Guidelines for organizing national conference for democratic change in Eritrea

By Fesseha Nair

1. 1. Introduction

There are important principles where a national organizing committee should take in consideration. These principles constitute, “ code of conduct” framing and guiding political interaction where a common ground is created among the participants of the conference. Streaming the preparation activities into all assumed participants in all areas of involvement is of utmost importance to achieve the objectives of the conference.

National Conference is a dialogue conference, therefore it should be deepened by doing all possible activities, be inclusive platform, assessing of the demands of the Eritrean people and be articulated to address these needs: the struggle against the dictatorship and build a democratic society in Eritrea.

In this short article I would like to delve on guiding principles for organizing national conference by the Eritrean opposition Political and Civic Organizations.

What should be the guiding principles of this conference.

–         Struggle against dictatorship and believe in democratic values

–         Democratic transition is a process

–         Democracy never ends

–         Sustainability

–         Inclusivity

–         Common commitment

The assumed National Conference for democratic change is a democratic instrument but not principle, this does not mean it can be organized without preparations. I hereby would like to suggest below mentioned points as checklists for the preparation

These guidelines are intended to set forth the activities of the preparatory committee for the national conference that will be held on July 30^th 2010. These guidelines are further intended to provide the committee the legal framework and comprehensive approach for achieving the objectives of the conference.

There is a need for these guidelines. The absence of such guidelines can result in erroneous, inconsistent and unreliable assessments of the conference from the organizers. These guidelines will contribute to uniformity, reliability, consistency and accuracy in viewing the conference as legitimate. These guidelines will also provide guidance to all members of the EDA and civil society involved in organizing the conference.

These guidelines are structured so that the committee appointed for organizing the conference work to promote the conference.

It should be noted that these guidelines help us to ensure broad and participative gathering of Eritreans with the will of democratic change in Eritrea.

1. 2. Preparation Methods and activities

Each committee must report its activities to the board of the organizing committee/ Secretariat. The committees must prioritize their work.

The activities are as follows:

1. Organizational and service
2. Documentary and research
3. Public information and media
4. Financial

1. Organizational and service activities at national and international levels.

At national level

The activities of the office of organizational and services are:

1. Collecting data of the EDA member organization
2. Collecting data of the political organization outside EDA
3. Collecting civil society organizations who are not members of the net works of Europe and USA
4. Collecting of Unions of Women and Youth in diaspora
5. Collecting of academics and professionals/ Paper preseneters
6. Media associations
7. Religious leaders and communities
8. Eritrean lawyers association
9. Eritrean refugee organizations
10. Veterans and elders

At the international level

Observers:

1. 1. International peace and human rights organization for example Oslo peace centre, Carter Centre, IDEA
2. 2. Political parties
3. 3. Regional and international organizations like IGAD, AU, EU, UN and many others.
4. 4. International NGOs

1. b. Documentary and research activities

The main task of this group is to collect references and research papers related with national conferences. The group must scrutinize the academic community and create contact with them by receiving consultation and inviting them to present academic papers that can facilitate the work of the conference. Drafting the agenda and clarifying the issues to be discussed and convey goals to all participants. Contact academic paper presenters and arrange their registration

1. c. Media and information

The group must work hard to get access to the media so that all participants from the whole world will follow the activities for national conference. They must create contact with all forms of media, including radio, television, newspapers and the internet.

1. Financial activities

Primary costs of the conference or the budget must be detailed according the inputs that will be put in this conference.

Budget……………………………………………. Costs

Preparation……………………………………….*****

Transportation……………………………………+++++

Accommodation for 10days………………………++++++

Administration…………………………………..+++++++

Allowances…………………………………….++++++++

Production materials…………………………..++++++

Documentation………………………………….+++++++

Etc………………………………..

Estimated costs for 1200 participants will reach    Euro   2.000 000

This fund can be applied for grants from NGOs or countries who sponsor, but additional financial assistance must also be raised by the Eritreans in diaspora.

The preparatory committee has also the responsibility of electing a  chairman/ Chairwoman for the conference. The chairman must be non member of the political and civil societies best he can be skilled foreigner. In Benin, the conference chair man was Archbishop of Cotonou have such bishops or imams then it will be better. But, I prefer in case a neutral one who has the skills of running chairmanship.

Set- up time

The time needed to organize is short and I am sceptical if we can complete all these activities within 3 months from now.

July is the vacation time for the observers from Europe and others. The season in our region is rainy season therefore those who will come from neighbouring Sudan can get difficulties.

There are many critical articles written by individuals who have the highest post in the opposition political parties, for example the EPDP and many others such criticisms should be given consideration and discusses for levelling the playing field. The issues and concerns can create obstacles therefore I recommend the EDA leadership in cooperation with the preparatory committee see these issues and concerns. All the opposition parties agree that the situation in Eritrea is in need of urgent solution but they differ in minor accusations.

This minor accusations can be solved by one day meeting. If the issue is on its preparation and organization, then why not revise the method and come with the best preparation methods.

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Posted by farajat on Mar 30 2010 Filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry