2019 Stockholm Forum connects crisis response to peacebuilding

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Stockholm 14 May(Greenpost) Over 400 high-level policymakers, researchers and practitioners gather in Stockholm for the sixth annual Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development to be held between May 14 and 16th.

This year’s forum centres on the topic ‘From crisis response to peacebuilding: Achieving synergies’ and was opened by Ambassador Jan Eliasson, former United Nations Deputy Secretary-General and Chair of the SIPRI Governing Board. Ambassador Eliasson’s address touched on the broad range of actors and peacebuilders and emphasized the risks of actors working in silos.

The first day of discussion ended up with the closing remark by Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Margot Walstrom. She said that the good example of peace building was Columbia and it was so good that their President even won the Nobel Prize for Peace.

She said it is important to involve women in the process and that is exactly the Swedish foreign policy and building strong institutions is also very important.

HE Peter Eriksson, Minister for International Development Cooperation, Sweden, provided introductory remarks and pointed out that the various efforts among the development community ‘do not always add up.’

Guest speaker for the opening session was Dr Sima Samar, Chair, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Council and member of the UN Secretary-General High-Level Panel on Mediation. Dr Samar shared her knowledge of Afghanistan—a country that has endured over 40 years of conflict. From her experiences, ‘when people’s human rights are violated; when their freedom is restricted; when there is discrimination against people; where there is no equality; and there is no access to justice for people—then conflict starts.’ She underlined the need for the meaningful inclusion of women and minorities at all stages of the peace process and during post-conflict reconstruction.

Peter Maurer, President, International Committee of the Red Cross gave a keynote speech on peace and development. On the need for the stronger connections between humanitarian aid; development cooperation; and peacebuilding, Maurer stressed that ‘humanitarian actors are not peacebuilders. Neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian action is distinct from political agendas and it must remain so. Yet, I would argue that while others make peace, humanitarian action helps make peace possible.’

The theme for the opening panel was ‘Crisis response and peacebuilding: How to create synergies’ and was moderated by Annika Ben David, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sweden.

Achim Steiner, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, highlighted the World Bank’s ‘Pathways to Peace’ report and how the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have laid out a vital roadmap for the future, but also for managing the risks of today.

HE Raya Haffar El Hassan, Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Lebanon, talked about the different agendas between donors and how better synthesis between donors could lead to a more sustainable peace.

Hafez Ghanem, Vice President for Africa, World Bank outlined the new role of the World Bank in investing in peace. Pointing to a number of key initiatives and ways of analyzing the Sahel; the Lake Chad Basin; and the Horn of Africa regions, he stated the need to focus on the drivers of fragility such as climate change and exclusion. He also stressed to support the local government to keep peace and development.

HE Hirut Zemene, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ethiopia, emphasized the role of youth development—a theme echoed by other panellists—and stressed the demographic challenge in Ethiopia and elsewhere.

General Dennis Gyllensporre, Force Commander of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), called for better conflict analysis in the early stage of crises and the need to share in a combined body of knowledge. General Gyllenspore stated ‘we all have different blind spots depending on what lens we use.’ Sharing knowledge, he said, ‘will give us a sense of a common understanding of the conflict dynamics.’

Karin Wallensteen, State Secretary for International Affairs, Prime Minister’s Office, Sweden, spoke on collective outcomes. ‘I believe that if we have this nexus of humanitarian efforts; development efforts; and peace efforts we can give the relief and at the same time keep our focus on the SDGs.’

In the afternoon, Somalian Minister for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Isse Awad said his country is in a better position now with 80 percent of the people have mobile phones, good infrastructure, schools and other conditions. But the governance of the government is still a challenge for them, thus he called on the donors to support his government to strengthen good governance.

Fatima Shehu Imam, Director of Civil Society Organizations in Borno State, Nigeria said great challenge ahead because they have about 500 thousand orphans in northern part of Nigeria. These people need more care from government and social organizations because they are isolated or even resentful, no one care about them.

Mohammed Ali Al Hakim, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq said Iraq is on the right track and he promised to pay greater attention to gender issues. Right now they have about 30 women diplomats and he plans to increase more women Ambassadors in the future.

Annika Soder Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden summarized Swedish efforts in promoting feminist foreign policies even in the UN Security Council. She blamed some super power of implementing unilateral actions and not cooperative for some good ideas. But she stressed the feminist policies in the long run is more sustainable in peace keeping and development.

Peter Mauer said in the afternoon high level panel that things change a lot. For example they prepared a lot of medicine in disaster or conflict humanitarian aid, but found out that people need more electricity and telecommunication.

The moderator was Dan Smith, Executive Director of SIPRI.

When asking a delegate from Nigeria about China’s role in Africa, he said China can do more, for example building more water conservancy projects to secure safe drinking water and keep water clean.

The forum was jointly held by SIPRI, SIDA and Foreign Ministry of Sweden.

