Dealing with a legacy of human rights abuse is an essential element in efforts to re-establish fundamental trust and accountability in society after violent conflict. Current practice foresees a combination of initiatives in the area of truth-seeking, criminal prosecution, reparations, and structural reform. These measures should be used to design and implement comprehensive, inclusive, and gender sensitive strategies for Dealing with the Past.

Goal of the workshop

The Dealing with the Past Workshop will provide participants with:

• An in-depth knowledge of fundamental Dealing with the Past concepts and mechanisms;
• An exchange of expertise based on lessons learned and good practice in Dealing with the Past in different political and social contexts;
• A program of inter-active learning focused on designing and implementing holistic approaches to Dealing with the Past.

Organization

The Dealing with the Past Workshop is organized and sponsored by the Human Security Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), with the support of swisspeace.

Dates and Location

The Workshop will take place from 27 September – 2 October 2014 in Aswan, Egypt.

Participants and Applications

The Workshop is aimed at governmental and non-governmental organisations and institutions from Libya, Tunisia and Egypt who are in charge of DwP strategies and/or are documenting past (and present) human rights violations in their respective contexts.

Representatives of Ministries in charge of DwP/transitional justice issues, as well as members of national dialogue committees, human rights bodies and civil society, are kindly invited to submit their applications until 6 September 2014 to kim.sitzler@eda.admin.ch.

Applications must include:

• Curriculum Vitae
• Motivation letter
• Passport picture

Participants must have working knowledge of English. The selection of a maximum of 30 participants will be made by the Swiss FDFA.

For further information, please contact kim.sitzler@eda.admin.ch.