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The Oslo Forum 2016 Meeting Report: Adapting to a new conflict landscape

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This year’s Oslo Forum, which took place between the 14-15 June, was attended by around 100 prominent mediators, peace process actors and high-level decision-makers. The report from this meeting, which is released today, summarises the discussions during the event.

Participants at the 2016 Oslo Forum included John F. Kerry, United States Secretary of State; Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; Mohammad Javad Zarif, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran; Micheline Calmy-Rey, former President of the Swiss Confederation; Jan K. Eliasson, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General; Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court; Mo Ibrahim, Founder and Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation; Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs; as well as the Foreign Ministers of Lebanon, Mongolia and New Zealand.

During the Forum, guests shared practical experiences and engaged in lively exchanges on current peacemaking practice and trends. The overarching theme of the event was ‘Adapting to a new conflict landscape’, reflecting the emergent challenges mediators face in responding to the changing face of conflict. The highlights of the retreat included a keynote address by the US Secretary of State on current international peacemaking challenges around the world, and a discussion between the High Representative of the European Union and the Iranian and Norwegian Ministers of Foreign Affairs on the prospects for peace in the Middle East and North Africa.

Other topics covered during the event included opportunities for a political accommodation in Afghanistan; negotiations to end the Colombian civil war; peace talks on the Yemen conflict; challenges relating to the Libyan Political Agreement; mediation efforts in Cyprus; and lessons learned from ceasefire agreements in a number of conflict contexts.

The Oslo Forum Series is co-hosted by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) and the Norwegian Government. It includes an annual international gathering in Oslo as well as regional events in Asia and Africa. These events provide mediators and peace process actors with a unique opportunity to share their experiences, test new ideas, and craft innovative solutions to some of the complex problems they face.

HD wishes to express its gratitude to the Norwegian Government for its support for, and commitment to, the Oslo Forum.