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On February 28, 2018, more than 39 community leaders from the Shia and Sunni tribes in the districts of Balad and Dujail joined a press conference to announce the general principles supporting peaceful coexistence and stabilization in Yathrib subdistrict, which aim to find the best approaches and mechanisms to enhance stabilization, peace, and justice in Yathrib.
Tribal leaders, representatives of the federal government, and local government officials in Saladin committed to supporting the principles, which include, among others, supporting security agencies and the rule of law, supporting victims and preventing retaliation and collective punishments, and ensuring the realization of sustainable social cohesion in the area.
“This is a good example of collective and inclusive dialogue processes addressing social tensions and conflicts whereby all actors, including official and non-official, tribal, academic, civil society contributed to the dialogues. This agreement is an important output. However, the status is still fragile and in need of continued efforts to support the social cohesion efforts in Yathrib.” - Haider Al Ibrahimi, Executive Director – Sanad for Peacebuilding.
This agreement is the result of an outcome-driven dialogue intervention led and implemented by Sanad for Peacebuilding (Sanad), a non-governmental and nonprofit organization, which works to support peace, democracy and human rights, with support from UNDP’s Iraq Crises Response and Resilience Program (ICRRP) and funded by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) with funds from the Austrian Development Cooperation. This initiative included a set of dialogues and consultation sessions with tribal leaders, the central government, and the local government of Saladin governorate and Balad and Dujail districts.
These dialogues contributed by reaching a deeper understanding to address both the challenges and opportunities for achieving social cohesion after the return of displaced families. The dialogues were implemented and managed by Sanad’s strategic partner, the Network of Iraqi Facilitators (NIF).
“The inclusive dialogue approach adopted by Sanad encouraged the actors in the area to discuss critical and core issues related to tribal constitutions and norms, whereby the actors developed and agreed on number of principles that will contribute to putting Yathrib in lead position, committed to preventing retaliation and revenge, supporting compensation mechanisms, and forming local committees to arrange tribal compensation processes. Sanad and its partners will continue their support for enhancing local reconciliation and peaceful coexistence in the area to achieve the sustainable outcomes reached today.” Ammar Zakri – Program Manager, Sanad for Peacebuilding.
Participants:
- Over 39 tribal leaders from Dujail and Balad
- Representative from National Reconciliation Committees
- Members of Parliament
- Members of the local government
Sanad for Peacebuilding is a non‐governmental, non‐for‐profit organization, established in 2013 with support from the United States Institute of Peace (USIP Sanad works to build and strengthen peace, democracy and human rights in Iraq by providing support and technical expertise to civil society networks. Sanad is particularly supporting the Network of Iraqi Facilitators (NIF), and the Alliance of Iraqi Minorities (AIM).
These networks were developed by USIP and have primarily transitioned to be supported by Sanad. Sanad is governed by an independent board of directors, comprised of members with professional backgrounds in peacebuilding, civil society, rule of law, human rights, media, academia, and government. They also reflect the diversity of the Iraqi communities.
For more information, please visit our website www.sanad-iq.org
For further details on the press release, please contact:
Mr. Ammar Zakri, Program Manager, Sanad
ammar.zakri@sanad-iq.org
07702116258