The Neighborhood Facilitators Project (NFP) was a bottom-up post-conflict peacebuilding initiative in Bosnia which focused on supporting local citizen initiatives and community conflict resolution. NFP did this with joint local / international citizen teams of "neighborhood facilitators." The facilitators were based at public drop-in centers and also worked in mobile teams in the field, offering a range of personal/group support and conflict resolution integrated services and activities available to all citizens. The main objectives were psychological support and reduction of fear, trust- and relationship-building, and creating honest and confidential communication to illuminate positions and underlying interests in cases of conflict, and finding creative solutions.
Some of the services the facilitation centers provided were information-gathering and dissemination, referrals, advice, consultations, organizing of individuals and vulnerable populations into groups, bridge-building and problem-solving between people in need and local authorities / international organizations, mainly through advocacy and accompaniment, mediation of individual cases, where appropriate and follow-up of all cases, even those referred to other organizations.
Collectively, these services and activities are called "facilitation." This reflects the strong focus on empowering, encouraging and supporting the people or group in need to take an active role in resolving the problem and effecting the desired change, rather than others doing it for them. The long-term strategy of facilitation work is to support the evolution of psychological, cultural, social, and political processes that would enable a significant role for citizens in addressing the issues that affect them, accompanied by relevant grassroots structures and institutional change - in other words: democratization and civil society development. NFP provides the vital "social component" to physical reconstruction and military stabilization as part of the process of long-term peace sustainability.
NFP Long-Term Goals
Objectives -- assistance and conflict resolution at the community level in these areas:
Empowerment - the key root of NFP
NFP aimed to help change the culture of how people deal with problems, as well as promote social reconciliation by working across the spectrum of issues and problems the three ethnic communities faced, and dealing directly with the issues of living together. But NFP did this in a practical way that started from the interest and desire of the local people themselves. They identified the desire to "do something", and, even more fundamental, to be able to do something. The main channel to do this was through local people helping each other, particularly in a capacity-building way. Our goal was to assist all people to work together to create a tolerant and productive community.
The role of facilitator is at the very heart of NFP
The facilitators assist people to address problems and needs through a variety of informational, psychological, consultative, organizing, and access support services. Rather than solving the problem for the person (which in most cases NFP could not do), the facilitators assist the person to better understand the problem, to acquire and mobilize skills and resources to solve it, as well as to be a link between the various parties to address not only the immediate problem but also its underlying aspects. The connective function of the facilitator seeks to make a personal connection between individuals both as the holder of the problem and the holder of the solution. Facilitation encompasses the traditional roles of counselor, mediator, information gatherer, advocate, protector, stimulator, friend and encourager. The local facilitators came from the same communities as the clients, and had many of the same problems. The local facilitators attempted to help people in the ways that they themselves would want to be helped. This means 1) not treating clients as one big assembly-line, and 2) following a case all the way, keeping track of it, through even if we referred the case to another organization. Close cooperation between the facilitators and institutionalized power forces on the local level (i.e. international agencies / local authorities) is essential. Through this link, NFP sought to build coalitions and more equitable power sharing between local people we served on the one hand and the international agencies / local authorities on the other hand.
History
NFP in Bosnia evolved from the trustbuilding and educational work at CRC's community peace center in Banja Luka, as part of our People Connection Project. After the Bosnia war ended in late 1995 and sustained inter-ethnic work became possible, CRC began development of NFP with its Bosnian partners, as well as the long process of fundraising and support-building. In early 1997, a local Bosnian non-governmental organization was launched and recruitment for local facilitators began. In the spring and summer of 1997, partial project funding was obtained from the US Institute of Peace and the US Agency for International Development, along with previously granted money from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Major support for project development, training, and initial implementation came from the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre (PPC) in Nova Scotia, Canada. Dr. David Last, a major in the Canadian Army but based at PPC as a researcher, provided significant theoretical development for NFP, particularly in the area of civilian-military cooperation, and the delineation of facilitator tasks and skills. The project began in November 1997 with a ten day training of 20 prospective local facilitators in Banja Luka, the capital of the Republika Srpska entity in Bosnia. The training was led by two internationals with much expertise in the area of ethnic and religious conflict resolution, with assistance from local psychologists. The lead trainers were Dr. Paula Green of the >Karuna Center for Peacebuilding and Dr. David Steele of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In December 1997, a ten-day training for 15 prospective international trainers was held at PPC. This training was also lead by Dr. Paula Green, assisted by Dr. Paula Gutlove of the Institute for Resource and Security Studies. By late January 1998, 11 Bosnians and 5 internationals were chosen as the first group of neighborhood facilitators. In February, a 10 day joint training for Bosnian and international facilitators was held in Banja Luka. The training was led by Suki Starnes, an experienced mediator/trainer from Halifax, Nova Scotia, who had participated in the December training. In early March 1998, the first Neighborhood Facilitator public drop-in Center opened in Banja Luka. At about the same time, the first NFP Mobile Team began operating in the area of Drvar in the Bosnia Federation in NW Bosnia. Efforts to find sustainable funding for the project were continuing all through this initial period, but were ultimately unsuccessful. In July 1998, after four months in operation, NFP had to suspend operations due to lack of funds.
NFP in operation
The focus of NFP services and activities was at Neighborhood Facilitation Public Drop-in Center (or NF Center), located in a large house on a residential street in downtown Banja Luka. Unlike the typical government ministry or international agency, the atmosphere was friendly, courteous, informal, and home-like, yet professional. Anyone could come; initial visits did not require an appointment. The NF Center received nearly 200 cases in its first month of operation. With both new and continuing clients, the Center averages 10 clients per day. Most were walk-ins. 50 percent of cases related to economic needs. Most involved people who are looking for work or who want to start small businesses. We provided information about micro-credit program and help organize people into groups. Other cases dealt with job discrimination, mainly people fired because of their ethnicity. About 50 percent of drop-in cases related to refugee / displaced persons return and reintegration -- primarily people trying to return to their houses (both in Banja Luka and in Federation towns such as Drvar) from which they were expelled during the war. Examples included Serbs, Croats, and Muslims, some of whom have court decisions in their favor but the police will not evict the illegal occupant. Our facilitators provided outreach and liaison with local and int'l authorities, accompaniment to houses, and third-party services, such as mediation, between disputants. Great caution was needed in these cases, because there are often hidden aspects in the parties' relationship, and a high potential for violence.
Banja Luka Community work outside the NF Center was mainly with people from the Javni Klub, a support center for "floaters" (those who were expelled from their houses but never actually left Banja Luka). The NF team visited twice a week - mainly to listen, as part of a slow trust-building process with people who largely don't trust anyone anymore. Intervention strategies include: discussion groups, organizational consulting, and accompaniment to former houses.
NFP Mobile Teams visited refugee return-sensitive sites (e.g. Drvar, Sanski Most / Prijedor) an average of two days per week. NFP's first mobile team has begun working in Drvar, the Federation town that has been a tense focal point for refugee return throughout 1998. In cooperation with several organizations, our team has worked with recent Serb returnees and "focal point" leaders in 10 nearby villages, helping the people to voice their concerns and organize for their needs. For a time, we were the only organization in the Drvar area that talked to ordinary people and tried to include them in the decision-making process. Our plan (if funding had permitted) was to gradually reach out to the majority Croats, where resistance to Serb returns ran high. Eventually, we hoped to bring the two groups together for regular discussions (including town meetings), and other community-building activities. We also planned to work closely with the Canadian SFOR contingent there, combining security and citizen peacebuilding in a prototype civilian-military joint effort.
Discussion and Action Groups - This is the core of NFP's democratization and citizen empowerment efforts. Groups of citizens come together to educate themselves, share views, and organize activities to effect positive change in the community. Groups would meet once a week or as needed. We began two discussion groups during the four month period of the project. One group is focused on forming and maintaining a trade association. The other group focuses on micro-credit for small businesses. This discussion attracted 28 people in its first meeting (only 10 were invited) and featured representatives from several local and international organizations. Other discussion groups were planned that would focus on women's issues, human rights, and "culture of living" (how different lifestyles, such as urban and rural, can co-exist in peace.)
NFP Structure and Management NFP was carried out mainly by local people. The neighborhood facilitators were organized into 3-person mixed teams - 2 locals and 1 international. (An additional "followup" team consists of 2 locals). Cases were handled mainly by local facilitators, with support from internationals through information, consultation, outreach and accompaniment (in visits to authorities and in potentially risky situations, such as refugee return or reclaiming of property.) Although NFP was developed by CRC and the Project Director was based in North America, the emphasis was on local ownership, capacity-building, and participatory consensus decision-making, within a clearly defined structure of authority and job responsibilities. There was a shared local/international management team for ongoing planning, development, assessment, financial accounting, fundraising and support-building tasks on-site in Bosnia.