The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, otherwise known as the Henry Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, or the HD Centre proclaims to be:
"An independent and impartial organisation whose motivation is to reduce human suffering in war. We believe preventing and resolving armed conflicts is the surest means of doing so."
The HD Centre is active in a number of conflict resolution projects around the world, including the Darfur conflict, in Aceh between the Free Aceh Movement and the Government of Indonesia, the Geneva accord, Myanmar, the MNLF and MILF in the Philippines, but also in Afghanistan, Burundi and Uganda among others.
The aim of the organisation is to promote and facilitate dialogue among the leadership of the main belligerents. It also conducts research and analysis on mediation and peacemaking in support of the operational projects to improve international efforts to secure and sustain peace.
Contents |
The HD Centre was set up and registered in 1999 as a Swiss Foundation. The initial intention was to push the boundaries of humanitarian innovation by serving as a venue for dialogue on humanitarian issues - where discreet discussions could take place among those who could have a practical impact on humanitarian policy and practice.
The new management, including the Director,[1] who was formerly a UN Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Great Lakes (1996–97) and UN Regional Coordinator in the Balkans (1999) with the rank of UN Assistant Secretary-General, interpreted this approach more widely to include negotiations in support of humanitarian objectives. With this more practical approach the organisation aimed to create space for humanitarian activities in conflict environments. It quickly broadened, at the behest of conflicting parties in Aceh, to include the resolution of the conflict through mediation and conflict prevention in an attempt to avoid the horrific humanitarian consequences of war. This was articulated in “The New Prevention”, a paper that would guide the organisation for the next few years.
The HD Centre found that its strength lay in remaining small, impartial and independent while being able to effectively manage discreet processes. In some forgotten conflicts, others were not able to provide support to any peace process because they were not considered by the belligerent parties to be acceptable alternatives. For example, other states or international organisations are often perceived as carrying a large amount of political baggage, yet the more traditional non-governmental organisations tend to specialise in community and civil society aspects of peace building. The HD Centre’s niche was to focus on bringing to the table senior level diplomats and leaders of armed groups to resolve their differences peacefully.
The HD Centre receives a combination of project earmarked contributions and unearmarked grants from approximately 12 different governments and multilateral institutions as well as a small number of foundations and private philanthropists.