News

Last week, NOREF Director Dag Nylander and other NOREF regional specialists took part in the first Oslo Forum retreat on peace and reconciliation in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Forum, organised in the city of Cuernavaca, Mexico, gathered more than 50 mediation experts, government representatives, academics, and representatives of conflict actors.

NOREF Deputy Director Marte Heian-Engdal attends the Norwegian National Defence College’s senior executive course this winter (Norwegian: Forsvarets sjefskurs). The course is a three-month thorough introduction into Norwegian defense, security, and foreign policy, for prominent representatives of academia, politics, civil service, and the media, in addition to military leaders. 

The process of decommissioning former combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, in the south of the Philippines, continued last week, as the third phase of the decommissioning process resumed in Mindanao. This phase aims to cover up to 14,000 combatants. NOREF has supported the decommissioning mechanism with expertise since 2016.

Norwegian foreign policy, security and climate, citizen security and welfare models were among the topics discussed when NOREF, with Norwegian and Colombian partners, hosted a visit from the Colombian War College’s Course on Advanced Military Studies (CAEM).

The Syrian Women’s Advisory Board (WAB) held meetings in Norway last week. The diverse group of Syrian women was established to advice the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria on the political process. They have been instrumental in ensuring women’s representation within the Syrian negotiating delegations and in bringing attention to aspects of the conflict that otherwise risk being overlooked.

NOREF’s Director Dag Nylander has been awarded the M.C. Bassiouni Justice Award, in recognition of his central facilitator-role in the peace process between the Government of Colombia and the FARC–EP (2012-2016).

NOREF Director Dag Nylander emphasises the need for continuous engagement from both international and national actors, as Colombia commemorates the fifth anniversary of the signing of the peace agreement between the Government and FARC-EP on 24 November.

The annual meeting of the Nordic Women Mediators (NWM) takes place in Reykjavik from 17 – 19 November 2021. Members from all five Nordic networks come together for a three-day meeting to discuss approaches to including and strengthening women in mediation and peacebuilding efforts. The discussions draw on lessons from the recent events in Afghanistan and from new working methods applied during the Covid-19 pandemic.

On 16 November, three member organisations of the CyberMediation Network – USIP, CMI and NOREF – will convene a public roundtable on the development and use of online platforms for dialogue efforts.

NOREF and the Social Development Group (SDG), in partnership with the Colombian War College and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Colombia, co-hosted a three-day meeting for the Course of High Military Studies (CAEM) Class of 2021, in Cartagena de Indias, 17-19 August.

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has appointed a new board for NOREF. The new chair is former Ambassador Kim Traavik.