On 29 March 2021, Herat province hosted the second peace forum titled “Herat Forum for Peace” as a part of a series of forums and dialogues on peace. The event was attended more than 60 participants including influential figures, academics, peace activists and experts, women rights activists, youth and government officials from Herat, Badghis, Farah and Nimroz provinces, who presented their views about the topics in participatory manner during the day-long event. The event implemented in the framework of a national project “Reaching Out for Peace”, is a partnership between Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Afghanistan, Mediothek Afghanistan and Afghanistan Public Policy Research Organization (APPRO) and funded by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Afghanistan. Speaking at the opening of the event, FES representative Omulbanin Paigeer, shed light on Friedrich-Ebert foundation’s extensive efforts for strengthening democracy, peace and social justice around the world and especially in Afghanistan and added that this forum is providing a unique opportunity for representatives of local communities to explore local obstacles and challenges and opportunities for peace at community levels. Deputy Governor for Economy and Social Affairs of Herat Province, Ms. Hassanzadeh while welcoming the guests, especially those who attending the program from neighboring provinces, said that holding such events provide rare and valuable opportunity for the public to raise their voices and have their say and convey their message to stakeholders and senior officials. She promised that she will attend event throughout the day and take part in every segment of the program to learn more from the participants. A comprehensive survey of successful experiences of peacebuilding cases from other countries and regions was presented by Mohammad Ehsan Sadaat, a presentative of APPRO through an informative and educational presentation. The presentation also provided an indepth analysis of the current peace process in Afghanistan, its nature, challenges and stakeholders and the major differences and similarities of the process with those of other countries and regions. Through several working groups, participants worked together to identify mechanisms of addressing local challenges to peace as well as factors and drivers of conflict at community levels. A selected representative of each group presented the results and ideas of the respective group to the larger group and to a panel of four members, including representatives of local government institutions, peace experts and civil society leaders for further analysis and deliberation. This phase provided ample opportunity for participants to engage in honest and in-depth discussion with each other in an open and friendly atmosphere and pose their questions to experts and representatives of local government. The project is a concerted effort to bring members of local communities, peace experts, local authorities and citizens together to share their views on peacebuilding at community level and discuss challenges to peace at local levels and identify major factors of conflict. The project is also helping broaden the scope of discussions by inviting representatives from neighboring provinces – adding a regional dimension – of the host province to share their views and concerns on local peace and local challenges and how local communities can play a robust role in peacebuilding. The Forums for Peace are planned in Kandahar, Herat, Balkh, Nangarhar, Badakhshan, Bamyan, and Kabul but invite participants from all neighboring provinces of each host province thus it is a project of national scope. Two rounds of local forums for peace will be conducted in each of the host province during the project in 2021.
