UNDP’S EXPERIENCE of Insider Mediation IN EASTERN UKRAINE

UNDP’S EXPERIENCE

of Insider Mediation IN EASTERN UKRAINE

December 2017

This report was prepared by UNDP experts with financial support from the governments of Sweden and the Swiss Confederation.

The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and may not coincide with the official position of the governments of Sweden and the Swiss Confederation, or of UNDP.

UNDP’s experience of Insider Mediation in eastern Ukraine

Contents Introduction

4

Infographics

5

Methodology and approach

6

Findings and lessons

8

Stories

12

Challenges

13

Conclusions and Recommendations

14

3

4

UNDP’s experience of Insider Mediation in eastern Ukraine

1. Introduction

The concept of insider mediation was developed as a result of numerous, failed attempts by international organizations to resolve, transform and prevent conflicts - including armed ones.

Starting from the 1950s, there has been a clearly observed reduction in inter-state conflicts, and an increase in intrastate ones. In other words, there is a tendency for more and more fighting between non-state actors (communities and groups), rather than states.

“Insider Mediation is an important trend. It fosters an attitude to resolving conflicts by one’s own means, while at the same time paying attention to the way we approach conflict resolution” -

Bearing this in mind, an increasingly large role is being played in peace settlements and conflict prevention efforts by people - communities and groups - who are themselves involved in and experiencing such conflicts.

Mariya Abizova, Sloviansk Peacebuilding Initiative.

United Nations Development Programme firmly believes that peacebuilding is not only about “blue helmets”, but, to a greater extent, about the people directly involved in a conflict, who have mediation expertise, practical skills

and a broad support network. UNDP’s Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme has therefore launched and supported the “Insider Mediation” programme in the conflict-affected Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts of Ukraine.

UNDP’s experience of Insider Mediation in eastern Ukraine

TRAINERS

Inna Tereschenko, Founder and Head of the Odesa Regional Mediation Group Maksym Ieligulashvili, Ukrainian Helsinsky Human Rights Union, Coordinator of non-formal education program

27О

58

1O

APPLICANTS

PARTICIPANTS

FOLLOW UP INITIATIVES

from Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts (GCA and NGCA)

22 Donetsk oblast

36

17

41

Luhansk oblast

male

female

ORGANIZED AND FACILITATED BY

Tetiana Shapkovska, Social Cohesion and Reconciliation Advisor, UNDP Andrei Lahunou, Peacebuilding and Conflict resolution UN Volunteer

5

14 (24%) Young people (aged 18-28)

1/3 IDPs

* підконтрольна і непідконтрольна територія Уряду України

Course satisfaction rate

9O%

6

UNDP’s experience of Insider Mediation in eastern Ukraine

2. Methodology and approach

Selection method:

Score-based selection, via a set of 12 questions, with the aim of assessing the suitability of the candidates’ qualities to the functions of an insider mediator. The questions were based on UNDP’s “Supporting insider mediation” guidelines. Course-takers were divided into seven groups, which allowed for age, gender and geographical diversity.

Course-takers were selected among applicants from government-controlled areas (GCAs) of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts two weeks prior to the start of the course.

Training method:

The course is focused on a participatory approach and role-play, which takes up 50% of the learning time. The lectures have a complimentary character, to reinforce the learning process (1520%). The exact focus, range of topics and course content are highly flexible and depend on group dynamics,

participants’ entry-level knowledge, and the interests of each cohort. Course takers a provided with the opportunity t0 implement follow-up initiatives to ensure the knowledge they have gained can be applied. Continuous support and supervision for the initiatives from UNDP and experts is provided.

Evaluation method:

Quantitative and Qualitative. There are two survey forms for the course-takers: (a) a pre-training survey, and (b) a posttraining survey. The survey ensured the immediate change in the knowledge of course participants could be assessed, and the participants could assess their own progress, and also provided a descriptive snapshot of the current state of affairs in conflicts. There were also follow-up interviews with course-takers to gain qualitative insights into any challenges,

and the lessons learned. There was a focus group discussion with the most active course-takers after the final training course to gather additional qualitative data. The combination of these methods allows an effective short and mid-term impact evaluation to be made.

