by Kevin Gilroy, UNV Chief, Peace Division

04 September 2011

Bonn, Germany: Dear Awardees of the 2010 Reconciliation Award,
Prof. von Korn, Presiding Chair, Foundation for Subjective Experience & Research,
SER Foundation Members

Dear friends and colleagues of the many German and international NGO and civil society organizations, Governments, private sector, United Nations, and responsive citizens gathered here this evening – I wish you all, a very warm Welcome!

From the very outset of this short hour we have, I know that all of us here would like to first applaud the Reconciliation Awardees - and the people and partners you represent back home in your communities – we applaud you for the outstanding work you do and impact you make in your communities - work that encourages and inspires each and every one of us in this room!

I know well that it has been a long two days, and perhaps we’re all a bit fatigued by this stage - but we have a very special hour ahead and I know you will enjoy it. For me, it truly is an honor to have been invited to speak this evening on this very special occasion – the occasion of the 2010 Reconciliation Award ceremony – an annual event organized and sponsored by the Foundation for Subjective Experience & Research.

The 4 Awardee projects, and the special people behind them, epitomize  - precisely - the type of committed, engaged and responsive citizens we are speaking about – people whom out of free will and volunteer spirit, have stood up, joined and partnered with others, and took action to do something to make the world around them a better place. What better occasion to recognize these efforts and people - than at this Conference.

It is an added privilege to speak on behalf my organization - the United Nations Volunteers - and our Executive Coordinator, Flavia Pansieri - as we at UNV can think of no better fitting Award to be highlighted and recognized in the midst of the theme and spirit of this conference – that Sustainable Development cannot be achieved without Responsive Citizens who commit, volunteer and engage!

Now…and so that all of here better understand the Awards being presented this evening, and what power they represent to the larger theme of the Conference, I thought it would be interesting to focus my words on two areas. First, it is worthwhile for us to consider the broader meaning of reconciliation - and the “subjective experience” which the SER Foundation advocates as being essential for any meaningful reconciliation and sustainable development to be realized. Secondly, I would like to indulge you in considering some of the trends and opportunities that we in the UN and at United Nations Volunteers see, and what we are doing to bolster the recognition of volunteerism and civic engagement within the context of local and global reconciliation and peace building efforts.

Like some of you perhaps, when I think of reconciliation in the context of the  international peace and development agenda, my thoughts immediately turn to history’s high-level, geo-political and complex peace processes, such as the trials, truth and reconciliation institutions and commissions of this past century’s wars – those of post-WW2 Europe and Asia & the Pacific, in 1980’s Latin America, of Northern Ireland, and South Africa, or those emanating from more recent conflicts in Cambodia, the Balkans, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Fiji, Timor Leste and elsewhere.

Every one of these historical processes was extremely complex in its undertakings, deeply emotional, and subject to controversy, cynics and critique - from all sides and parties of the processes and dialogue. Each were very different in context, some lasting years, and full reconciliation taking decades or generations to be realized. Yet, each of these processes were absolutely necessary to bring about some closure, to bring out the hanging elements of truth and justice – elements that were indispensable for those post-conflict societies and its’ people to reconcile and move forward.

What I find fascinating about the SER Foundation - and the responsive citizen nature and spirit of the Awards being presented tonight - is the SER’s more holistic take on reconciliation. The Foundation applauds higher-level diplomatic reconciliation efforts, yet also sees reconciliation as a fundamental principle for human development at all levels of society, not just the high and diplomatic. That reconciliation comprises all areas of our lives and humanity - in our environment, in our economy, in our religion and faith, in the cultural, social, scientific, and political realms of our lives and communities. And most importantly, that reconciliation starts with us as individuals, and is inter-twined and spreads though our families, neighbors, communities, and workplaces, with rippling effects and inter-connectedness, and direct impact on the well-being of our society at national and global levels.

Key to this more holistic view of Reconciliation, is the belief that it can only truly happen through personal, subjective experience – experiences that spawn greater openness, acceptance, understanding – inner, personal experiences which bring balance in perspective and heart of the individual, and relationships that individual has with the people and community around them.

(Reflection moment – have the audience reflect on their own subjective experiences in their lives and work)

In simple terms, the way I understand it, is the belief that true reconciliation in all walks of our lives, cannot happen unless we as people experience our own transformative changes within ourselves. The experiences to effect this change do not come from above, but rather at the individual, family and community level – often in small, gradual transformative steps – but steps that can make mighty powerful footprints as they grow and inter-connect with others in society.

Now, let us think about that notion for a second. If we as people could all reach a higher-minded level of inter-personal understanding, tolerance, compassion, and respect for one another – this world would indeed be a better place! No one can argue that!

But think of it a little deeper than that – and in the context of your own lives and the work each of you engage in within the context of this conference - and ask yourself the question: can development be sustainable without this holistic reconciliation?

I think Achim Steiner in his opening remarks yesterday made a very poignant statement in this regard when he shared his perspective in looking back at the twenty-years of 1992 Rio to Rio+20 next year. He mentioned that we in the NGO, Government, civil society, and UN tend to see, identify, label and box ourselves into special lobbying and interest groups – “we are the economists”, “you are the climate people”, “we are the HIVAIDs and agro-ecologists”, etc.  And then we package these interests into neat frameworks – such as social, environment, and economic, the three recognized pillars to sustainable development.

