Type of Organization: Non-governmental - Non-Profit

Home Country: Multi-National

Overview

The Nansen Dialogue Network (NDN) consists of Nansen Dialogue Centres in the Western Balkans and the Nansen Academy in Norway.

The Nansen Dialogue Centres (NDCs) are organised as local NGOs with a total of 70 people working full time. The main objective of the network is to contribute to reconciliation and peacebuilding through interethnic dialogue between strategic individuals and groups that have strong influence or decision making power in deeply divided communities. The Nansen Dialogue Network has offices in: Sarajevo, Mostar, Banjaluka, Belgrade, Bujanovac, Podgorica, Skopje, Osijek, Pristina, Mitrovica (North/South).
In consequence to the wars of 1990s, many communities are ethnically divided, with little cross-communication between people on different sides. Ethnic division is also present in educational system. Mono-ethnic schools have emerged in local communities. In such context, children grow up having no contacts with children from other ethnic groups than their own.
Having this in mind, work at the local level in each part of the region is at the focus of respective Nansen Dialogue Centre working there. By working with pupils, students, teachers, parents and local authorities, the aim is to strengthen inter-ethnic cooperation and reduce ethnic tensions.
There are several ethnically divided municipalities in which NDN is highly involved in dialogue projects related to peace education.
NDN has been facilitating dialogue between local politicians and administrative leaders in several municipalities for the past few years. Moreover, the Network has been actively cooperating with counterparts of different professional groups from other parts of the region and from Norwegian municipalities.
Since 2003, NDN is regional initiator for the Balkans within the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict.
Nansen Dialogue Centre Serbia is appointed as the regional secretariat for GPPAC and has been coordinating peacebuilding activities in the Balkans. Throughout 2004, several national conferences on conflict prevention and peacebuilding were organised by respective NDCs and partner organisations from Albania and Bulgaria. The outcomes of the conferences were presented at the Balkan Regional Conference on Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding in November 2004 and the Regional Action Agenda was drafted. The Regional Agenda was presented at the Global Conference on CP and PB held at UN Headquarters in New York in 2005.
In April 2007, NDC Serbia hosted the Balkan Regional Conference on Peace Education and Conflict Resolution.

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