UNDP’s experience of Insider Mediation in eastern Ukraine

Legend: Roads Settlements Clusters Contact line as of June 2016 (OCHA) Insider Mediation course-takers Follow-up initiatives implemented

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UNDP’s experience of Insider Mediation in eastern Ukraine

3. Findings and lessons

The initiative and course content was focused on comprehensive dialogue facilitation – from understanding a conflict and its components, to specifics about escalation/ de-escalation. Dialogue has been proposed as an instrument to promote a sustainable stabilising effect. During the course’s preparatory stage, the participants’ working and living conditions, as well as conditions in their locality, were taken into account.

“The contact line” and “the grey zone” not only separate government and non-government controlled territories in Ukraine, but also impose different settings and spaces in which people live.

In contrast, the unifying factor of all the participants is their extreme sensitivity to the conflict, and to militarization and polarization, as well as their varied experiences of existing in a conflict setting and coping with insecurity.

While having differing external and background experiences, all of the participants live in areas of protracted conflict, and have experienced periods of violence of various intensity and length.

Such conflicts are extremely difficult to resolve by external interventions and “Track 1” negotiations. Legitimacy and acceptance by all parties can be achieved only by involving participants from different layers of society (e.g. local communities), repairing the ripped social fabric, and taking coordinated “Track 1, 2, 3” actions.

The three Insider Mediation training courses identified the main socio-political conflicts in communities, which gravitate around two areas: • Decentralization and reform-related areas (healthcare, education, decision-making); • Identity issues, and polarization caused by the armed conflict; Additional conflict risks were seen in contexts where the above-mentioned

Input

Output

Change rate (Improvement)1

Dialogue knowledge

2.4

3.5

22%

Mediation capacity

3.1

3.6

10%

Dialogue preference change

4.2

4.3

2%

Indicator

1

Communication and dialogue among participants, based on their experiences of living through a protracted conflict, is fostered with the help of various interactive methods and the involvement of conflict-resolution experts and facilitators. The design of the learning process was focused on the volatility of the environment, the possibility that the dialogue experience was new to the participants, difficulties in accepting neutrality in the conflict transformation process, and the controversial aspects of the dialogue itself.

Change rate (percentage) = (output – input) ÷ 5 × 100.

UNDP’s experience of Insider Mediation in eastern Ukraine

Input

Output

Change rate (Improvement)

Diagnostics and conflict mapping

1.8

4.1

46%

Transformative approach

1.4

3.5

42%

Anatomy of conflict

2

3.9

38%

Consensus-making

2

3.8

36%

Insider mediation

1.9

3.7

36%

Positions, interests and basic needs

2.6

4.1

30%

Alternative Dispute Resolution

2.3

3.8

30%

Mediation

2.2

3.7

30%

Facilitation

2.5

3.9

28%

Security measures for dialogue

2.2

3.6

28%

Effective communication

2.9

3.9

20%

Dialogue

3.1

4

18%

Indicator

9

10

UNDP’s experience of Insider Mediation in eastern Ukraine

Initiative

Organiser

Location

Topic/issue

Target audience

Harmony and cooperation for the future

Darya Vorontseva

Mariupol

Medical reform, services, decentralization

Local government, medical service providers, activists

Working as a path to reconciliation

Egor Pototskyi

Novopskov

Direct negotiations, identity, decentralization

Mass media, publishers, activists, NGOs

Grey zone football tournament

Tetiana Semenova

Hirske

Community trust-building, decentralization

Residents of the Grey zone

Walking Side-byside

Olena Khmelnytska

Krasnorichenske

Education reform, decentralization

Teachers, activists

Forum theatre

Natalia Pogodina

Rubizne

Education reform, Community trust-building

Teachers, activists

Donbas. What is it like?

Oleksandr Koriyagin

Lyman

Community trust-building, identity

Residents of Donetsk region

Communities and decentralization

Olena Karaush

Svatove

Decentralization

Residents of Svatove and district, local and district government

Understand and help each other

Oleksiy Bogatyriov

Lysychansk

Services, identity

Social protection service providers, clients, human rights NGOs

Hidden problems Yana Shinkarenko of women in society

Mariupol

Gender issues, SGBV

Women, activists

Reconciliation through one’s own responsibility

Avdiivka

Community trust-building, identity, local governance

Local government, civil-military administration, activists

Oleksandr Meleshko

causes overlap. Specific attention should be paid to areas where identity-based conflicts overlap with conflicts generated by decentralization and changes in power balances (e.g. in communities in the process of amalgamation that are close to the contact line, etc.).

