Excerpts from GLOBAL QUAKER PROGRAM for PEACE

July 1999

Excerpts from ... GLOBAL QUAKER PROGRAM

for PEACE (Quaker International Affairs Program)

Proposed Three Year Program of Work 2000-2002

Executive Summary

"The Global Quaker Program for Peace" (also known as Quaker International Affairs) consists of twelve interlinked Quaker programs that work worldwide at the international, regional and local levels to prevent and overcome conflict through dialogue.

The attached proposal describes how this global program addresses local issues of peace and justice, violence and violation of human rights. Its aim, overall, is to provide opportunities for people to solve problems nonviolently and to explore new, positive alternatives to current inequities . During this next three-year period, the priorities are: • specific conflicts (focus on Angola and the African Great Lakes, the

Balkans, Palestine and Iraq, the Korean peninsula, and the Andes) • peacebuilding (especially demobilization and child soldiers) and

disarmament {especially conventional weapons and landmines) • racism and ethnic hatred {especially in East/Central Europe, East/Central

Africa, Andes, and Southeast Asia) • economic globalization's negative effects (especially in Southeast Asia,

Southern Africa, and Latin America/Caribbean) .

The tri-level structure (international, regional, local) and worldwide presence of the program give it an unusual capacity to address global problems at multiple points and to arrange constructive dialogue between those at the base and those in positions of international decision-making . At the international level it promotes dialogue among nations by strengthening the participatory aspects of international political institutions (eg . the United Nations) and finallcial institutions (eg. World Bank, World Trade Organization). At the regional level, it promotes dialogue and confl ict resolution within regional bodies (trade unions, economic blocs, NGO coalitions, etc). At the local level, it connects grassroots groups of all kinds as they seek ways to address local conflicts or local manifestat ions of g lobal issues . The program gains credibility from its long experience in peacebuilding (several decades in some areas of the world), from Quakers ' reputation of being a Nobel Peace Prize winner, and from its basic Quaker principles of commitment to nonviolence, social justice, and truth. These principles lead the program to work respectfully with people of all points of view and people on all sides.

The program usually works behind-the-scenes in a facilitating role, but its impact has been significant: helping prepare the g_round for direct discussions in the Middle East, helping unblock negotiations at the United Nations on a number of important international agreements, and helping popular organizations in Latin America reach consensus on how to deal with land, development, and labor conflicts . To understand more clearly the Quaker contributions, the German Ministry of Development Cooperation

(BMZ) contracted an independent evaluation of the dialogue sector of the work in 1 997 which it funds through EZE 1

• The evaluation concluded that: "the position of mediator requires, quite often, an institution which is not considered to be a party itself in the country or region in which a particular conflict or problem must be solved.. . There is hardly any other institution around the globe with similar credibility and standing as an honest 'broker' in conflict-situations like the Quakers. The reputation enables them to facilitate peace processes even in extreme cases like the long-lasting conflict between the two Koreas. The Quakers, despite substantial development work in a number of countries, have never been perceived as one of the funding or implementing agencies with their 'hidden agendas' like so many other northern NGOs. In the perception of the international community, their place is somehow between the conventional demarcations of 'North' and 'South'. Their approach of maintaining a 'low profile ' is most appropriate for this kind of program. . .. There is probably no other organisation in either hemisphere which has at its disposal of so many personal links around the globe." (Bonn, 199 7, p . 3-4)

The Global Quaker Program for Peace is a common program of Quaker Peace & Service (OPS) based in the UK, Quaker Service Norway, and the American

Friends Service Committee (AFSC) based in the US, the latter (as the largest agency) taking responsibility for management of the block funds . Other Quaker service bodies participate in specific aspects of the program, such as the "outreach" work (public and policy-maker education) and in administering the grassroots programs in which the Global Program is grounded.

1 Protestant Association for Cooperation in Development

Summary of new initiatives (2000-2002)

1. Global tensions. We are building a foundation for new work-EasVCentral Africa, Central America, and Southeast Asia that will better position the program to respond to global tensions as well as to specific conflicts in those regions and the underlying issues that generate them. For this three-year period, all international and regional units will be responding in some way to these four priorities:

• Conflict resolution/transformation - both individual and joint work by several units on Angola, the African Great Lakes, the Balkans, the Korean peninsula, Palestine and Iraq, and if the situation deteriorates further, in Colombia and Peru.

• Peacebuilding - global work on arms control, child soldiers, demobilization and demilitarization.

• Racism and social oppression - expressed against ethnic minorities, people of color, and women. Aim is to make a significant impact on racist expression through preparatory work for the "UN International Conference on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and other forms of Related Intolerance". Special concern for racism as it relates to migrants, displaced, and asylumseekers.

• Economic globalization - affecting the environment, workers' rights, and livelihood of the poor (eg. the Asian crisis). Intend to have impact on: implementation of core labor standards, industry codes of conduct, and corporate social responsibility; getting participation and grassroots perspectives into /LO and WTO policies; and strengthening civil society efforts toward government accountability, provision of services, and protection of rights.

2 . Partnerships for learning Primary partners now are: (a) the Quaker service agencies, (b) our donors, and (c) groups and individuals at the base (local level). It is crucial, during the next three years, that we work together in new ways and also more closely given the high demands of the conflicts and contributing factors mentioned above. Joint work would entail working together to assess the "spaces" for action, to determine which units/agencies are best positioned to respond to a given situation, and to evaluate the work to increase efficiency and impact. Evaluation of the approach used in this program (which has been used for over 60 years) would help identify the situations where it is most effective and the conditions under which it is best used. Results would be shared with other agencies working in the field of conflict prevention and transformation.

3. Outreach Quaker Representatives regularly produce analyses of issues in the areas where they work. By providing these to policy-makers and educational institutions, we hope to contribute alternative viewpoints and approaches to current political debates, and by disseminating them to the 'northern' public (Europe, Canada, US), our aim is to stimulate interest, awareness, and concern about international issues. Through careful targeting and translation, we also seek to reach interest groups, such as immigrant communities in the north, who might be influential on the issues with which the Representatives are dealing.

PARTI: OVERVIEW of the GLOBAL PROGRAM

This is a global program addressing local issues of peace and justice, violence and

violation of human rights. It enables Quaker Service bodies1 to find and promote alternatives

to violence and economic deprivation. Coming from a religious pacifist tradition, one that values

every person because of "that of God within", we see non-violence and support for justice as

potent forces for change. In this program, we bear witness to our certainty that there are

alternatives to the destructive polices and actions that characterize much of our world today.

SITUATION ANALYSIS: What we see as the current global challenges

As Quaker agencies, we are alarmed by current trends in the nature and extent of violence: state actors are choosing violence (bombing) over diplomacy; non-state actors increasingly resort to genocide; highly sophisticated weaponry (small arms as well) are being produced, promoted, sold , and used with abandon. This legitimizing of violence, and the availability of weapons, have made local conflicts explode more rapidly, become infinitely more lethal, and bear more heavily on civilians than combatants. At the same time, the distinction between civilians and combatants is blurred by the use of paramilitaries, the arming of local people and the use of children in war. This poses, for us as pacifists, a practical and moral challenge: how to curb those who inflict violence on others without using or advocating violent means ourselves.

A second challenge is the complexity of current conflicts. Much of the violence today is expressed in social terms-as ethnic hatred, sexism and racism-and it is often deeply rooted in economic factors. Identifying, disentangling, and trying to address these tightly intertwined factors strains the capacity of most peace groups. The situation is also complicated by the fact that much of the violence is within rather than between nation states making it more difficult for international organizations to intervene and international laws to apply. -How .can .the protection of the human person be improved in these situations? Are new standards needed, or is it really a question of better implementation of existing standards?

A third challenge is that the current deadly conflicts seem to be fed by a new resistance, on the part of both individuals and states, to any restraints. In the name of "sovereignty" and individual right, the mechanisms of communal obligation and of social/self-control previously provided by family, community, and nation have been steadily eroded. True, new collective instruments are being fashioned, of which industry codes of good conduct are a good example as are the multilateral agencies themselves, but their effectiveness is constantly being blocked by some of the most powerful countries and corporate interests. How can the international community gain access at an early stage so that situations do not have to erupt into conflict before they can be addressed? Can the concept of 'human security' become an effective counterweight to that of national security? Responses need to be found which are not politically driven and around which a new consensus can be built. We see great danger in the decline in influence of the UN's peace-keeping and peace-building functions. As the nation state wanes in the face of global culture and parochial interests, new structures will need to be brought forth which can protect the fundamental rights of people in groups and as individuals.

1 These include the American Friends Service Committee (US), Quaker Peace & Service (UK), Kvekerhjelp (Norway), Canadian Friends Service Committee (Canada) , Kvakarhjalpen (Sweden), and

others.

GOAL: The direction for the program, based on this analysis

The goal of the Global Quaker Program for Peace is to provide opportunities for people to solve problems nonviolently-through dialogue and participation in the decisions that affect them -as well as to promote new, positive alternatives to current inequities. In particular, we work toward: • an international system strengthened in its ability to be an effective force in

international conflict prevention, resolution , and healing; + regional networks of decision-makers who share perspectives and work to solve

regional conflicts together; • national policies that effectively address fundamental human needs rather than short

range national political interests; • ordinary people whose participation ensures just policies and security of livelihood.

ASSETS: What strengths we have to accomplish this goal.

Quaker agencies have been working for over 75 years to prevent violence or to heal the effects of violence after it has occurred. The Global Program grows out of this experience as well as the 300-year old commitment of the Religious Society of Friends to economic reform (fair wage, workers' rights) and social justice (women's rights, prison reform, abolition of slavery), measures that take "away the occasion of all wars".2 This long history has taught us invaluable lessons about effective and ineffective methods of conflict resolution.

Today, our assets are embodied in a world-wide program that operates at multiple levels.

1) At the international level, the Quaker UN Office in New York supports the General Assembly and the Security Council in their social and economic, finance and reform, and disarmament work; while the Quaker UN Office in Geneva works with the UN human rights and humanitarian bodies, the Conference on Disarmament, and the economic fora of UNCTAD, ILO, and the WTO. International-level representation is also done at the European Union and Council of Europe through the Quaker Council for European Affairs; and a similar body-the Washington Office-does the same vis-a-vis the US Congress, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. A new international-level presence is under consideration for two important sites: Ottawa where Canadian foreign policy is persuasive on indigenous rights and disarmament; and the Organization of African Unity in Addis Ababa which is facing severe challenges on regional economic cooperation, arms proliferation, and conflicts such as Sudan and the Congo.

2) At the regional level, Quaker Representatives (QIARs) are based in Africa, (Southern and East/Central), Asia (East and Southeast), East/Central Europe, Latin America (Caribbean, Central, and Andes), and the Middle East. These senior staff are responsible for analyzing economic, social and political issues in their regions, identifying points of leverage on these issues, and implementing activities to promote dialogue and problem-solving that will help forestall conflicts.

3) At the local level , community-based projects designed specifically to promote dialogue and resolve conflict at the grassroots, operate in several countries of East/Central Africa under the Change Agent Peace Program. Other such targeted work is under development in Indochina and elsewhere.

2 George Fox, 1651

Beyond this 'tri-level' capacity to address issues in an interconnected way, the staff of the Global Quaker Program for Peace can tie into other programs of the cooperating Quaker Service agencies. These programs include:

• Development projects. There are over 50 projects throughout the world which are designed to combat poverty, racism and social injustice. As needed, these projects can initiate or participate in dialogue and peace-related work, provide the Global Program with on-the-ground information and assessments that deepen their understanding of complex issues, help identify articulate local people who can represent issues at international fora, and particularly important, provide concrete experience in conflict resolution. These projects are scattered around the world and administered or supported by Quaker Service bodies in Australia, Germany, Ireland, Kenya, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, and Switzerland.

• Relief work. In crisis areas, Quaker relief projects deliver essential aid and support civil structures that are in danger of failing due to the emergency. Relevant to the Global Program, they also serve as an entry point for peace work, plus generate contacts and credibility with actors on different sides. Major relief-reconstructionreconciliation projects are currently underway in the Balkans (in follow-up to the Kosovo crisis and the earlier war in Bosnia; in Central America (following Hurricane Mitch), and in North Korea (related to the ongoing famine) .

• Educational & Advocacy programs. The Quaker service agencies have the capacity to provide schools, community groups, policy-makers and the general public with quality, balanced information through such programs as AFSC's Peace Education Division and US Regional Offices, and OPS' social responsibility work in the UK.

STRATEGY: How we use our assets to address global issues

The most effective way we see for Quaker agencies to respond to challenges of the scale and magnitude needed to significantly impact global violence is to: (1) strengthen the structures that already exist to promote dialogue and participation (such as the United Nations}, and assisting new ones to emerge where they do not yet exist, particularly at the local or regional levels; (2) support universal standards (such as those enshrined in the Declaration of Human Rights or the International Labor Organization's "core labor standards") with the hope that this will generate a renewed awareness of the common good and sense of social obligation; (3) identify and share alternatives that offer new models for addressing racism or building equitable economic systems-one way to approach the massive challenge posed by the social and economic concomitants of violence.

In that we have positioned ourselves in centers of international decision-making (the UN, the EU, etc.) and in areas of potential, current, past conflict, we have the capacity to act as connectors and facilitators, assisting critical actors bridge the gaps between them and obtain the perspectives and information they need to make good decisions.

It is our conviction, that when actors are thoroughly heard, properly informed, and perceive effective alternatives, they will choose a non-violent approach. And when the weaker parties to a conflict are strengthened so that all actors address each other from a position of equal power, the resulting resolution has a better chance of being sustainable.

The program's strategy for fostering participatory institutions is to expose international or regional decision-makers to the perspectives of those who are likely to be affected by their

decisions or to the views of specialists in the field . This entails finding the "right" person and carefully preparing the ground so that whats/he has to say is well-timed and persuasive. QUNO provides opportunities for regional spokespersons to be present at critical UN discussions, while regional QIARs ensure that representatives of the most vulnerable and socially marginalized (e.g. women, youth, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities) have a chance to participate in official meetings. In this way, we can assist Southern NGOs and civil society institutions as they lead the struggle for effective government institutions which will ultimately bear the responsibility for maintaining order or providing services for their citizens. D The program's strategy for promoting universal standards and fostering common

values (such as a consensus that non-violent/pro-justice approaches are not only viable but necessary) is to link "laterally" those who would not ordinarily have a chance to meet. People who are isolated within ethnic enclaves or who are divided from each other by religious, gender, or political barriers, more easily slip into "we/they" ways of thinking. Dialogues and exchanges between people and groups from different regions of the world speed the flow of information and strengthen their capacity to lead.

