MILF: MILF to send 2 to UN ceasefire mediation in Norway

From the MILF Website (Feb 17): MILF to send 2 to UN ceasefire mediation in Norway

The MILF is sending two members of its ceasefire committee to participate in the 2013 United Nations Ceasefire Mediation and Management Course in Norway on February 25- March 8, this year.

The training is jointly sponsored by the Norwegian Defence University College (NDUC), Norwegian Defence Command and Staff College (NDCSC), Norwegian Defence International Centre (NODEFIC), and the United Nations Department of Political Affairs.

The members of the MILF Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) or simply ceasefire committee nominated to participate in the training were Rasid Ladiasan, secretary of the MILF CCCH, and Abbas Salung, also MILF CCCH member, who hails from Basilan.

Organizers disclosed that negotiations and management of cessation of hostilities and ceasefire arrangements are a critical part of war to peace transitions.

They also admitted that currently there exists limited guidance or experts to assist mediators and their teams to navigate this aspect of peace-making. This situation is further compounded by the fact that ceasefire arrangements have become much more complex in their objectives and their approaches. Today, ceasefire arrangements no longer only seek to stop the military engagement between opposing forces, but also to protect civilians, as well as lay the foundations for a political process.

They also explained that the key objectives of this training course are: 1). Skills development: the training seeks to provide the participants with: a) improved skills in general mediation; b) understanding of the different typologies of ceasefires; c) specific skills of planning and carrying out ceasefire negotiations; d) drafting skills of ceasefire agreements; and e) tools on implementing ceasefires and linking them to the general support to a post conflict country; 2) Forming a community of practice: the training will contribute to the development of ceasefire expertise in different institutions and with diverging backgrounds. The aim of the training is to allow for the sharing of experiences and to build a small but substantive community of highly skilled experts on the mediation of ceasefires; and 3) This training course will cover the following substantive areas of ceasefire negotiations and management: (i) understanding the context or conflict environment; (ii) identifying the key actors,.....

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