The effectiveness of the training can be gauged by looking at the change rate. The change rate indicates how positively the

course affected each position, in terms of the course objectives. Differences in improvement rates can be explained by the nature of each indicator.

The biggest improvement is observed in “Dialogue knowledge” where rapid advancement is possible, whereas mediation capacity, and especially preference to favour dialogue, take time to build up and change. The

UNDP’s experience of Insider Mediation in eastern Ukraine

biggest changes can be seen in detail when looking at specific areas. Upon completion of the 3 waves of training courses, 58 course-takers received skills in and knowledge of 12 comprehensive topics that are crucial for effective performance.

Participants from the “Grey zone” have shown exemplary willingness and motivation to use follow-up activities, and were also significantly more engaged during the training course than their counterparts from the secure areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. This could be explained by aid fatigue among the latter. In contrast, the grey zone is largely ignored by international development organizations, due to the security risk of working there.

Despite the GCA focus, the third wave of Insider Mediation training courses included several participants who indicated they were residing in NGCAs, and some participants also indicated the interest of their peers in NGCAs in participating in the course. Increasing the interest of NGCA residents in participating in the course is potentially a window of opportunity for peacebuilding efforts to come.

Post-course survey data indicated that of 39% of course takers were willing to actively use the knowledge and skills they had gained. One instrument to gauge this commitment is to look at the rate of submission of applications for follow-up initiatives – 36%. The course provided participants with a platform from which to embark on larger-scale follow-up initiatives, which could be implemented with use of the skills they had obtained in reaching agreements with opponents. 21 initiative proposals were submitted, 10 of which received UNDP support.

Follow-up initiatives, nevertheless, are a proxy indicator for the mid-term outcomes of the training course, since they mainly depend on the organisational capacity of the course-taker. There was no effective way to support the mediation activity of a course-taker, apart from direct financial and organisational support from the UNDP side. The absence of other supporting mechanisms for the mediation process might have been the cause of the low rate of submission of initiatives in which the course taker would have acted as mediator.

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UNDP’s experience of Insider Mediation in eastern Ukraine

4. Stories Egor Pototskiy,

Direct negotiations, Novopskov

“I’m already trying to redirect the way of thinking of my colleagues, trying to soften their positions. But I should be clear that my views as to Ukraine remained the same. On the other hand, I realise that my behaviour does indeed need to be more adaptive to the views of other the side.”

Tetiana Semenova,

Grey zone football match, Hirske

“After Insider Mediation training, I felt there were changes in views and even in my methods of communication with other people and the state administration. I understand that issues can’t be resolved if we approach them from radical positions, but at the same time we can think of other models for settling disputes. Sports activates is one of these models.”

Darya Vorontseva,

Medical reform roundtable, Mariupol

”The course clarified how to resolve conflict situations and showed that the majority of conflicts are created by our reckless behaviour and inappropriate actions. Therefore, I try to be more careful with actions myself, so as not to create conflict situations, and help other people resolve them.”

UNDP’s experience of Insider Mediation in eastern Ukraine

5. Challenges Perceptions and expectations

Insider mediation, as much as other forms of ADR, are highly dependent on the cohesion of a community, and social/communal pressure. In contexts of divided and/or atomized societies, the pressure is limited.

Moreover, prevalent paternalism and postconflict changes in power structures can corrupt the leverage, serving the interests of empowered individuals, rather than the community/conflicting parties. In many cases, the course-takers, despite showing interest in learning, had slightly different

expectations. The predominating majority of the course applicants perceived Insider Mediation as a service, not a practice, and were expecting to be taught a profession, not learning a role. The significance of this clear distinction and informing the applicants of it is indispensable for increasing the quality of the course. Moreover, in many cases participants experienced difficulties in identifying and separating personal, communal and country-wide conflicts and their transformations.

