We made Reconciliations Happen | Stories from the Panguna Dialogue Project
This book describes the work carried out by the Panguna Dialogue Project (PDP) in the Central Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. Over the last decade and a half, peacebuilding on Bougainville has come a long way. After the devastations of the crisis years in the 1990s, Bougainville peacebuilding is widely acknowledged as a success story all over the world. PDP created an alliance of peacebuilders at village level in the political constituencies of Eivo-Torau, Ioro and Bolave in Bougainville, the area where the Panguna mine is located.
The stories in this book were collected by the PDP team after facilitating community dialogues in Ioro, Bolave and Eivo-Torau in October 2015, March 2016, July 2016 and August 2016. They are stories of strength and stories of change from the communities that engaged with PDP. In addition to the communities that participated in the dialogues, the PDP team also met and shared stories with the Meekamui of Panguna. These stories also included in the book.
Authors:
James Tanis (ABG), Volker Boege (PaCSIA), Serge Loode (PaCSIA), Erica Rose Jeffrey (PaCSIA), The Communities of Eivo-Torau, Bolave and Ioro, The Meekamui Government of Unity, Anscar Nionem (BID), Francis Nazia (BID).
Editors:
Volker Boege, Serge Loode & Erica Rose Jeffrey (PaCSIA).
Publisher:
Peace and Conflict Studies Institute Australia, Brisbane, 2016.
Voices of the People | Perceptions and Preconditions for Democratic Development in Fiji
Since gaining independence on 10 October 1970, the people of Fiji have experienced four coups. While the leaders of the first three coups claimed to represent the interests of the iTaukei, the leader of the fourth coup (on 5 December 2006), Commodore Frank Bainimarama, stated that his aims were to address the underlying political problems to eliminate Fiji’s ‘coup culture’ forever. The coups and following political confusion have seriously undermined Fiji’s economy and people’s sense of security. All coups have been powered by a combination of factors, including inter-ethnic competition over resources, traditional conflicts between the chiefly choice, low levels of education, an iTaukei-dominated military force, and traditional institutions of governance challenged by systems of democracy and human rights. The experiences of Fijian citizens of ‘democracy’ and different models of governance are thus marked by discontent. If the root causes of this discontent are not addressed, the country may experience more political disruptions in the future. Aspiring to carry out an extensive and impartial inquiry into governance issues, this report is based on a systematic exploration and analysis of views of Fijians from all sectors of society. Given this background, this report presents the perceptions and visions of the people of Fiji for future democratic development, as well as their opinions as to the preconditions required for this development. As will be seen when reading this report, the voices of the people carried varying and sometimes conflicting opinions about democracy in Fiji; while some may see this as problematic, we were reminded of the saying: ‘You don’t get harmony of everyone sings the same tune’.
Authors:
Volker Boege (PaCSIA), Aisake Casimira (Pacific Conference of Churches), Manfred Ernst (IRSA-PTC) and Felicity Szesnat (University of Sussex, UK).
Editors:
Manfred Ernst (IRSA-PTC) and Felicity Szesnat (University of Sussex, UK).
Publisher:
Institute for Research and Social Analysis-Pacific Theological College, Fiji, 2013.
Reports
Bougainville Transition Dialogues | Final Report 2022
In this report we proudly present an account of the work undertaken for the second phase of the Bougainville Transition Dialogues (BTD) Project. This phase has shown again how important local peacebuilding and connection to custom and land are in Bougainville and the wider Pacific. The second phase of the BTD has been more challenging than previous project cycles, due to the fact that the project started in 2021 in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We want to focus on the progress that Bougainvilleans have made in their striving to create a peaceful future and in becoming an independent self-reliant nation. Since the outcome of the 2019 referendum was made public, the Government of Papua New Guinea (GoPNG) and the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) have been engaged in a transition consultation process which included discussions within the Joint Supervisory Body (JSB), and various technical and political leadership groups. Our project acts as the vital link between these two governments and the remote communities of Bougainville. The team of Bougainvillean facilitators has grown to more than 160 mediators, peacebuilders, women leaders, church leaders and local government officials.
As always PaCSIA and the BTD project are committed to helping create a peaceful, sustainable and ethical Bougainville notwithstanding the outcome of the transition process.
Bougainville Transition Dialogues | Annual Report 2021
This is the first annual report of the Bougainville Transition Dialogues which is based entirely on data collected by the local Bougainvillean facilitators. The PaCSIA team has not travelled to Bougainville for workshops or debriefing since early 2020. Despite this, the Bougainville Transition Dialogues Phase 2 (BTD2) have engaged more than 15,000 Bougainvilleans in 2021. The local BTD2 teams have travelled far and wide through Bougainville, have collected information about the consultation process between the governments of Bougainville and Papua New Guinea, and they have shared this information with communities, recorded questions and facilitated exchanges between their fellow Bougainvilleans. In 2021 they completed all of this also in the context of rising COVID-19 case numbers and the declaration of a general lockdown in November 2021. In addition, information from the two governments regarding the consultation process has sometimes been sporadic and difficult to obtain. The teams have faced numerous questions from communities, have patiently listened to sometimes angry constituents demanding more information on the transition process and have done their best to keep their communities and their teams safe by also discussing concerns and questions regarding the pandemic.
