On 18 and 19 October 2016, two workshops were organised in Brussels in the framework of the project ‘El-Hiwar’ (“dialogue” in Arabic). They brought together over 40 participants coming from the Member states and Secretariat of the League of Arab States (LAS) as well as EU officials, CSO representatives and experts.
At the ‘Mediation and Peacebuilding’ workshop on 18 October, participants reflected on the role of civil society organisations in preventing conflicts, shared best practices on conflict mediation and analysed the best approach for post-conflict efforts. The Executive Director of the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO), guided the sessions throughout the day.
At the ‘Media and Crisis’ workshop on 19 October, participants focussed on the role of media and journalists in crisis situations and discussed the collaboration between media and international and regional organizations. In the afternoon a presentation of the Crisis Room took place at the European External Action Service (EEAS) in Brussels. The facilitator, a journalist and Visiting Professor at the College of Europe, facilitated this second workshop.
During both workshops, participants had the opportunity to discuss and look for ways to further strengthen the cooperation between the EU and the LAS in the fields of mediation and peacebuilding and media relations during crisis situations.
The ‘El-Hiwar’ project started in 2013 and aims at improving the flow of information and promoting dialogue among officials working in the EU and the League of Arab States (LAS). To date, three institutional training sessions respectively on EU and LAS functioning and policies were organised in Brussels as well as four sectoral workshops in Brussels and Malta. The project is funded by the European Union and implemented by the College of Europe, in collaboration with ECLASLO.