Course engagement, diversity and inclusion

The unequal dispersion of the population in the regions made it difficult to allow representation of all seven clusters in the same manner. The Kramatorsk-Sloviansk agglomeration in Donetsk Oblast, and the Lysychansk-Severodonetsk one in Luhansk Oblast were the most active in terms of number of applicants, participants and initiatives.

More importantly, the inclusion of participants from NGCAs possessed a

challenge to the course. The inclusion of participants from NGCAs in the course had not been foreseen, and nor had support for their follow-up initiatives.

However, despite a gradual increase in interest from residents of NGCAs and their geographical accessibility to the course venues (Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv oblasts), their larger inclusion in the process is still impeded by (a) communication restrictions and (b) security risks.

Novelty and the course’s content

During the project’s implementation, the challenges of creating unique content for the course, enabling it to stand out, persisted. Insider mediation as an approach has distinctive features, which means it can look at mediation efforts

in communities from a unique angle.

However, the greater incorporation of perspectives with comparative cases from courses in insider mediation run by UNDP and others will be crucial for the training course to succeed.

Outcome monitoring

The large amount of attention given to the conflict by international organisations and actors has caused the two conflictaffected regions to see an influx of funds, initiatives and opportunities. However, this had negative repercussions for the effectiveness of the course by reducing the quality of applicants, as many

were also taking part in other similar projects (PAX’s Peace Engineers, OSCE’s Reconstruction through dialogue etc.).

Since in many cases Insider Mediation course-takers were also beneficiaries of other, similar training courses, it was difficult to distinguish the effects of the UNDP course from those of the others.

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UNDP’s experience of Insider Mediation in eastern Ukraine

On-going hostilities

Despite a reduction in intensity, the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine is continuing, impeding peacebuilding efforts in the region and the country at large. This fosters polarization and radicalization

among the affected population. In such a context, it is difficult to raise issues of reconciliation and co-existence due to insecurity, violence and an “us-versusthem” mind-set.

6. Conclusion and Recommendations The intensity of the conflict in eastern Ukraine is reducing, providing space for peacebuilding and dialogue interventions.

Therefore, it is necessary to develop a range of longterm initiatives, approaches and instruments, creating opportunities for safe information and experience exchanges, thus, synchronising, multiplying and reinforcing peacebuilding resources and efforts.

It is important to support mediation and dialogue processes both bottomup and top-down, as well as building connections and cohesion between them. At the same time, it is important to insure there is a proper scale to such interventions, in the planning, implementation and evaluation phases, and foresee interconnectedness in the personal, local, regional, national and international domains.

Supporting neutral parties to the conflict, and advocating for compromise/ consensus and peaceful/nonviolent means of conflict resolution, is recommended. In the case of civil society – support for the initiatives from political elites requires their involvement in mediation processes, thereby increasing their level of support and responsibility.

It is necessary to build the capacity of facilitators and insider mediators in order for there to be effective work with radicalisation, and people with extreme views and positions - such interactions cannot be limited to simply ignoring or supressing them. It is crucial to build local mediators’ skills in drawing in moderate representatives of such groups, avoiding a nationalist/separatist agenda, and attempting to build micro-

agreements on the conditions for living in one community.

In further programming, it will be important to engage organisations that work with conflict-affected populations.

The use of their peacebuilding potential can be the basis for preventing the opposing sides from escalating, and promoting hate. It is also important to be prepared to work on the topic of individual, group and collective memory.

Joint work on the traumatic experiences of armed conflicts, and searching for opposing, but legitimate views, is an effective instrument to find ways to move forward. The process allows for a combination of personal transformation with the creation of a new “narrative of the past.”

Insider Mediation has been shown to be effective in working with different layers of perception of the conflict. Therefore, scaling up the initiative is important i.e. creating and strengthening conflictsensitive groups in communities, and being able to identify social tensions and react to challenges. The basis for support, and the qualitative institutional development of peacebuilding activities, should be placed on the real-life interaction of key actors, and the

UNDP’s experience of Insider Mediation in eastern Ukraine

involvement of the parties in the conflict at the local, peripheral, national and international levels.

