by Nadarajah Sethurupan from Oslo to Sri Lanka Guardian
(June 25, Oslo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Conflict mediators from all over the world will again meet at the annual Oslo Forum to exchange experience at Losby Manor outside Oslo from 24 to 26 June. This year's peace mediators' retreat will focus on dialogue and new opportunities for and perspectives on negotiations. It will be opened by Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim. Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and State Secretaries Raymond Johansen and Haaken A. Gudbrandsen will attends parts of the retreat.
There will be around 100 participants, including Mohammad Khatami, former President of Iran, Jonathan Powell, former Chief of Staff to Tony Blair, Gareth Evans, President of the International Crisis Group, Lord Malloch Brown, British Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, and Pampha Bhusal, Maoist and Government Minister in Nepal.
Oslo Forum has taken place every year since 2003. It brings together peace mediators and key personnel from peace processes all over the world, including the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Somalia.
The aim of the Forum is to provide an opportunity for sharing practical experience of mediation between conflicting parties, and to improve the international community's ability to deal with armed conflict.
The retreat is an important element in Norway's efforts to systematise and professionalise international peace process efforts. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs arranges the retreat in cooperation with the Geneva-based organisation Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.
1. Ambassador Yasushi Akashi, Representative of the Government of Japan on Peace-Building, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction in Sri Lanka; Chairman of the Japan Centre for Conflict Prevention
2. Ms Radhika Coomaraswamy, Under Secretary-General, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict
3. Mr Gareth Evans, President, International Crisis Group
4. Mr Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway
5. Ambassador Jon Hanssen-Bauer, Special Envoy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway
6. Professor Radha Kumar, Director, Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Millia University, New Delhi
7. Mr Erik Solheim, Minister of the Environment and International Development of Norway
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