Forum for the Future/No Peace Without Justice: strengthening partnership between governments and civil society is essential to foster democracy in the MENA region

Press release in Italian

A delegation of No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) took part to the Fifth Forum for the Future  Ministerial Meeting, held on 18-19 October 2008 in Abu Dhabi, under the co-chairmanships of the United Arab Emirates and Japan. The meeting saw the participation of high-level government delegations and 60 civil society representatives from  G8 and Middle East and North  Africa (MENA) countries, as well as regional and international organizations and institutions, with the aim to examine the state of play of progress accomplished in the realm of political
reforms and human rights promotion in the Region as well as prospects for co-operation
between civil society governments on these issues.

Declaration by Gianfranco Dell'Alba, Secretary General of No Peace Without Justice:
 
"During the Ministerial meeting, NPWJ introduced a document to define guiding principles for  stronger dialogue and cooperation between governments and civil society of the MENA Region,  with a view to consolidating the rule of law, the respect of human rights and the development of democratic reform processes.

The Partnership Document, which has been acknowledged by the Forum delegates and will be integrated in its final recommendations, is the result of a process of consultation promoted by NPWJ in the framework of the Democracy Assistance Dialogue Program, involving both governments and civil society from the G8 and the bMENA region. The document represents a tangible accomplishment of the principles and the methods that DAD partners contributed to foster inside the Forum the Forum for the Future process in the last five years, as the only intergovernmental bMENA forum where civil society is able to interact directly with regional governments and G-8 countries.
 
NPWJ will continue to promote the principle that dialogue and cooperation between governments and civil society in a peaceful, non-violent, legitimate, open, and constructive framework is a fundamental component of the democratic reform processes and to develop further cooperative work in these areas during the 2009 Forum for the Future, under the Italian G8 presidency".
 
Since 2004, No Peace Without Justice has played an instrumental role, as the civil society counterpart of the Italian Government, in coordinating the DAD program - led by the governments of Italy, Turkey and Yemen and their respective civil society partners (NPWJ-Italy, TESEV-Turkey, HRITC-Yemen) - by reinforcing the peer-to-peer nature of the DAD partnership through a sustained coordination process. The DAD program is designed to foster effective and durable consultation and dialogue mechanisms between civil society and governments of the MENA region on issues of democratic reform and human rights promotion.
 
For further information, please contact: Gianluca Eramo, email: geramo@npwj.org, phone: +32 2 548 39 29 or Nicola Giovannini on ngiovannini@npwj.org or +32 (0)2 548-3914.
 
Further information on the Forum can also be found on the dedicated website: www.forumforthefuture.ae
 
Chair’s Summary, Forum for the Future, Abu Dhabi, 19 October 2008