2012 Plan of Activities

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Policy framework
In 2012, NPWJ will continue to facilitate the dialogue between public institutions and non-governmental actors as well as promote the role of civil society and organised citizens as legitimate counterparts in the political discourse on democracy, human rights, the Rule of Law, justice, reconciliation and accountability in the MENA region. Activities will be based on three main fundamental criteria:
 
Openness and inclusiveness: Activities will have an open and public approach aiming at reinforcing the mutual recognition between civil society and public institutions.
 
Local ownership: Activities will reflect policy priorities and methodologies identified on the ground by national democracy and human rights advocates and will focus on the needs, priorities and methodologies as perceived by local CSOs.
 
In-country strategies: Activities will aim at providing actionable suggestions and proposals which can be useful to elaborate in-country strategies toward the reinforcement of the reform processes at a regional and national level.
 
Activities
The 2012 MENA democracy campaign will focus on two main targets:
 
a) Transitional justice, accountability and reconciliation (TJAR): common threads running through all “Arab Spring” countries are the desire and need for justice, accountability and reconciliation, for acts committed during the revolutions and for past years and decades of human rights abuses. TJAR concepts are therefore already on the political agenda, with varying degrees of clarity as to how they fit within each country’s specific process of transformation. To ensure TJAR processes contribute effectively to reconciliation and stability, it is important that they are conceived as part of a transition towards democracy and the rule of law, not merely be a rote response in the transition from authoritarian systems.
 
To that end, NPWJ will:
 
(1) develop and support, in cooperation with partners in the region, including the Arab Transitional Justice Working Group, a range of activities aimed at promoting democracy and human rights protection through incorporating TJAR in decision-making on conflict resolution and stability, development and reconstruction planning in MENA countries. Activities will consist of providing technical support to build in-country civil society capacity on TJAR issues, including on advocacy and documenting human rights violations, as well as to increase awareness among target groups about TJAR.
 
(2) carry out, in partnership with Al-Kawakibi Democracy Transition Center, a project aimed at building and strengthening the capacity of key actors and stakeholders within Tunisia, so they can play the most effective role in ensuring that past abuses are dealt with fairly, transparently and effectively as part of Tunisia’s overall democratic transition process. By building key actors and stakeholders capacity to engage with policy- and decision-makers and investigate past abuses and by consulting with victims, affected communities and the public on how they would like to obtain redress for their harms suffered, including for violations of socio-economic rights, the project will enable key actors and stakeholders to assist citizens in asking for and receiving a transitional justice process that responds effectively to Tunisia’s specific needs.
 
(b) Forum for the Future: The FfF mechanism, which has witnessed a slow but progressing deterioration in its mechanisms and progresses, needs to be rivitalised both in its format and in its goals as to renew and reinvigorate its commitment toward shared political and social reforms in the MENA region and its support to democratic and open societies.
 
In this framework, NPWJ will act in order to:
(1) Develop a mechanism which gathers together those non-governmental and governmental actors more engaged in the Forum for the Future activities, with the aim to analyse available resources and policy priorities and elaborate a set of concrete deliverables on which willing members engage themselves;

(2) Develop and maintain links with civil society representatives, NGOs and non-governmental organisations from the G8 and other democratic partners with the aim to foster and facilitate their participation in the FfF mechanism.