Insider Mediation, as a pilot project of the Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme of the UNDP, brought up potential opportunities, gaps and challenges for dialogue and peacebuilding initiatives in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

Due to high demand (20% acceptance rate) the training course was extended to 3 waves from the initially planned single pilot one. It improved both the knowledge and mediation capacity of the coursetakers, and positively affected long-term preferences for dialogue as the primary means of conflict resolution.

There are however certain limitations of the course as to attracting highquality participants and decision makers across the conflict lines. It is a profound challenge to attract highly motivated course takers who would take up mediation as a role, and not as a profession. This relates to the larger issue of considering mediation as paid service, instead of a community practice. As a further consideration, it will necessary to maximise the number of highly motivated and bona fide participants who, as observed, constituted around one third of the course beneficiaries. A general pre-selection stage should be considered along with interviews.

In a low capacity environment, it is crucial to involve a broad range of actors (even unexpected ones). Activists in the spheres of social work, cultural activism and journalism are of a great use to the Insider Mediation’s cause. Since insider mediators are partial (having knowledge of the parties involved and a good understanding of local conflicts) it is crucial to pay specific attention to impartiality.

The abundance of opportunities brought

by international actors fostered the emergence of professional free riders who adapt their motivations and the data they give in their application forms to fit the demands of an organisation.

Careful selection and coordination with other partners and agencies is therefore advised.

Due to increasing interest from the residents of NGCAs, providing opportunities for the further involvement of such people should be considered. In this case, additional security measures as well as contact efforts should be put in place.

Among the latter are nonconventional channels of communication, such as word-of-mouth, social networks and existing points of contact in NGCAs. This could potentially reshape the educational focus of the initiative, making it more practical.

The inclusion of additional post-course opportunities is highly recommended.

Peer shadowing, a learning fund, and support, mentorship and supervision by experienced counterparts are some of the effective instruments that could possibly be used in further stages of the project.

Lastly, the long-term effects of the course will start to be seen in the months and years to come. Changes in perceptions, attitudes, values and practices take a long time to occur. Insider Mediation therefore is a practice of sowing the seeds of tolerance, acceptance, peaceful conflict resolution and nonviolence. UNDP, being a leader of development efforts in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, along with other development organisations in the country and region, can further support advancements in the areas of dialogue and facilitation, and Insider Mediation is one of the means by which to do this.

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UNDP’s experience of Insider Mediation in eastern Ukraine

Stats

Participants’ preference of dialogue as primary means of conflict resolution

“Insider mediation” training course COMPARATIVE DATA

Before the training After the training

Participants’ capacity to lead dialogue initiatives

Knowledge, sufficient to organise mediative/dialogue-building events

Effective communication

Dialogue

Positions, interests, basic needs

Faciliation

Mediation

Mapping of conflict

ADR

Consensus-making

Insider Mediation

Anathomy of conflict

Dialogue and safety

Level of knowledge on specific topic

Transformative approach

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UNDP’s experience of Insider Mediation in eastern Ukraine

“Insider mediation” training course DESCRIPTIVE DATA

Prior experience of similar trainings None One More than one

Frequency of encountering certain conflicts

Ideology

Others

Identity

Religion

Gender of the course-takers Male Female

Prior mediative experience Yes No

Areas participants resolve conflicts in Private life Public life Professional Spare time

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UNDP’s experience of Insider Mediation in eastern Ukraine

Level of participation in conflict resolution

Commitments of the participants Đ?ctive (Application) Passive (Usage)

Regional/National

Communal

39% 61%

Interpersonal

Intergroup

Course provided participants with

Highly practical information

Knowledge on negotiations

Knowledge on effective communication

Anathomy of conflict

Dialogue

ADR

Mapping of conflict

Faciliation

Positions, interests, basic needs

Effective communication

Mediation

Insider Mediation

Consensus-making

Transformative approach

Usefullness of topics covered

Dialogue and safety

18

Level of the course satisfaction

Course materials

Teaching quality

Overall

United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine 1, Klovsky Uzviz, Kyiv, 01021, Ukraine Tel: +380 44 253 93 63 (General Enquiries) Fax: +380 44 253 26 07

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels SDG 16 has been identified in several nationwide surveys as the priority goal for Ukraine among the global Sustainable Development Goals.

This report aims to inform the debate about the situation with regard to this Goal, and suggests measures to enhance peaceful conflict resolutions.

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