An example of lateral work comes from East Asia where we are acutely concerned with overcoming the division of the Korean peninsula and the militarization of the region. Relations between North and South Korea are still very tense, but they have been warming slightly and there are now possibilities for more engagement. In that the style of discourse has often unnecessarily inflamed relations among Koreans, we see one way to help these contacts get off to a good start is through preparing groups with conflict resolution and tolerance skills (such training is still virtually unknown here). The QIARs are working with four South Korean groups to plan a series of workshops in South Korea to train 25 peace activists in conflict resolution skills, with the potential for subsequent training among the Korean communities in China, Japan, and ultimately North Korea itself.

The program's strategy for identifying viable alternatives to current systems that violate basic human rights is by "vertically" linking individuals and groups at various levels-local, regional, international. Having a long-term presence at the grassroots level in Africa, Asia, East/Central Europe, Latin America/Caribbean and the Middle East offers the chance to identify and the potential to bring to scale local "visions" of an alternative future and local "experiments" in conflict resolution . Conversely, those at the base, who are often isolated and cut off from sources of information, can use our network to attract international attention and the strength of international law to bolster their causes.

For example, in the aftermath of the Central American civil wars of the 1980's and the adoption of harsh structural adjustment policies, peasant and indigenous farming communities were becoming even more vulnerable. The Quaker Representatives in Central America facilitated wide-ranging discussions among peasant groups on the impact of global economic changes and exploration of alternatives. The result was the COMAL network, a Honduran-based network for alternative community trade, and on a regional level, the RELAAC network, uniting similar initiatives in other Central American countries. COMAL mobilized public opinion and a show of strength recently by bringing 400 people to the capital to protest-and get reversal-a legislative maneuver to weaken an anti-corruption watchdog office. COMAL is pressing forward with a social enterprise model.

METHODS: Our method of conflict prevention/resolution

The Global Quaker Program for Peace differs from other conflict and human rights programs in that it focuses less on the immediate conflict itself and more on the factors feeding directly into it. Its low profile approach-"from the nameless to the nameless"-was cited when the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in 1947. The Quaker Representatives use the same general approach-dialogue-regardless of whether they are working at the international, regional or local levels. They specialize in:

+ identifying emerging issues, particularly those which are still at a point where hostility, polarization, or violence be prevented. Or alternatively , assessing 'pressure points' in current conflicts or post-conflict situations where intervention has some possibility of being effective.

+ seeking out and developing, over time, trustful relationships with key actors-actors on all sides. Quaker Representatives have traditionally worked with senior policymakers, but now increasingly with opinion-makers and shapers in civil society .

+ organizing one-on-one negotiations, off-the-record meetings and small conferences in an environment that is recognized as safe and confidential,

+ writing analytical pieces that present an ethical perspective and/or the viewpoints of those whose views are seldom heard or which might offer a new way forward.

+ providing opportunities for those affected to speak on their own behalf where critical decisions are being made that affect them. This involves a lengthy process of identifying, strengthening, and amplifying voices from the regions in which we work. In this way, we facilitate the growth of new international and regional leadership able and willing to engage in dialogue. It is also the source of fresh or unusual ideas for handling practical problems in non-violent, non-polarized ways. Our role is to find the right individuals, provide an appropriate forum, and encourage their efforts. It is these locally-conceived alternatives and visions that, we feel, offer the greatest hope.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

Administration

A strength of this program is that it can call on the human resources of the worldwide Quaker network of service agencies and Quaker religious bodies. Each of the participating Quaker agencies recruit, supervise and provide technical support to the programs under their own aegis. Because it is the largest and has the most staff engaged in the Global Quaker Program for Peace, AFSC has been managing the major core institutional grants, and taking responsibility for providing audits, financial reports and narrative reports to the donors.

The Quaker Representatives ("QIARs") are directly responsible for the planning, implementation, administration and financial management of their programs. The headquarters of the Quaker service agencies in Philadelphia, London, and Oslo provide oversight, assist the Quaker Representatives with program planning and evaluation, and facilitate communication and collaboration with other departments within the organization and with other organizations. In addition, for each region and each Quaker United Nations Office, area specialists provide further counsel with regard to program direction and priorities.

Planning

Planning for Quaker peace work is affected by several conditions. All activities emerge from dialogue in the region (or at the UN) and are implemented with regional partners. Therefore the ideas, priorities and schedules of these partners are an important part of the planning process. Activities in the near term can be identified more concretely and confidently than those in later years. It should also be noted that cooperation with socialist countries (e.g. Cuba, China, North Korea) involves a high level of uncertainty, both on the macro-political level and on the microplanning level. Our experience is that activities are agreed to one by one, with the following steps depending on the outcome of the prior one and on the overall political environment. Many of the proposed activities build directly on what has been done in the past year.

Financing

Financially, the Global Quaker work for Peace is treated as a single comprehensive program. Its support from institutional donors has been largely in the form of block grants. This approach minimizes administrative costs (which would otherwise have to be borne by each unit). There are other reasons as well:

• the effectiveness of the program rests largely on credibility and trust that has been generated over a long period of time. Abrupt changes can jeopardize these relationships. Short-term "projects" or funding priorities would not be appropriate for this type of long-term conciliation and facilitation work, as it can lead to inadequate preparation or failure to follow through with commitments

• block funding allows a degree of flexibility which enables it to take advantage of critical moments for action or emerging opportunities

• as the program is conceived of as a web of interlocking themes, units and activities, no single unit or type of activity is singled out (and therefore dependent on) a particular donor for support. This is important for those places and issues which are not popular with the public or have much political appeal. It ensures that the low-profile, developmental and behind-the-scenes work essential to conflict resolution is not sacrificed to work that is more visible, easily describable .. . and therefore easier to fund . (This is one of the reasons that the program does not accept funding from the U.S. government.)

Funding Strategy

Aware that funding for peace-related work is highly competitive at the present time, especially given the draw on international sources for Kosovo reconciliation and rehabilitation, the Quaker agencies cooperating in this program are looking to a multi-pronged funding strategy for the coming three years.

1. core funding. Maintain a "core funding" relationship with 3-5 major donor agencies who have helped ensure global interconnected work. Among these, increase the intensity of the partnership so that there is closer involvement and more frequent consultation in the design of key program features (e.g. public outreach in the North) and strategizing when major peace/justice issues emerge.

2. area-specific funding. Engage new donor partners within each of the regions to support geographical "cuts" of the program, i.e. all work related to that region, whether conducted by the international units (e.g. QUNO), the regional QIAR, or a local unit of the Global Program (or "tie-in" project of the wider Quaker service work). Such an example might be, the work related

to Central/East Africa being done at the OAU (or at the UN by the QUNOs), region-wide (by the QIAR), and at the local level (through the Change Agent Peace Program, or one of the local projects of QPS or Kvarkarhalpen).