2019斯德哥尔摩和平与发展论坛关注和平建设

北欧绿色邮报网报道(记者陈雪霏)-为期三天的2019斯德哥尔摩和平与发展论坛14日在斯德哥尔摩隆重开幕,来自世界各地的代表400多名代表出席论坛。

本次论坛由斯德哥尔摩国际和平研究所SIPRI,瑞典对外发展援助部和瑞典外交部联合举办。研究所理事会主席第60届联大主席杨.埃利亚松和瑞典对外发展援助大臣彼得埃里克松等致开幕词,瑞典外交大臣瓦尔斯特伦致首日闭幕词。联合国开发计划署署长斯泰纳,国际红十字会主席彼得.毛尔,世界银行非洲副行长哈菲兹.加内姆、伊拉克、索马里外交部长、黎巴嫩内务城市部长和埃塞俄比亚外交部国务部长等嘉宾出席论坛。

和平研究所理事会主席埃利亚松首先致辞,他说,在2005年他担任联大主席的时候,联合国就制定了一条和平与发展的秘方,那就是没有和平就没有发展,没有发展就不可能维持和平,没有和平与发展,人权就会受到极大伤害。没有人权没有法制的社会也就无法实现和平与发展。因此,要想实现发展的目的,提高人民的生活水平,实现永久和平,就必须尊重人权,尊重法制。同时要调动一切积极因素,把有关各方的利益都要考虑在内才能实现永久和平,政府,议会,非政府组织,私营企业等各界人士都要考虑在内,尤其妇女也要考虑在内,就是包括所有利益相关方才能实现停火,保持和平。他很高兴联合国2030年远景目标中的第十六条提出了实现永久和平与发展的目标。

瑞典对外发展援助部大臣彼得.埃里克松在开幕词中说,他很高兴看到很多饱受战争创伤的国家伊拉克、索马里、黎巴嫩和埃塞俄比亚等国的部长副部长都来出席会议,欢迎你们。今天你们的任务就是要找到维护和平的妙方。 要团结一切可以团结的力量,与此同时,也要注意气候变化给和平与发展带来更大的挑战。

阿富汗独立人权理事会主席斯马.萨马尔博士致开幕词。她说,人们首先应该明白为什么会发生冲突,阿富汗经历了41年的战争冲突。根据他们的经验,凡是人权得到侵犯,法制不能够维持,社会出现严重的不平等,一部分人有特权的时候,就会出现冲突。同时,周边国家会利用不同的人群来对付另一个人群,这样,几乎在所有经历过冲突和战争的国家里都会发现他们的邻居也参与其中的内乱。因此,要实现和平,保持和平,就必须要有男人和女人都参加的和平谈判,一旦停战,必须为儿童提供教育,在阿富汗最大的败笔就是缺乏教育,很多家庭没有办法,最后,还是不得不把孩子送到塔利班成立的学校里去。最终成为被塔利班利用的人。

国际红十字会国际委员会主席彼得.毛尔在发表主旨演讲中国说,其实,国际人道主义援助的情况在不断发生变化。过去的一些人道主义援助方法已经不再适应新情况新问题了。现在的国际人道主义援助也远远不能满足各种难民的需要了。他说,很多时候情况出乎意料之外,例如,有一次,他们在中东救援,本来准备大批药品,但结果人们最急需的是供电和电信,因为人们想赶紧和亲朋好友联系。另外,现在的冲突已经不再局限于最贫困的国家里,伊拉克,叙利亚等国家本来都是中等收入国家,结果,也陷入战争和冲突的深渊,刚刚得以停战。因此,国际社会必须根据实际情况施加人道主义援助。

在高级讨论会上主持人是瑞典外交部Annika Ben David大使主持。

世界银行负责非洲事务的副行长加内姆说,世界银行在和平与发展过程中发挥了很大作用。世界银行很注重各国政府的力量,因为支持帮助政府进行和平与发展的援助是对的。与此同时,世界银行也改进了援助方式,以前都是在冲突结束以后再介入援助,现在是在冲突进行时就开始援助,例如在叙利亚。目前世界的难民太多了,挑战也很大。

黎巴嫩内务和城市部长拉雅.哈法尔.阿尔.哈桑说,她首先非常感谢捐助国对黎巴嫩这个饱经战争沧桑的国家多年来的积极援助。他们自己当然需要努力重建。但同时,她也对捐助国提出一些建议。她认为有时候捐助国去捐助时是有自己的目的的,附加自己的一些条件的,这样在当地会引起不平衡,造成援助的效果大打折扣。如果能够根据实际需要去捐助,可能效果更好。

埃塞俄比亚外交部国务部长希鲁特.泽美娜对埃塞俄比亚总统大家赞扬,认为现任总统真心希望发展,重视平等问题,因此,希望捐助国继续对其国进行支持。同时,他们也确实是在实现和平与发展过程中重视妇女地位问题,重视有关各方的利益。

