No Peace Without Justice contributed to the Regional Workshop on “Transformation and Integration in the MENA Region: Economic and Social Inputs”, that was held in Marseille, France, on 6-7 June 2011, as the second of a series of preparatory regional workshops convened in the framework of the 2011 Forum for the Future. The Marseille workshop was organized by the Marseille Center for Mediterranean Integration in coordination with the co-chairs of this year’s Forum – the governments of France and Kuwait.
The meeting, which gathered together democracy advocates, civil society activists and experts from the MENA Region, particularly focused on addressing economic and social reform priorities aimed at enhancing women and youth economic opportunities as well as reinforcing a regional integrated economic environment. The results of the Workshop will be presented to the Ministerial Meeting of the Forum for the Future 2011 in Kuwait and will provide a set of proposals and recommendations that could fruitfully feed the discussion between governments and civil society.
NPWJ intends to reinforce a constructive environment for civil society that can be conducive to the preparation of the 2011 Forum for the Future. To this end, NPWJ is promoting continuous and inclusive consultation with all the parties involved in the organisation of the Forum’s activities, in order to facilitate a positive and fruitful dialogue between governments and civil society representatives, aiming at the development of joint proposals to promote political reforms and human rights in the bMENA Region.
As highlighted by recent developments in several countries of the Region, supporting active participation of civil society in the political process and its contribution to the identification of political priorities is among the essential requirements for liberal institutions and democracy to thrive as home-grown aspirations and not as a foreign-driven priority. Today it is even more urgent to provide full support to this process in order to ensure that citizens can actively engage in the democratic reform and contribute to the building of their country’s future based on the respect of their fundamental human rights.
- Download the program of the meeting
- Download the Final Report of the meeting
For further information, please contact: Gianluca Eramo, email: geramo@npwj.org, phone: +32 2 548 39 25 or Nicola Giovannini on ngiovannini@npwj.org or +32 2 548 39 15.
