Background

In a world where 50% of countries that have experienced conflict relapse into war, reconciliation – a concept that was until recently suspect in international policy circles – may prove to be the missing link in United Nations commitments to building peace. With a 60 year track record for reconciliation ‘on the ground’, increasingly Initiatives of Change (IofC) has sought to cross-pollinate these efforts internationally.

1991 saw the first of an annual series of conferences in Caux, Switzerland on the theme Regions in crisis, regions in recovery – learning from one another.

In 1996 (Caux’s 5Oth anniversary), an international symposium on the theme Agenda for Reconciliation took place in Caux, co-hosted by the National Institute for Research Advancement (NIRA) in Tokyo and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington DC. Many speakers of international repute referred to the need for preventative diplomacy – the work of reconciling parties before a conflict breaks out. Others stressed the increasing recognition of NGOs both in the process of ‘Track II Diplomacy’, as it is frequently called, and in providing insights not always available to diplomats or officials.

At a meeting in Strasbourg in March 1998, representatives of twelve countries decided to launch Agenda for Reconciliation (AfR) as a means to coordinate work of this kind and to serve as a link with – and make this experience available to – diplomats, governments, the UN, the European Union and other regional organizations.