联合国开发计划署署长阿吉姆.斯泰纳说,今年的主题是包括所有利益相关方,这一点十分重要。凡是重视这样的方法的地方,才能长期保持和平。

瑞典首相办公室国际事务国务秘书卡琳.瓦伦斯蒂恩介绍了瑞典在联合国常任理事国期间的作用。

丹尼斯.氯纶斯普洱是驻马里联合国维和部队的陆军总司令。他说,这次能把他这位军方人士请来参加论坛本身就说明这次论坛的包括范围广泛,真是各界人士都有。他认为凡是能够进行充分案例分析并让有关各方都参与的案例基本上都是成功案例。

在上午的第二场高级讨论会中,索马里外交部长阿瓦德提出在索马里已经经历了五届总统选举,索马里形势十分稳定,教育,卫生,电信等各个领域都得到了充分发展,索马里如今80%的人都有手机。索马里的工程队可以到邻国去承包建筑工程,索马里的学校都已经到位。现在最美中不足,也缺乏信任的就是政府。其实,政府的组成是由四个部落群的领头人物或代表组成的政府,例如总统是一组人,议会是另一组人,基本上各个族群都有代表,因此,索马里的形势很稳定,现在缺的就是政府需要资金巩固政府的诚信度。他希望捐助国能多支持索马里政府。

在下午的高级研讨会上,伊拉克外长穆罕默德.阿里.阿尔-哈桑说,伊拉克2003年以后面临的是满目疮痍,负债累累的局面。伊拉克欠了很多外债,高达几千亿美元。其中包括对科威特的侵略赔款。本来到2014年伊拉克形势有所好转,但是,又来了ISIS恐怖分子占领了伊拉克三分之一的领土。他们的烧杀抢掠给伊拉克再次带来灾难。但是,到去年为止,基本对ISIS清理干净,政府提出了一系列发展目标和发展框架。包括教育平等和发展。他说,伊拉克其实有很多博士,但是怎样利用他们是一个问题。他们政府内阁中已经有83名女干部,但是,这个数字还不及突尼斯,因此,急需继续努力。他表示,在外交部,他将大力重视女大使女外交官的录用。伊拉克妇女其实很多人都是有学识有能力的妇女。

来自东帝汶的联合国组织代表认为支持战乱国家政府和平与发展十分重要,因为政府是一个非常重要的机构,比其他任何社会机构都要强有力的多。支持他们,提高他们的信誉有利于和平与发展。否认,象以前西方国家总是支持非政府组织来对于政府组织,很难实现长期和平稳定。

尼日利亚北部的布尔诺非政府组织领导人法体玛.射虎.伊玛目指出,和平与发展的援助一定要因地制宜,多听从当地人的意见。否认很难解决问题。她尤其担心在尼日利亚有大约50万孤儿,他们没有家人照顾,没有亲人理解,没有政府照顾,他们成为游手好闲的流浪儿,这些孩子如果不加以关怀和教育,很难想象他们将来会带来什么样的问题,国际社会最好帮助提出一些预防措施。

美国布鲁斯金学院院长约翰.艾伦表示,他从2003年伊拉克战争开始参加过很多和平谈判和发展重建,他发现,凡是国际上实行多边行动的时候,成功的机率总是比单边行动大得多。目前,有的国家动不动采取单边行动,这很不利于和平与发展,效果很不好。相反,多边行动成功的机会要多一些。例如有中国,俄罗斯,欧盟,美国,尤其是在美国牵头的时候,加上多国配合效果就会好一些。

瑞典外交部副大臣Annika.Soder概述了瑞典担任联合国非常任理事国的时候为和平与发展作出的巨大努力,但是,她指出,很多时候瑞典的建议得不到大国的响应,因此,也很为难和无奈。她也间接批评了单边主义的行为。

最后,瑞典外交大臣马约特.瓦尔斯特伦致当天的闭幕词。她说,她想用哥伦比亚的和平道路做为一个很好的例子。在哥伦比亚也是经历了几十年的内战。最后实现了和平,因此其总统还获得了诺贝尔和平奖。

她强调国际社会必须采取措施控制和扩散。同时,瑞典的女性主义外交政策还是比较好的,在和平重建过程中,赋予女性权利可以使和平持续下去。要实现和平与发展,必须尊重人权,尊重法制,有强有力的组织机构和机制。总之,凡是在和平重建中注重了各方利益的,和平稳定持续时间就长,效果就好。

一天的会议中,人们积极发言,广泛讨论,给人的印象是这个世界变得越来越和平,相比之下,现在已经从危机反应阶段进入和平建设阶段,与会者认为在和平建设过程中,必须重视男女平等,教育和其他各方面的情况,按照联合国2030发展目标进行对照。从冲突国家的角度讲,他们更希望援助不要带附加条件,要积极支持所在国政府,这样的效果会更好。政府一个中国大使馆的外交官所说,有政府总是比没政府强。没有政府会一盘散沙,和平和信任都难以建立。

当记者和一位尼日利亚代表谈到中国在非洲和平与发展过程中的作用时,他说,中国发挥了很大作用,但是中国还可以做更多。另一位代表说,例如,在兴修水利方面,中国可以帮助非洲合理利用水资源,建立水利设施。中国有这方面的经验和技术。

图文 陈雪霏