New York, 26 March 2007 – Democratic Dialogue – A Handbook for Practitioners was launched today at a seminar in New York.
The book is the joint product of three international organizations – International IDEA, the United Nations Development Programme, the Organization of American States – and the Canadian national development assistance agency (CIDA).
Democratic dialogue strengthens democratic institutions by providing citizens with the opportunity to voice their concerns, needs and interests – especially people who are normally disempowered from expressing themselves. The Democratic Dialogue Handbook provides a practical guide for how to organize, facilitate and assess dialogue processes. The book demonstrates clearly how dialogue works and how it can make a difference in the pursuit of peace, development and democratic governance. It presents different options for carrying out a successful dialogue process and analyzes what has been learnt from previous examples of democratic dialogue throughout the world to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Examples are drawn from experiences from Guatemala, Mauritania and Nepal.
Key messages of the handbook include:
- Dialogue can be an effective tool for social change.
- Dialogue is not a panacea and may be inappropriate in some contexts or situations.
- Dialogue is an emerging field of study and practice, and a lot more effort must be devoted to evaluating and learning from ongoing work.
- Dialogue processes can succeed when they are well planned and organized: they should not be improvised.
- Dialogue makes the most difference when linked with institutions and other power structures.
Dialogue is a participatory, inclusive process to help solve complex social, economic and political issues that existing institutions and formal channels are not adequately addressing. It fosters understanding among participants and seeks to identify new options and develop shared visions while promoting a culture of participation and democracy.
The Handbook also cautions that dialogue can be a complex political process influenced by many factors: “the human factor” plays a significant role in democratic dialogue yet is often the least predictable influence of all.
As the former Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General, Lakhdar Brahimi, writes in the foreword of the Handbook:
“The best plan, carefully based on the best information available, will still have to pass the test of the reality on the ground”.
Representatives of the UN Secretariat, Funds and Agencies present in New York, as well as missions, civil society organizations, foundations, universities and the media participated in the seminar to launch the book. Speakers included: Director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, Rebeca Grynspan; Secretary to the Peruvian National Accord, Mr Max Hernandez; Foreign Policy Coordinator of the African National Congress, South Africa, Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim; CIDA’s Policy Adviser, John Lobsinger; and International IDEA’s Director of Operation, Andrew Ellis (see speech).
