexistence and reconciliation-oriented programming for youth.

The Security Working Group is pursuing funding for several sub-groups proposed in April during its meeting in the Hague. The proposed groups are: (1) Iran-Gulf Relations, which would seek to consider the reintegration of Iran into the Gulf region, taking into account issues such as security arrangements and the islands dispute; (2) Israel-Palestine Final Status, which will consider issues pertaining to final status negotiations; and (3) Weapons of Mass Destruction, a group of Egyptians, Iranians and Israelis who will look into the stages necessary to create a weapons of mass destruction free-zone. In addition, a feasibility study for the creation of a regional security studies center will be done to assess the need and practicality of the creation of such an organization, including sources of funding.