And while the latter may be fine in terms of a structuring and framework thing, he stressed that we may be doing a great disservice to ourselves and our good intentions in the process. I believe he was stressing the need for us to look at our collective work and efforts within the three pillars in a more holistic and ever-globalizing, and inter-connected manner.

Shiva Vandana in her opening remarks also supported this view when she stated that we need to understand that the old adage of action and reaction is very real: that any economic action has an impact on society and the environment, and that social action impacts the economies and environment around as well, and so on.

The heart of sustainable human development, therefore, rather than visualized as being held up by pillars, is very much one more akin to our human hearts – hearts fed, nurtured and kept strong and vibrant by natural, though very complex, flowing streams of inter-woven veins and arteries, and inter-connecting internal and external systems and influences.

In the sustainable development dialogue, we need to be putting much greater attention therefore on reconciling amongst ourselves, and within and between the different organizational, thematic and institutional boxes we sometimes place ourselves in – starting very much locally and at the grassroots – and let it feed higher on up to national, regional and international levels within the organizational parameters and global partnerships in which we inter-connect. Simply put, to achieve sustainable human development and the Millennium Development Goals – each of us need to place greater attention, appreciation and recognition on the wide ranging scope of reconciliation, and especially our own institutional reconciliation.     

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I would like to turn to the second area of my focus tonight, and speak briefly as one who has been integrally involved in United Nations peace keeping and peace building arena over the past twenty-years – and particularly as seen in the context of the attention given to volunteerism, civic-engagement and people-centered approaches within these efforts.

I am pleased to say that in the conduct of United Nations peacekeeping and peace building approaches, as in the development arena as well, there has been a real shift from the ways of old classical peacekeeping – the days of bringing in thousands of troops, enormous amounts of resources and staff, and telling the host population and government what to do – then do it for them – duplicating the efforts of other UN, NGO and civil society actors, then holding an election, declaring peace and democracy at work, and then packing up to leave, etc. – are for the most part, over!

This old model thankfully has been gradually broken down and discarded (though remnants of it can still be seen), and we now see much more emphasis on national ownership, national resources and national capacities, with light footprint interventions, and more attention to inter-agency coordination, coherence, partnerships and exit strategies. The creation of  the United Nations Peace building Commission and Support Offices are two such recent institutional changes within the UN aimed at targeting the peace to development transition along these evolving parameters. All in all, steps in the right direction in terms of spawning sustainable peace, and sustainable development.

We see this most recently in just this past week with respect to Libya where the National Transitional Council made it very clear they do not need long-term foreign peace keepers and thousands of foreigners, but rather targeted support in the war weakened areas of institutional capacities and efforts to address diversities and reconciliation amongst the parties, human rights, and political transition mechanisms, to attention needed on emergency humanitarian needs, livelihoods, economic recovery, and special attention to women and the very large population, and potential of the youth.

Our UN partners’ recognition of volunteerism, of how they perceive the importance of community and people based approaches at the grassroots level, has been steadily growing over the past twenty years of UN peacekeeping and peace building, and is reflected in the growing numbers of UN Volunteers we are asked deploy each year to these operations – some 4000 annually in recent years, from Timor Leste, to Afghanistan to Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia.

The UN Volunteers not only bring technical expertise and know-how to the efforts, but also a volunteering sense of esprit du corps, respect, partnership and solidarity within the communities they serve. Hundreds of our volunteers serve in area of human rights, civil affairs and local governance, working directly with the local people, community organizations, NGO, civil society and government institutions and partners – often bridging the different actors together, to create the neutral space for dialogue and moving forward.

We are encouraged by this recognition given to national, civil society and volunteer efforts in building peace. And as UNV celebrates our 40th birthday as an organization, we are also encouraged to see our peace keeping and peace building partner’s support and recognize the tenth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers. Throughout this year 2011 and together with a wide range of partners and stakeholders – including all of you – we and millions are promoting the values of volunteering, recognizing the positive impacts of volunteering, building and reinforcing volunteering networks, and facilitating people’s contributions to peace and sustainable development through volunteering.

All of us in this IYV+10 year, are championing the link to the broader picture that volunteerism contributes to sustainable development through individual and collective action. Volunteerism is about empowering people to get involved. When civic engagement is harnessed to its full potential, people become a genuine force for change.

That’s just what many of you as NGOs and civil society organizations do. And that is precisely what the people behind this evening’s Reconciliation Awards do - you connect the dots between sustainable development and engaging communities.  You connect citizens through voluntary engagement to respond to the challenge: not just the challenge of building a green economy but the holistic implications that come with it.

We know that there are millions of citizens that demonstrate their capacity and willingness to respond to the sustainable human development challenge. Tonight, we simply wish to recognize the work of 4 such efforts and the remarkable people behind them. The winners of this year’s Reconciliation Awards have clearly demonstrated how common citizens connect the dots between sustainable development and civic engagement. Reconciliation within the context of sustainable development is an herculean challenge that needs a herculean response, and only through engaging every citizen of the world is the challenge to be met.

We at the United Nations Volunteers, and all the organizations and everyone here tonight, salute you, salute your colleagues and partners back home, and salute the incredible work you are doing!