Appendix "Ex-Combatants as Peacebuilders"

Project Report DEP #98-29E/C

Global Quaker Program for Peace: 2000-2002 7/99

Latin America and Caribbean Overview

Three programs in the Global Quaker Program for Peace operate in this region which extends from Mexico through South America; these are: the Andes QIAR, the Central America QIAR, and the Cuba/Caribbean QIAR. The latter two, although not new, have not been fully staffed before. Through the Global Program, issues of the region can be addressed at different levels. The QIAR programs draw on grassroots work-projects in social/economic development, relief, and advocacy-to inform their work across the region.

The priority of the Andean QIAR is supporting peacebuilding through regional coordination and cross-border dialogue among NGOs, youth, ethnic minority, and women's organizations facing human rights abuses. The work is done in partnership with national and regional organizations in the five countries. The Central America QIAR focuses on livelihood issues, particularly in relation to land rights and labor standards in export processing zones. It draws insights from the small peasant communities that are part of the innovative "COMAL" alternative marketing program, previous years of work with women in the maquila factories, the Central America Hurricane Mitch Relief and Reconstruction program with its close connections with local NGOs and other civil society groups in development policy-making. In Cuba and the Caribbean, the priority for QIAR work has been creation of a network that is geared to building "sustainable economies". Collaboration with the Quaker United Nations Offices will continue and grow on labor standards, development finance, alternative economic policies, and roles of the IFl's. Two specific projects will be pursued in collaboration with programs in the US: a) public education on the global economy and economic alternatives; b) building a hemispheric coalition or "Social Al liance" to explore an alternative development paradigm for the region . The rationale for this important work is as follows.

There is an alarming rise in violence and militarization, notably in the Andes region. Feeding into it are civil conflicts and insurgencies, drug cultivation and trafficking, government corruption, militarization of border areas, and emergence of shadow economies. More than two million persons have been displaced by this violence, with the burden falling heaviest on women and children. Pressures to stop drugs at the source is providing an excuse for increased US military presence and arms sales in the region-overlapping in complex ways with counter-insurgency and possibly setting the stage for direct US military intervention. Weak central governments and the rising power of paramilitary and insurgent groups is leading to de facto control of more territory and harsh measures against people who resist taking sides. For example, killings and displacement are increasing in Colombia, despite heroic non-violent efforts by many to curb the violence. We will be monitoring these issues and bolstering regional capacity to address the problems of violence during the next three years.

A lingering hemispheric problem of deep concern is the continued hostility between the US and Cuban governments. The Cuba/Caribbean QIAR program will focus both on US-Cuban relations and on assisting Cuban civil society organizations to develop and forge connections with counterparts in Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly on issues of sustainable development.

Although several countries in the region have good resources, labor, and industrial base, the pressures for jobs, markets and land, and the need for hard currency earnings are placing unmanageable demands on forests, fisheries, minerals and marginal agricultural lands. Not on ly does this compound the environmental crisis but it dashes the dreams of a large proportion of the people. Poverty is growing and inequalities are deepening ... and with this is the potential for violence. Because of this, one of the long term trends that the three QIAR programs in the region are observing closely are economic policy changes and their effects on the poor.


Some countries have changed their economic policies and regulations, thus bringing inflation under control and opening capital markets, stimulating economic growth and benefiting already prosperous enclaves and corporations. Yet those policies, over a number of years, have severely restricted spending on health, education, police and judicial reform, environmental protection and other vital responsibilities of effective governance. Latin American economies remain highly vulnerable to skittish investors in far away places, as the region struggles over its place in the global economy and relations with multilateral trade and finance institutions. Of particular importance in the next years will be negotiations on a U.S.-pushed 'Free trade in the Americas Pact' modeled on NAFTA, and the competing pressures within the region to stake out greater independence of the U.S. through MERCOSUR and other regional agreements, trading relations with the EU, and the progress of a new WTO round of negotiations. The search is on among a variety of actors in the region, including labor, NGOs, business groups, peasant and indigenous groups for creative and sustainable alternatives to the dominant "neo-liberal" model.

For the poor majorities of the region-particularly minorities of color- limited access to the means of livelihood is the key factor complicating their struggle to achieve basic rights. There is growing inequality by class, race, gender, ethnicity and geography--within nations and across borders and regions. Criminal violence and personal security are gut issues prompting many, even across class lines, to call for extreme authoritarian measures, such as suspending civil liberties and wider use of the death penalty. The number of prisoners held in inhuman conditions grows daily. The indigenous peoples of the region are more organized and internationally active for their rights than ever, yet a huge gap remains between that effort and a real impact on protection of local land, resources and culture.

One positive trend over the last decade has been a virtual explosion of local grass roots groups and NGOs who are defending basic rights and an unprecedented emergence of NGO/civil society/labor alliances which are generating ideas and action on basic rights issues. The QIARs now have gained considerable credibility with local groups for their behind-the-scenes support, and are well-placed to work with them on some particularly difficult issues.

Another positive trend is the new respect for and awareness of multilateralism, as people see the importance of international law and treaties and UN Conventions for setting·norms to which nations and peoples can aspire and around which movements can organize. QIARs, at times together with QUNO-Geneva, are going to be putting major attention into work on land, livelihood, and basic labor standards. But the undermining of the UN system so evident over the past years particularly through US actions is also of concern, and the need to strengthen support for and engagement with the many important UN offices and instruments (including the Beijing, Copenhagen, Vienna, Rio and Cairo processes) is evident for QIAR work in Latin America and the Caribbean over the next several years.

Global Quaker Program for Peace: 2000-2002

Andean QIAR Program Workplan: Year 2000+

Situation Analysis

7/99

The region is experiencing deepening poverty and growing inequalities of wealth and income. There is an increase in violent struggles for control of land and resources affecting communities particu larly in river basins such as the Amazon and Magdalena Medio which are rich in natural resources - minerals, genetic wealth, forests, -- as well as areas of coca and marijuana production. These areas, as well as border regions are highly militarized. In addition, there are the struggles of anti-insurgents and insurgents, the expansion of paramilitary groups, militias and armed youth gangs. There appears to be increasing risk of a regionalization and expansion of the internal war which is being fought in Colombia.

Over the last four years, the Andean QIARs have concentrated their efforts on: • political and economic violence resulting from economic transformations and the struggle to

take control of valuable land and natural resources. This violence has resulted in massive displacement within the region, many times threatening ethnic groups who have traditionally occupied these lands and migration outwards.

• the exclusion of ethnic groups (Black and indigenous) from the center of decision making which affects their lives, and their limited access to development opportunities

• inadequate inclusion of and coordination among youth in organizations working for social change in the region and more broadly,

• inadequate support to non-violent efforts to guarantee access to the full range of human rights on the national , regional and global level.

Vision

The Andean QIAR program seeks to promote peace and the exercise by all peoples of the full spectrum of human rights-civil , political, economic, social and cultural rights. QIARs contribute to the regional understanding of the causes of violence and hold up methods to transform the underlying conflicts with justice and equity.

Strategy

The QIARs focus on national problems which have a regional dimension and vice versa. Their work requires analyses of the causes of and responses to conflict and violence and ways of moving towards a lasting peace. From the perspective of overcoming violence, the Andean QIARs respond to different national contexts: • Countries where conflicts are concentrated in particular areas, especially borders, but with

the risk that there might be an expansion of armed violence through the creation of new theaters of multinational military operations (Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru).

• Countries experiencing active internal conflicts (Colombia). Colombia's internal war which has continued for more than 30 years increases in violence, even as the peace initiative struggles to survive. Recent kidnapping of the head of the Parliament's Human Rights Commission, in order to win a place at the peace negotiations, is indicative of the levels of violence which have become common and which must be lowered if any progress is to occur.

• Countries where there is a post conflict situation (Peru and Ecuador) and where obtaining a lasting peace depends on substantial effort and support to the society as a whole so that each sector can work together, developing new ways of dialogue and solidarity.

• Countries with military programs promoted by the United States presumably to fight the drug war through eradication of coca and cocaine production. (Bolivia, Peru, Colombia)


In these situations, QIARs respond in a variety of ways, including monitoring of situations through media, local organizations and interviews of persons on the scene, exchanging information and analysis with key actors, including UN offices and major human rights organizations, writing for local and international audiences, arranging binational or regional meetings, connecting grassroots groups, NGOs and networks for dialogue, building solidarity and developing advocacy strategies, helping arrange speaking tours, and providing accompaniment and encouragement where needed.

The QIARs work with the democratic organizations of the civil society of the Andean countries, especially of second and third level--non-governmental organizations and defenders of human rights. They initiate or join national and regional groups to develop national and regional proposals based on the principle that regional exchange, dialogue and advocacy have a positive impact and strengthen peace-building and democratization on the national level. The QIARs analyze their capacities and limitations, the potential for peace building initiatives and ways to support democratization processes. At the same time, they look at ways to break the chains of inequality, exclusion and conflict. The QIARs give special importance to youth participation in movements, which propose solutions and foster the emergence from the youth of new forms of leadership-leadership that is more democratic, shared and in solidarity.

For the year 2000 and beyond, QIAR work will center on these broad themes: • Violence in the region and conflict resolution • The rights of migrant and displaced people and workers in border areas, both within

their countries and in the countries to which they have moved. • Collective territorial rights of Indigenous, Black and other ethnic groups • Youth participation in social movements addressing peace building and citizenship.

Gender and diversity cut across all of the regional themes, as does the vertical integration from grassroots to international work. Since global forums within and outside the United Nations provide opportunities for citizens to compare international and national norms and to move forward respect for the rights of all, the program promotes participation in such forums.

Objectives and Activities

Objective 1. Build regional awareness of and strategies for addressing problems of violence and for promoting resolution of conflicts in the region. The poverty and exclusion generated or exacerbated by the economic reforms of the "neoliberal" model has led to violation of economic, social and cultural rights of Andean peoples. The result has been massive migration and the degradation of agro-ecological areas. Programs of structural adjustment have excluded large sectors from employment and the minimum income to cover basic necessities. Civil conflicts, both recent and on-going have worsened the violence and spread arms.

Activities under objective 1 : a) The Andean QIARs will initiate a Consultative Group (Observatorio Participativo), in

which they will work with key persons in the region to evaluate in shared, interinstitutbnal space, paths toward the resolution of the principal regional conflicts. This will be not only a mechanism for constructing knowledge from within the region, but of observing and studying these processes so as to strengthen the democratic initiatives and conflict resolution efforts within the region

b) The Consultative Group will undertake the following activities: • select regional themes to follow (not emergency situations) • meet periodically in different locations in the region


• include participants from different disciplines (culture, gender, people committed to peace-building and human rights) • share information and opinions on a cross-cutting theme or particular situation • develop a joint analysis and recommendations, which might include research or advocacy, depending on the capacities of the individuals • develop a strategy for carrying out specific missions • program inter-institutional missions to identify themes critical for peacebuilding and human rights

c) QIARs will assure that analyses and recommendations are shared in the north, particularly through the AFSC office in Washington, D.C. and the Quaker United Nations offices in New York and Geneva, but also with other NGOs and networks in the US, Canada, Europe and other countries.

Objective 2. Promote regional and national strategies for addressing Internal displacement and international migration, and human mobility in frontier areas. Rights of migrant and border populations continue to be violated due to inadequate political and juridical frameworks. The International Convention on the Rights of Migrants and their Families is on hold and being discussed by few organizations. Only seven countries are attempting to advance this legal instrument which would benefit millions forced to migrate in search of security, jobs, education and would offer protection for other unsatisfied rights. As a result of armed conflict in Colombia, nearly 5 million people have been displaced since 1940, almost 2 million in the last two years. In Peru there are one million displaced, and double that number if one considers the resistance communities, the displaced who are returning and those who have become integrated in the areas to which they fled. Migrants, displaced and those living in border areas are vulnerable as they attempt to integrate themselves as citizens into social, economic and cultural spaces, whether new or old ones. Women and children have been the sector most affected.

Activities under objective 2:

Objective 3.

a) Working with the groups most affected, promote inter-institutional and bi-national proposals to the problems of forced displacement following decades of internal war, especially in Colombia and Peru.

b) Share information and organize meetings and workshops that build the capacity of grassroots and non-governmental organizations to resolve conflicts and advocate with the state for measures, policies and programs that respond to the needs of the displaced.

c) Share reports and analysis with the Migration Network of AFSC and with the Quaker United Nations Office in New York to support its work for UN adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Migrants and their Families.

d) Monitor patterns of discrimination and human rights abuses directed against international migrants from the Andean region to the southern cone.

Promote the development of political power and the exercise of citizenship by indigenous, blacks and other ethnic groups living along the coasts, and border areas of the region. in the Andes, the Amazon. Many indigenous and black communities of the region have been affected by the economic policies which promote the sale of common ancestral territories, in denial of their protected status. Such denial would lead to the purchase of these lands by petroleum, lumber, livestock and other multinational companies and the gradual extinction of these land based peoples and their culture. There is a significant black population located in frontier areas of the five countries and on the edges of other sub regions (e.g. Aymara in the borders between Bolivia, Peru and Chile).


Activities under objective 3: a) Organize, with local and regional groups, a series of meetings, workshops and other

activities to build democratic institutions, support empowerment, exercise of leadership and citizen participation among indigenous, black and multicultural communities, both urban and rural.

b) Produce information and analysis about the situation and struggle of black minority groups in the Andes, and sponsor speaking tours in different regions of the U.S., in Philadelphia, at the Washington, D.C. office and at QUNO, New York.

c) In Ecuador and Colombia QIARs will accompany, and assist with initiatives of local organizations and leaders, in several areas: institutional development of black community organizations; preparation of culturally appropriate educational materials; recognition of their ancestral territories and termination of discrimination.

d) The OIARs will explore and promote exchanges between different black movements, with or without territorial bases (the case of the majority of Blacks in Peru), on themes of culture, movement-building, and racial discrimination.

e) Work with black organizations in the region and with the Quaker United Nations Office and other Quaker agency programs in preparation for the UN world conference on racism planned for 2001 .

f) Support specific projects identified and prioritized in the periodic binational meetings of Peruvian and Ecuadoran black organizations organized with QIAR assistance .

g) In Peru, assist with strategies for the peasant communities to address the post conflict situation and in the context of legal changes which affect their land base (neoliberal the QIAR works with indigenous peoples through CONDECOREP, an organization of displaced and the Peasant Federation of Peru(CCP).

