Risking peace: the daring of reconcilers

5 March / 18:30 / Alhambra / Co-presented with the OIF

They've faced disapproval, sarcasm, reasons of state, victims' grief, their enemies' wrath and, sometimes, brutal violence or even torture. They could have abandoned the struggle, they should have stopped dreaming. Instead, they dared to mend broken bridges and invent peace.

Everywhere in the world from Cambodia to the Congo, from Northern Ireland to the near East, from Afghanistan to the Philippines, men and women whom everything should have separated and opposed get together to dialogue, negotiate, reflect on better ways of judging and forgiving, and then envisage rebuilding together what can still be rebuilt.

In the field, these "reconcilers" - judges or diplomats, religious leaders or laypeople, whether famous or unknown - provide indispensable assistance to traditional state diplomacy in order to escape the logic of war.

More and more frequently confronted by the privatization of war in all its forms, states (like Switzerland) involved in difficult peace negotiations are obliged to rely on a dense network of experts, local representatives, groups, activists and discreet (and sometimes secret) mediators...

Inspired by a book published in 2011 by Editions Autrement with the support of the Geneva-based "Initiatives et Changements" association, our round table "Risking peace" ("Oser la paix") will explore the hidden face of peace processes and give the reconcilers an opportunity to express themselves.

Our aim? To discuss what happens behind the scenes around the edges of formal negotiations. To reveal how brave men and women, conquering their own ailments, bring hostilities to an end and allow reconciliation to happen.