Bougainville Transition Dialogues Phase 1| Final Report 2020
The final project report details the achievements of the Bougainville Transition Dialogues Phase 1 project during 2019 and 2020 and highlights the capacity that the network of BTD facilitators has built for sustaining peace in Bougainville into the future. The main BTD project ran from 1 January 2019 to 31 March 2021 after an extension was sought due to delays from the COVID-19 pandemic. Over two years the project reached over 25,000 participants, nearly half of them women through 788 transition dialogues in 33 constituencies. It also created more than 28 Wokabaut Senis videos showcasing the ingenuity and commitment to peace from Bougainvillean communities.
Bougainville Transition Dialogues | Annual Report 2019
On 11 December 2019 the result of the Bougainville Referendum was announced. 97.7% of Bougainvilleans had voted for independence. This report provides information on the work of the Bougainville Transition Dialogues project which supported the referendum preparations and collected information about the views of Bougainvilleans from all 33 constituencies. The project reached approximately 15,000 people in 2019 and conducted 400 dialogues.
Bougainville Referendum Dialogues | Final Report 2018
The Bougainville Referendum Dialogues Final Report 2018 provides a summary of the project years 2017-2018. During this time the Bougainville Referendum Dialogues (BRD) reached approximately 29377 Bougainvilleans and have significantly contributed to informing the population about the upcoming referendum on Bougainville’s future political status. The report also contains a summary of the feedback provided by dialogue participants.
Bougainville Referendum Dialogues | Annual Report 2017
The Bougainville Referendum Dialogues Annual Report 2017 describes the methodology and activities for the first project year. During this time the Bougainville Referendum Dialogues (BRD) have reached over 10000 Bougainvilleans and have significantly contributed to informing the population about the upcoming referendum on Bougainville’s future political status. Referendum dialogues were carried out in 31 of 33 constituencies and have assisted the Department of Peace Agreement Implementation in their preparations for the 2019 referendum. The report also contains a summary of the feedback provided by dialogue participants.
Authors:
Serge Loode (PaCSIA), James Tanis (Autonomous Bougainville Government), February 2018.
Panguna Dialogue Project | Policy Brief
The Panguna Dialogue Project (PDP) Policy Brief provides an introduction to the aims of PDP, an overview of the “community dialogue” and “storytelling methodology” and an account of the project activities conducted by PaCSIA and the local PDP facilitator team. It also summarises the lessons for peacebuilding and development work that all project partners have learned from PDP.
Authors:
Volker Boege, Erica Rose Jeffrey, Bonaventure Kenulei, Serge Loode, Francis Nazia, Dominica Rovokea, PaCSIA and Bougainville Indigenous Dialogue, November 2016.
Community Cafe Dialogues | Participatory Needs and Opportunities Assessment Report
Community Café Dialogues (CCD), as part of the Peace and Conflict Studies Institute Australia (PaCSIA), approached the University of Queensland (UQ) and requested a UQ consultant group conduct a Participatory Needs and Opportunities Assessment (PNOA). The PNOA was held on 15 May 2014 at the Romero Centre in Dutton Park and its purpose was two‐fold. Firstly, the PNOA aimed to better understand the role that CCD has played in the lives of its participants. The PNOA was used as a means to evaluate both the strengths and weaknesses of CCD, as perceived by its participants. Secondly, the PNOA was used to identify future topics for discussion during CCD. These topics were raised if participants felt that they had not yet been addressed in past events. This report aims to articulate some of the key the findings that have emerged from the PNOA in relation to both of these guiding objectives. In doing so, the report identifies the needs of participants and future opportunities for CCD. The report concludes with a number of recommendations to aid in improving and building CCD, to better meet the needs of its participants.
Authors:
Imelda Griffin, Jordan Tredinnick and Eadie Hancock, University of Queensland Consultant Group, September 2014.
This Is Our Story – ASSI 150 Case Study | Report, PaCSIA, April 2014
In 2013 PaCSIA facilitators Serge Loode and Brad Lewis organised and facilitated a sustained consultation and dialogue process with Australian South Sea Islanders, Mununjali Traditional Owners, descendants of plantation owners, current landowners and the larger Beaudesert community which led to the This Is Our Story Commemoration Ceremony on 24 August. Together with Scenic Rim Regional Council we have finally documented this highly successful process.
What made the process unique was the combination of large-group Community Café events which brought together many different stakeholders to share stories and experiences, small-group restorative circles to explore the journeys that different stakeholders were embarked on and ongoing negotiation and event planning in a small planning committee drawn from the different stakeholder groups.
Authors:
Serge Loode (PaCSIA), Brad Lewis (PaCSIA), Bronwyn Davies (Scenic Rim Regional Council) and Mark Paddick (Scenic Rim Regional Council).
Videos
CCD Brisbane– 2012
CCD Australia– Why Are We Here?
CCD Australia– A Place of Safety?
This is Our Story
Brave New Welcome
Wokabaut Senis
Training Resources
Conflict Analysis | Teaching Module 2011
A tool for groups and individuals to understand the impact of conflict and to visualise the underlying needs of conflict parties
PaCSIA Mediation Training Manual | Updated 2022
PaCSIA presents its Mediation Training Manual under a Creative Commons licence. Please note that the manual complements PaCSIA training courses and is not a standalone course program.