Objective 4. Support bi-national and regional youth organizations and movements in their efforts to promote respect for basic rights, peace and demilitarization and exercise of citizenship. In the last two years youth in the region have begun to open new spaces for expressing citizenship, making demands on government and proposing ways to achieve a more equitable society. Unemployment and the lack of educational opportunities, the crisis of cultural identity, the impact of transnational communication, militarization and authoritarianism have hit youth hard. There are several distinct types of youth moyements-cultural and music groups, peace and reconciliation groups in countries experiencing internal conflict (Colombia), conscientious objectors to obligatory military service (Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela), youth for the defense of democratic institutions, youth defenders of the rights of youth and children (Ecuador and Peru). These groups are generally disconnected across the region, which makes it very difficult for them to adequately assess the international forces affecting their lives and the joint national or regional strategies that they might undertake.

Activities under objective 4: a) Support youth in Peru and Ecuador with a bi-national meeting, to follow up on QIAR

assisted activities carried out since 1995 to focus on strategies for conscientious objection and demilitarization and other issues arising from the long-standing border conflict between .the two countries.

b) Facilitate the sharing with youth networks in Latin America and the Caribbean the experiences of a national campaign opposing the forced recruitment of youth for military service, which led to June 1999 legislation making military service in Peru voluntary. Work with Peruvian NGOs, CEAPAZ and IDL, in monitoring compliance.

c) Work with the QUNO-New York office and other program units to mobilize youth participation in the UN world conference on racism to be held in 2001


d) Follow-up, as needed, on QIAR work done in 1999 to bring an end to use of children as soldiers, in coordination with the QUNO-Geneva office which is a prime mover of the International Coalition to End the Use of Child soldiers

e) Utilize the results of QIAR-sponsored analyses of the situation of youth organization in Peru and Ecuador to bolster regional youth networking and training and advocacy efforts.

f) Assist, as needed, AFSC work with sister organizations in Mexico, Brazil and Chile, to develop a Latin American School for Youth Leaders.

The following is expected to be achieved by the year 2000: 1. Stronger and more effective regional NGOs and networks;

2. greater regional and international attention to and actions on behalf of displaced persons and migrants;

3. heightened awareness of and responses to the struggles of black and other ethnic minorities for cultural and territorial integrity and respect for their rights;

4. greater regional collaboration among youth organizations and movements on issues of militarization and exercise of citizenship.


Central America QIAR Program Workplan: Year 2000+

Summary

7/99

Land and labor issues are at the heart of economic, social and political problems in Central America. At the same time, these two issues have not received the attention they deserve because of their complexity and the danger incurred by working on them. The QIAR program in Central America, underway in the fall of 1999 will, in 2000 and over the following two years, devote particular attention to efforts to develop resolutions to land problems and to construct frameworks for the respect of rights of workers in the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) industries.

Situation Analysis

"Post-conflict" Central America is a misnomer. By taking the struggles of the 1970s and 1980s in Central America as the defining point in time for the isthmus, the label suggests that the history that came before is of little importance. In doing so, it pays little attention to issues and trends that have been present in Central and Latin America for centuries, and which continue to play a major role in the problems of poverty, violence and crime, lack of access to basic services, increasing polarization of wealth , and the lack of respect for human rights.

Two issues in particular stand out as timeless keys to understanding continuing conflicts in these societies, and are at the core of questions about social, cultural and economic rights and potential. These are land and labor. For centuries , the confiscation of land and the forced drafting of indigenous persons and peasants to work to produce profits for others under arduous conditions have been at the core of struggles in Central and Latin America. The control of land and employment was a main source of economic and political power, and the forcible loss of or lack of access to land by increasing numbers of people in the 1800s and 1900s led to a process of marginalization and migration to the urban areas where opportunities for employment were limited.

The conflicts over land and labor were central to the rise of revolutionary movements in Central America in the 1970s and 1980s. Beginning at the turn of the century, "enclave" economies such as the US-owned banana sector took over large tracts of fertile land, led to major US intervention in the social and political struggles, and eventually spawned combative labor unions. Land tenure became increasingly skewed as large landowners, backed by a development ideology that preached the efficiency of large-scale production for export, took over increasing amounts of land and mechanized production. As peasants and indigenous groups were driven to the marginal lands of the hillsides and to the cities as "surplus labor," exacerbated by a high population growth rate, they began to form peasant unions to resist the seizing of their lands and to press for land reform. The repression with which they were met, and the turning to other forms of resistance explains to a large degree the civil wars that resulted in the isthmus.

The Peace Accords have not changed the basic structure of the conflicts surrounding land and labor, which , if anything, have gotten even worse. An ideology of the commodification of land and the creation of land markets, bolstered by the "neoliberal" ideology sweeping the globe, has replaced that of the social function of land and land reform, wiping out the legal and conceptual tools traditionally used by the peasant organizations in their struggles. In this context, the legacy of de facto control over land seized in the past and the thousands of legal conflicts over land as a result of ambiguous and conflicting claims to particular parcels, have created a situation in which the powerful can more easily use their economic, political and paramilitary might to consolidate and extend their land holdings at the expense of the peasants and indigenous groups.


To work on land issues in the face of this complicated, and dangerous, situation requires a longterm commitment, experience at the grassroots level with groups working on alternatives, a willingness to enter into dialogue with powerful groups and individuals, and the ability to tap into actors at the regional and international arenas with interest in the many varied social, economic, and political land-related issues. There are few if any organizations that can, or will , take on this task. And yet, without improvements in the way that land is registered , distributed and used, there is little hope for an increase in the welfare of the majority of the people and for the creation of flourishing democratic societies.

The land problems bear a direct relationship on labor problems in Central America. The situation of scarcity and tenuous tenure creates a situation of poverty that leads to a constant flow of people into the cities and urban areas looking for opportunities. However, their prospects for employment beyond the huge informal economy are small. Increasingly, the single largest sources of jobs is a more modern type of "enclave" economy, that found in the assembly or "maquila" industries in the Export Processing Zones (EPZs).

Unlike the old enclaves, the EPZ industries are children of a more sophisticated and intensely globalized system, who can pick up and move in a matter of days in search of better profits. Employing mostly women, the Export Processing Zone industries have enormous leverage over the local governments because of the jobs they provide and the ease with which they can move from one country to another. Their leverage is increased by the pool of low-wage labor provided by those migrating to the city and the dependence a large number of people have on one wageearner: and many of the EPZ workers send portions of their wages to help their families and relatives survive in the countryside.

As a result, the enforcement of labor codes is virtually non-existent, and the working conditions for these laborers are often unhealthy and inhumane. The labor unions, severely weakened by the structural adjustment programs adopted by the governments of Central America that eliminated the government jobs from which they drew most of their strength, have shown little interest in taking on the difficult task of organizing women in the Export Processing Zone industries. Moreover, they have entered into bitter conflicts with newly formed organizations of EPZ women laborers who are not as interested in using traditional union methods in relating to ownership. On the other hand, international organizations that have taken up their cause are more often than not faced with concern, if not outright hostility, by EPZ workers worried that they will lose their jobs.

Working with Export Processing Zone workers to protect their rights, therefore, is a complex task that again requires experience and trust with the workers themselves, a willingness to enter into dialogue with EPZ industry owners, and the capacity to work at the regional and international arena with multilateral and non-governmental groups that are searching for frameworks that will bring about the best result. While there are some groups working at each of these levels, there are few, if any, that can work on all of these levels at once and take advantage of the learning experiences with each set of actors to improve its work with all concerned.

