About the RRN
To support the overall development of its work on reconciliation, in October 2004 IDEA convened the first meeting of the Reconciliation Expert Network (REN) in Ottawa, Canada and hosted by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The main objectives of the network were defined as:
- to promote the exchange of policy-oriented thinking, practical experience and critical perspectives among the global community of reconciliation policymakers and practitioners
- To identify issues deserving of further attention and analysis by IDEA and/or other relevant actors
In line with these objectives the REN brought together a small but diverse group of experts and practitioners from three principal constituencies:
- Contributors to the IDEA Reconciliation Handbook Reconciliation after Violent Conflict
- Practitioners involved in different ways in IDEA-sponsored reconciliation programmes in the field
- Selected reconciliation researchers and academics.
The second REN meeting, held in Stockholm in March 2006, focused on current reconciliation challenges in South Asia and Sri Lanka in particular. In addition, it was decided to give the network a public profile in the form of a new dedicated website known as the Reconciliation Resource Network (RRN). With funding from the Swiss Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs work on setting up the site was initiated in summer 2006 with a view to launching the RRN in early 2007.
Addressed to the diverse and geographically dispersed community of reconciliation practitioners, analysts and policy makers, the RRN is intended to serve as an online forum for sharing information, best practices, links and other resources. In addition the RRN provides a forum for structured, searchable discussion of emerging issues, challenges and trends in the field of reconciliation.
