Written by Mekong Institute

With financial support from Thailand International Deveopment Cooperation Agency (TICA) and South East Asia Regonal Cooperaton in Human Development (SEARCH), the Mekong Institute (MI) and its partner agencies, Instiute for Dispute Resolution (KKU), and King Prajadhipok’s on 24-28 September 2008 in MI. This workshop servd as a forum to exchange knowledge and ideas about peace in conflict resolution and management as well as to promote the ideas of public particpaton, public hearings, mediaton, and unanimty-building processes.

The five-day workshop sought to assess and draw lessons from indivudual country experiences in conflict prevention/management and peace building geared at developing policy recommendations towards durable peace and sustainable development for the region. It sought to identify the key issues related to pre-conflict, conflict, and post-conflict situations and deal with them within an integrated, holistic and analytical policy framework. The general objective of this activity is to enhance public paricipaton and reconciliation, promote sustainable peace and democracy, and develop skill on consensus building and negotiaton among the GMS countries and beyond.

The five-day workshop sought to assess and draw lessons from individual country experienes in conflict prevention/management and peace building geared at developing policy recommendaton towards durable peace and sustainable development for the region. It sought to identify the key issues related to pre-conflict, conflict, and post-conflict situations and deal with them within an integrated, holistic and analytical policy framework. The general objective of this activity is to enhance public participation and reconciliation, promote sustainable peace and democracy, and develop skill on consensus building and negotiation among the GMS countries and beyond.

The workshop started with a 2-day exposure trip to the Thai Parliament and study tour in Bangkok and was followed by a 3-day forum at Mekong Institute, Khon Kaen. During the forum, several learning methods were employed which include short participatory lectures, discussons, cases studies, practice exercises, site visit, and games. An evaluation of the five-day activity revealed that the participants found the worksip useful and majority was completely satisfied with the program.

The recommendations to be formulated by MI, in cooperation with KPI and IDR-KKU emphasize three major areas:

• Reorganizing a regional forum on “Public Particpation and Reconciliation” in 2009
• Strengthening collaboration among institues and universities foucused on conflict management and negotiation
• Specifying clear tasks and responsibilities among partner agencies

Seventeen participants from six ASEAN countries (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Thailand) attended the workshop. The delegates come from Ministry of National Assembly, Houses of Representatives, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, and the office of the National Aseembly.