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The Oslo Forum 2017 Meeting Report: Peacemaking in a new era of geopolitics

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Improving the mediation of armed conflict

A global series of mediation retreats

The Oslo Forum is widely acknowledged as the leading international network of conflict mediation practitioners. Co-hosted by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Oslo Forum regularly convenes conflict mediators, high-level decision-makers and key peace process actors in a series of informal and discreet retreats.

The Oslo Forum features an annual global event in Oslo and is complemented by regional retreats in Africa and Asia. The aim is to improve the practice of conflict mediation through facilitating open exchange and reflection across institutional and conceptual divides, providing informal networking opportunities that encourage coordination and cooperation when needed, and allowing space for conflict parties to advance their negotiations.

Sharing experiences and insights

Mediation is increasingly seen as an effective means of resolving armed conflicts, and the growing number of actors involved in its practice testifies to its emergence as a distinct field of international diplomacy. The pressured working environment of mediation rarely provides opportunities for reflection. Given the immense challenges in bringing about sustainable negotiated solutions to violent conflicts, mediators benefit from looking beyond their own particular experiences for inspiration, lessons and support.

The uniquely informal and discreet retreats of the Oslo Forum series facilitate a frank and open exchange of insights by those working to bring warring parties together. By convening key actors from the United Nations, regional organisations and governments, as well as private organisations and prominent peacemakers, the retreats also provide a unique networking opportunity.

Where politics meets practice Participation is by invitation only. Sessions take the form of closed-door discussions, and adhere to the Chatham House Rule of non-attribution. Sessions are designed to stimulate informed exchanges with provocative inputs from a range of different speakers, including conflict party representatives, war correspondents, outstanding analysts, thinkers and experts on specific issues.

Participants have included Jimmy Carter, former President of the United States; Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia; Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations; Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court; Lakhdar Brahimi, former Joint Special Representative for Syria of the United Nations and the League of Arab States; Catherine Samba-Panza, former President of the Central African Republic; Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland; Thabo Mbeki, former President of South Africa; and Gerry Adams, President of Sinn Féin. The Oslo Forum is proud to have hosted several Nobel Peace Prize laureates.

The retreats refrain from making public recommendations, aiming instead to advance conflict mediation practice.