Goal

The goal of the QIAR program in Central America over the next three years is to work towards ensuring that Central Americans, particularly the most vulnerable, have access to the main means of social and economic production and reproduction (land in the rural areas and jobs in the urban areas) in a way that respects their dignity and health. The QIAR program will devote particular attention to supporting efforts to develop resolutions to land problems, and to supporting the construction of frameworks for the respect of rights of workers in the Export Processing Zone industries.


Strategy

The AFSC has a long history of working with grassroots groups in the United States and around the world in issues of human rights, development, and peace and social justice. It has been able to draw on its experience with the grassroots all over the world to bring grassroots efforts in closer touch with each other throughout the world, and to inform the policy-oriented work of Quaker United Nations Offices in Geneva and New York, and vice-versa. Quaker Representatives (QIARs) have played a key role in linking the grassroots and national and international political levels geared towards the resolution of internal and external conflicts, building long-term dialogue between different actors at the national and international levels, and supporting the creation and accompaniment of social movements working towards more just societies.

In Central America, AFSC has had field programs at the grassroots since the 1960s, and QIAR representatives in the region since the 1970s. AFSC's work in the 1970s and 1980s focused on supporting the struggles of peasant, labor, human rights, women, and indigenous organizations in the face of severe repression, including support for the creation of region-wide labor and peasant organizations. As a result, AFSC gained a deep trust among these "popular" groups, a trust it maintains today. In the early 1990s, the QIAR played a unique role in bringing together representatives of business and labor groups in El Salvador as a way to facilitate the promotion of a peaceful resolution to the civil war in that country. Also in the early 1990s, AFSC supported the formation of a network of women's organizations in Honduras, and their successful efforts to promote legislation against domestic violence.

The myriad of contacts that have been developed over the decades in Central America in coordination with its institutional resources have allowed the organization to build on its previous work in creative ways. In the last five years, AFSC sponsored the creation of the COMAL network in Honduras of women, peasant, church, and other groups to focus on community marketing linking together marginal producers and consumers. Through counterpart organizations in El Salvador and Guatemala it has supported the protection and promotion of consumer rights in health, the training of community health agents, and the opening of "popular pharmacies" in rural areas. It has also been working closely with groups and networks that support women workers in Export Processing Zone industries in Central America, has promoted links with similar groups in Mexico, and has facilitated contacts for these groups with the International Labor Organization. Finally, through its extensive Reconstruction Program put into place after Hurricane Mitch, AFSC is working in Central America on a large number of projects in material aid, disease prevention, relocation and infrastructure, economic reactivation, and information, research, and participatory processes, tying these in as much as possible to the longer term work on land and labor issues that forms a part of this proposal.

The QIAR work in Central America has sought to bring groups into dialogue and accompany the creation and strengthen ing of social movements of the marginalized, geared towards the resolution of conflictive situations in a way that will open the doors for economic and social justice. The work on labor and land issues over the next three years will continue with these methods.

Objectives and Activities The activities for the year 1999-2000 are listed under each objective.

Objective 1.


Improve relationships and understanding between unions and other organizations working with Export Processing Zone workers by creating the conditions for, and carrying out, dialogue on the best way to ensure their rights.

Activities under objective 1 : a) Maintain regular contact and discussion over issues and work plans with non-union

groups and unions working with or interested in working with Export Processing Zone workers in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, nurturing existing contacts and relationships and developing new ones.

b) Facilitate and sponsor informal and formal meetings, conferences, and seminars among these non-union groups and unions around issues of common concern related to the Export Processing Zone workers .

c) Building on the above processes, begin to encourage, identify and act on opportunities to bring together non-union groups and unions to engage in dialogue on how to work together on issues of common concern related to the Export Processing Zone workers.

Objective 2. Create the conditions for a process of dialogue with the Export Processing Zone industry owners around the legitimate rights, aspirations, and standards of the workers in Central America, and set into motion this process.

Activities under objective 2: a) Sponsor a QIAR/QUNO consultation on Export Processing Zones in Honduras in

the fall of 1999 that will bring together representatives of non-union groups, unions and Export Processing Zone industry owners from Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, representatives of Northern businesses that purchase products from these industries, representatives of the International Labor Organization, and representatives of government to identify and discuss issues of major concern.

b) Building on this initial meeting, maintain and develop regular contacts with owners of the Export Processing Zone industries, and facilitate and sponsor informal and formal meetings, conferences, and seminars among these Export Processing Zone industry owners on issues of common concern related to the Export Processing Zone workers.

c) Building on the above processes, begin to encourage, identify and act on opportunities to bring together worker related groups and EPZ owners to engage in dialogue on how to work together on issues of common concern related to the Export Processing Zone workers .

Objective 3. Help to facilitate the development of frameworks of legislation and agreements at the national and international level to monitor and enforce workers' rights in the Export Processing Zones, making sure this is done with input from civil society organizations working with EPZ workers and EPZ workers themselves.

Activities under objective 3 a) In coordination with QUNO, the Peace and Justice Units of AFSC, and AFSC's regional

offices in the United States, maintain regular contact and discussion over issues, trends, work plans, activities, and research with the International Labor Organization, grassroots organizations in the United States, representatives of government in Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala, and representatives of the Central American Parliament and affiliated institutions involved in EPZ issues, nurturing existing contacts and relationships and developing new ones.


b) Sponsor a QIAR/Quaker United Nations consultation on Export Processing Zones in Honduras in the fall of 1999 that will bring together representatives of non-union groups, unions and Export Processing Zone industry owners from Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, representatives of Northern businesses that purchase products from these industries, representatives of the International Labor Organization, and representatives of the governments to identify and discuss issues of major concern .

c) Drawing on the information related to activities, trends, and proposals gleaned from the various actors and institutions, share this information as appropriate with other actors with a special emphasis of facilitating the inclusion of the views of local non-union groups and unions in the discussions that occur at other levels. In particular, look for opportunities to support the participation of these local groups in international fora.

Objective 4. Support incipient efforts at the local level to survey and catalogue the range of land problems in Central America, the searches for alternatives, and increase the level of contacts, information, and collaboration between groups in Central America interested in the issue.

Activities under objective 4 a) Maintain regular contact and discussion over issues, work plans, and activities with

local level groups and national, regional and international institutions engaged in researching and cataloguing land tenure and land use in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, nurturing existing contacts and relationships and developing new ones.

b) Encourage, identify, and act on opportunities to facilitate and sponsor informal and formal meetings, conferences, and seminars among and between these groups at the local, national, regional and international level to discuss issues of common concern and to give publicity to research and registries that have been carried out.

Objective 5. Form formal and/or informal groups of lawyers and legal advisors to indigenous and campesino groups that will help them to successfully carry forth their struggle on land issues in the justice and legislative system at the local, national, and international level.

Activities under objective 5: a) Maintain regular contact and discussion with lawyers and judges engaged in legal

and legislative processes related to land issues and indigenous and campesino groups struggling for land rights in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, nurturing existing contacts and relationships and developing new ones.

b) Encourage, identify, and act on opportunities to facilitate and sponsor informal and formal meetings, conferences, and seminars among and between these groups at the local, national and regional level to discuss issues of common concern .

c) Building on these processes, begin to encourage and facilitate the creation of groups of legal advisors to indigenous and campesino groups at the local, national, and regional level.

