City Diplomacy

The Hague | 8 - 11 September, 2009

• Course introduction
• The experts
• Learning objectives
• The content
• Practical information
• Application Procedure
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In many places local governments, in close cooperation with local organisations, play or have played an important role in building bridges after conflicts and promoting a peaceful environment. As the government tier closest to the people they are in a unique position to contribute to conflict prevention and resolution. Unfortunately, they are not always able and willing to play this part. Foreign assistance to local governments can be very effective, if carried out well and with thorough preparation. If special care is not taken it also has the potential to do harm and exacerbate community tensions. 

In this highly participatory course, you will deepen your knowledge about the practice of local governments working in tense and violent environments and develop your skills to carry out conflict sensitive project planning, implementation and monitoring. Throughout the course your experiences will be central in our approach. You will attend lectures, analyse cases, watch video material and visit the Peace Palace. The experts will use your questions as input for their presentations and you will have ample opportunity to present cases, discuss issues and share insights.

Contributions come from practitioners and scholars with extensive experience in fragile states in various parts of the world: 

Joris Voorhoeve, former Dutch Minister of Defence, and currently Professor of International Safety Studies at the Netherlands Defence Academy (NLDA), Professor of International Organizations at Leiden University, and Member of the Council of State. 

Emmanuel Chorito (to be confirmed), Mayor of Harare, will share his experiences and give his view of municipal peace-building and reconstruction challenges and needs. 

Arne Musch, senior project manager Africa and Post Conflict Management at VNG International. Arne is the principal editor of the book City Diplomacy and is involved in regular project management work in Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan. 

Otto Stapel, interim manager at the municipality of Amsterdam, is an all-round expert in the field of public administration and local governance and specialised in participatory policy making. He has worked as local government advisor in a.o. Sudan, Afghanistan and Iraq. 

Naglaa Elhag, senior programme manager for IKV / Pax Christi. Naglaa did her studies in Sudan and at the Institute of Social Sciences in The Netherlands and has worked in many conflict areas. She is an experienced trainer in the do-no-harm approach for peace and conflict impact analysis and has organised these trainings for professionals in a.o. Kenya, Iraq and Lebanon.

The training course City Diplomacy aims to strengthen your capacity to engage in local peace-building and reconstruction efforts in fragile states. It helps you in: 

• Gaining insight into the practice and main challenges of local governments in fragile states;
• Identifying and understanding linkages between local governance and conflict;
• Applying relevant approaches and tools for project planning and management in tense and violent situations;
• Avoiding negative and encouraging positive impact of your project;
• Working together successfully with your municipal partners and other donors.

Furthermore, it aims to:

• Inspire and motivate you to come up with new, innovative ideas;
• Support networking and provide you with an opportunity to reflect on, seek advice and exchange experiences with colleagues.

Arrival day
During the first day, we will explore the various aspects of City Diplomacy. We will start with exchanging experiences, looking at linkages between projects and distilling questions to take forward in the course. Using insights from his work as a Minister of Defence and from recent scientific research, Joris Voorhoeve will discuss the importance of state building and the various parties involved in providing human security. Later in the afternoon, Arne Musch will take you to Sudan and Afghanistan, where he will present you with examples of governments creating sustainable results through various means, such as mediation, promoting dialogue, building mutual trust and delivering basic services.

Analysing the conflict
The second day you will work on developing your skills for conflict sensitive project planning. Naglaa Elhag, will introduce you to the do-no-harm approach for peace and conflict impact analysis. She will provide you with tools to systemise information about the situation of conflict and identify facts that are relevant for the planning of your project. In a stimulating account of his experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, Otto Stapel will share lessons learned about coping with sources of tension, as well as utilising local capacities for peace. In the discussion that follows, we will touch upon issues like selecting partners and beneficiaries for your projects and defining key project entry points.

Making an impact
Day 3 will focus on the concrete implementation of your projects. You will investigate the ways in which your projects interact with the conflict: how you can avoid negative, conflict-reinforcing impact and encourage positive, peace-building impact? An options game will help you think of practical solutions to dilemmas you come across. We will study recent experiences in building up capacities of local government in post-conflict situations and distil lessons for making a lasting contribution through your projects. In the afternoon, you will go on an excursion to the Peace Palace and learn about the international institutions it is home to and their role in conflict resolution and peace-building.

Working together successfully
In the fourth and last day the central theme will be working together effectively with your partners in the field. A mayor from sub-Sahara Africa will share his experience on peace-building and reconstruction and will give his opinion on what is needed to establish a successful partnership with your municipal partners. Furthermore, you will get the chance to establish valuable connections and discuss issues with experts from donor organisations during a network lunch. In a final exercise you will prepare an individual action plan that describes how you will use the lessons learned to enhance the positive impact of your project.

The course fee is € 1.860,- per person. This includes all training-related costs for four days, as well as drinks and meals, training materials and travel during the training.

If you would like to receive more information you can visit our website www.thehagueacademy.com or contact our programme manager Emmely Benschop at emmely.benschop@thehagueacademy.com or + 31 6 575 384 13.

Deadline for the application is 20 July 2009. Click here for more information about the application procedure and the online application form.

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