A delegation from Al-Nabaa Forum for Dialogue participated in two specialized media workshops organized by the United Nations in Baghdad, which began yesterday, Wednesday, and will run for two consecutive days. The first workshop addressed ways to ensure the success of the national reconciliation project in Iraq, while the second focused on the ethical principles of the international organization's personnel in war-torn countries, in the presence of a select group of media professionals and civil society activists.
The Forum’s Head, journalist and writer Ali Al-Talqani, stated: "These participations reaffirm the importance of the media's role in consolidating the concept of national reconciliation, as we have worked on this project on multiple occasions with the United Nations."
He added, "Although the national reconciliation policy and other propositions have proven relatively successful in restoring a degree of peace to Iraqi society, which has suffered from violence and terrorism over the past three years, efforts remain incomplete due to the lack of consensus among political currents, particularly the opposition, which is considered the root of the problem."
The UN Representative in Iraq for UN Affairs, Fanie du Toit, stated that "United Nations projects concerning army formation, the advancement of education, and relief efforts have been positive throughout the years of work since 2003," pointing out "the failure of projects aimed at achieving national reconciliation despite the efforts."
Du Toit added, "Discussions held over the past four months concluded with distancing from the political role of those in power in Iraq regarding participation in the national reconciliation project. Plans will involve approaching the citizens themselves in support of these goals, away from political rhetoric, and holding seminars and workshops in a manner that touches the reality of the Iraqi individual."
The symposium, which brought together a select group of independent media professionals, discussed the mechanism of distancing from the political arena and from the political figure, whom he described as the center of the ongoing dispute in the country and the focal point of a continuous struggle for self-interest. Meanwhile, the Iraqi citizen has become aware that the reality on the ground does not reflect a sectarian conflict, and that what the Iraqi reality is experiencing is fundamentally a political conflict cloaked in an unreal sectarian civil conflict.
In another context, the second workshop discussed the principles and ethics of United Nations personnel and the fundamental criteria for selecting staff within non-governmental civil society organizations in Iraq.
The UN Representative for Ethical Compliance in Iraq, Jennifer White, stated: "Most countries subjected to wars experience cases of displacement and migration that require assistance for their citizens, whether from UN personnel or cooperating organizations. As a result of detecting several cases of exploitation, whether physical or service-related, in the course of assisting in multiple countries covered by UN services, it became necessary to follow up and overcome these cases in a manner that ensures trust in UN assistance."