Objective 6. Bring the above indigenous, campesino and professional groups into dialogue with the land

owning sectors of society, national, regional and international government and multilateral institutions, and with national and international business groups who are interested in land purchases in Central America, to engage in dialogue over alternatives to land tenure problems.


Activities under objective 6: a) Develop contacts and relationships with representatives of land-owning sectors in

Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, and exchange perspectives and ideas over land issues in these countries.

b) Building on the above processes, encourage, identify, and act on opportunities to bring together in informal and formal meetings, conferences, and seminars indigenous, campesino, lawyers, landowning sectors, and national , regional and international government and multilateral institution representatives to discuss issues of land tenure and alternatives.

At the end of the year 2000, we expect, in relation to the labor issues, to 1. have established regular fora for discussion between local organizations working

with and for Export Processing Zone workers

2. have created the conditions for working on establishing spaces of discussion between these groups and the EPZ industry owners

3. have established and enhanced existing channels of input of local groups into the formulation of activities, work plans, and proposals in non-government, government, and multilateral institutions working at the national, regional and international levels.

In relation to land issues, we expect to 1. have supported the organization, production, publicizing and use of a range of land

research and registries in such a way as to support the respect for and protection of the land rights of indigenous and peasant groups

2. have created the bases for the formation and strengthening of groups of lawyers and legal advisors to indigenous and peasant groups

3. have created the conditions for beginning the process of bringing together nongovernmental, private, governmental, and multilateral groups to discuss land issues and look for alternatives


Cuba/Caribbean QIAR Program Workplan: Year 2000+

Summary

7/99

Beginning in the Fall of 1999 and during 2000 the Global Program's work in Cuba and the Caribbean will be in a period of transition. The focus of the Cuba program will shift somewhat to a greater emphasis on follow-up to the major themes of the June 1998 conference, "Ethics and the Culture of Development: Buildings A Sustainable Economy," co-organized by AFSC and the Felix Varela Center in Havana, with UNESCO assistance. At the same time, an exploratory process of research and wide consultation will be undertaken in the Caribbean to lay the groundwork for a Caribbean QIAR program, to begin late in the year 2000 or in early 2001. One important facet of that program will likely be on Cuba and its role and relations as a Caribbean nation. In the following sections, the upcoming plans for QIAR work in Cuba and the Caribbean are briefly outlined.

Situation Analysis

The nations of the Caribbean have been buffeted by the global changes of the last decade. A region of tremendous linguistic, racial and ethnic diversity, the Caribbean has tried , but with limited success, to form effective bodies for regional cooperation. Ties to present or former colonial powers play an important role in the push and pull of the region between the US and Europe, as for example in the recent dispute over bananas which threatens Caribbean producers. As a primary pathway for traffic in illegal drugs from South American producer countries to markets in the United States, many countries have experienced rising corruption and crime rates, as well as the consequent increase in militarization. Formal electoral democracy is the norm, but in Haiti, for example, a political paralysis is increasing economic distress for the poor majority.

The close of this decade will mark 40 years of the Cuban Revolution and a period nearly as long--spanning eight US Presidencies-of broken relations, mutual hostility and suspicion between the governments of Cuba and the United States. One of the hallmarks of this era is that while the United States has isolated itself from Cuba through its policies, most of the other nations of the world and their institutions of civil society have forged broad and durable cultural, economic and political ties with the Island, not always smoothly, but nearly always engaged. It is noteworthy, however, that in mid-1999 Cuba is under increased international pressure on human rights issues, and is reacting defensively. This heightens the many challenges Cuba faces as it engages with the changing world economy and struggles with questions of social cohesion and citizen desires to sustain health and education systems along with equity in economic growth.

Goal

The over-arching goal of the Cuba QIAR program has been the opportunity for full, open and reciprocal diplomatic, economic, political and cultural relations between Cuba and the other nations of the world and its multilateral institutions, along with normalization of relations between the Governments of the United States and Cuba, a normalization which includes broad reconciliation between the peoples of the two countries. With regard to the Caribbean QIAR, the goal is establishment of a QIAR program addressing regional issues of economic distress and militarization.


Strategy

AFSC has a long history of work in the Caribbean, ranging from programs in Cuba and Haiti over decades, to support for Puerto Rican decolonization and self-determination. Over the last 20 years the role of the United States military in the region has been a focus of research and advocacy efforts. AFSC's program in Puerto Rico devolved into the Caribbean Project for Justice and Peace, part of whose work was to bridge the geographic and language barriers of the Caribbean around issues of peace and demilitarization and economic justice.

With regard to the Caribbean focus of a new QIAR program, the program must develop on the basis of the Caribbean reality. However, special attention will be paid to possible overlap of issues with the Andean and Central America QIAR programs, and prospects for inter-regional collaboration. Among possible themes are militarization and the "drug war", basic rights and displacement/migration with Andean QIARs, and labor rights in Export Processing Zones with the Central America QIAR program. Additional attention will be paid to collaboration with QUNO offices. Pending program development, committee action, and secure funding, such a program might begin in the year 2000

Objectives and Activities

Objective 1. To strengthen non-governmental organizations as a positive force in Cuba and in Cuba's evolving understanding of the role of civil society.

Activities under objective 1: a) Assist with the institutional development of Cuban NGOs and their efforts to build

international contacts and projects, through exchanges, trainings, and sharing of information and analysis with governmental and non-governmental bodies in the US and Cuba.

Objective 2. To er1courage in Cuba, in collaboration with local partners, exploration of economic policy options that encourage sustainable and equitable development.

Activities under objective 2: a) Support the work of partner organization, the Cintra Felix Varela, in forging a

Cuban-based network for building a sustainable economy, through facilitation of exchanges, trainings, seminars, conferences, and flows of information between Cuban network participants and collaborating groups around the country.

b) Assist the Centro Felix Varela in forging international linkages for its work on sustainable economy, including organizing delegations, research missions, training seminars, and memberships in international organizations.

Objective 3. To provide information and analysis to po/icy-makers and the US public in order to encourage challenges to and constructive changes in US policy towards Cuba.

Activities under objective 3: a) Collaborate with AFSC's Washington office in the US to press for change in US policy

towards Cuba, in particular for an end to sanctions and restrictions on people-to-people contacts.

Objective 4.


Initiate exploration for the Caribbean portion of the QIAR Program, collaborating with the Caribbean Project for Justice and Peace and other organizations with which the program has historic ties.

Activities under objective 4: a) Examine in the exploration such themes and issues as the following :

• small island economies and their prospects in the face of market liberalization and regional trade pacts; status of policies and programs encouraging sustainable economy over the medium and longer term

• regional cooperation and integration • Europe/Caribbean and US/Caribbean dynamics • crime, physical security and criminal justice • basic rights • narcotics trafficking and militarization • US military bases in the Caribbean • Caribbean relations with Mesoamerica and South America, both governmental

and non-governmental • The state of civil society and representative organizations and networks • Haiti's role in the Caribbean • Cuba, the US and the Caribbean • Export Processing Zones in the Caribbean

b) Hold regional seminars on economic and militarization issues, both to explore the issues and provide a basis for a work plan for the Caribbean QIAR program

Excerpts from GLOBAL QUAKER PROGRAM for PEACE

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