GHHF Founding Agenda

Rationale of the Forum

The Greater Horn of Africa, with its specific anthropological, historical, socio-economic and cultural characteristics, constitutes a distinct region within Africa that has been known for decades for its long-lasting intra- and inter-state conflicts. Due to its geostrategic position, the Greater Horn region — comprising the member countries of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) — has, since the colonial period, witnessed harsh competition over its territory between different local, national, regional and world powers. These confrontations have led to a culture of violence based on the instrumentalization of myths of origin, an overestimation of territorial claims, a feudal vision of the exercise of power and an oversimplified conception of conflict.

Because of the arbitrary borders inherited from colonial powers, governments of this region have often pursued political strategies that tend to ignore socio-cultural affinities and economic interdependences between their peoples. Governments’ deep attachment to the territorial dimension of the nation-state and their reluctance to explore the potentialities offered by the sharing of common heritage have so far discouraged the development of coherent policies conducive to regional integration.

The geopolitics of the region may generally be characterized by two phenomena rooted in the post-colonial process of nation-building: firstly, an ‘identity-divide’ along ‘artificial’ borders inherited from the colonial partition of Africa, in a region rich in ethnic, religious and cultural diversity; secondly, a competition generated by uneven access to natural and economic resources. These two phenomena may explain prevalent prejudices, discrimination and related conflicts experienced by the peoples of the region.

Beyond the imperative of intellectual integrity, which involves acknowledging mistakes of the past, the plight of war-torn societies no longer allows a focus on issues that stir up hatred and exacerbate division. Hence, the time has come to concentrate efforts on ways and means of facilitating a peaceful and mutually beneficial coexistence. The current circumstances urgently call for the development of new visions on the future of the Greater Horn of Africa, emphasizing peace and stability, regional integration and development, as well as common ideals, values and interests among its peoples.

Intellectuals of the Greater Horn of Africa region should therefore shift from ethnocentric, ‘primordialist’ and hegemonic visions to the building of a more holistic approach which takes into consideration the common aspirations of the region’s inhabitants. This new reflection should highlight the various commonalities of the peoples of the region in order to further the transition from a culture of confrontation to a culture of peace.

To that end, UNESCO, through its Greater Horn Horizon Initiative, has engaged in accompanying the scholars and intellectuals of the Horn of Africa in exploring the possibility of establishing an independent Forum to debate on the common future of the peoples of the Greater Horn of Africa. This Forum, which responds to the wishes strongly expressed by numerous scholars and intellectuals from both the region and the diaspora, aims to offer a suitable framework to exchange their visions on the future of their region.

Specificity of the Forum

The originality of this Forum is that it focuses on future-oriented studies and articulates anticipatory approaches and scenario-building methodologies in the analysis of regional issues. It encourages exchanges that go beyond the usual analysis of the past and current situations and explore the different possible future scenarios for regional integration and sustainable peace through multidisciplinary research. Offering a space for dialogue among researchers and with policy-makers, this initiative also aims at fostering research-policy linkages.

The asset of future-oriented analysis

• The Forum introduces into the analysis of the Greater Horn the use of anticipatory methodologies and scenario-building techniques to better grasp the situations and trends in the region.
• Future studies constitute a shift in the way of apprehending problems and proposing solutions. They help decision-makers and leaders to be more proactive by broadening their sources of information, integrating new approaches and ideas that may challenge seemingly clear-cut views and expectations.
• As Mr Alioune Sall, Director of the African Futures Institute, has stated, the goal of such studies is not to predict the future, but rather to help build a future that will meet the community’s aspirations and to assist in making better decisions toward it.
• By taking into account both the interests explicitly expressed and the hidden agendas of the various stakeholders, anticipatory studies facilitate endogenous reflection that challenges the prevailing external discourses on the Greater Horn of Africa. The approach has been employed in South Africa, Colombia and Guatemala to assist in the reconstruction of post-conflict societies.
• Scenario-building techniques encourage disciplined, systematic thinking about the future, presenting different possible pathways to challenge conventional thinking — useful, as Mr Jean Freymond of CASIN, Geneva, put it, in “knitting together social fabric, seeking reconciliation and creating a common vision in fragmented societies”.

Building a new culture of dialogue

The Forum aims at building and promoting a new vision of dialogue, integrating the principles and methodologies developed by scholars from different war-torn societies. This new conception of dialogue would lead to overcoming the usual barriers to greater recognition and understanding of one another’s views, discovering hidden common ground and building the necessary trust for moving ahead. One of the main obstacles to dialogue is a false polarization: in real dialogue, it is important to voice the uncertainties and doubts held by both sides and explore the common ground that may have been overlooked.

Reinforcing research-policy linkages

The Forum invites researchers and policy-makers to engage in a long-term process of learning in order to establish the appropriate conditions for open and constructive dialogues, based on the principles of equality, reciprocity, dignity, integrity, independent thinking, tolerance and mutual respect. By offering these different stakeholders an independent and autonomous space for dialogue, the Forum aims at reinforcing the linkage between research and policy formulation, and at supporting IGAD and the governments of the region through multidisciplinary policy research. Ultimately, the studies and analyses promoted by the Forum are action-oriented; its main objective is to influence policy-making through strategic action that fosters participative development, peaceful cooperation and mutually beneficial integration for the peoples of the Greater Horn of Africa.

Multi- and transdisciplinary approaches

The Forum facilitates the integration of multiple perspectives and visions into the analysis of the various issues facing the region. To that end, all the disciplines of the human and social sciences are applied, and the contributions of the transdisciplinary approach are privileged in order to achieve the paradigm shift needed to transcend the currently prevalent and stereotyped analyses of the region.

Objectives of the Forum

The major objective of the Forum is to facilitate reflection on the common future of the peoples of the region, in order to contribute to the search for and agreement on mutually accepted solutions to the problems of the Greater Horn of Africa region. More specifically, it aims at:

• building strong consensus on a long-term vision in favour of stability, sustainable development and regional integration;
• generating studies and analyses which may contribute to the formulation of proactive policies responding to the new challenges in the region;
• building capacities in the field of intercultural dialogue and regional integration for various stakeholders;
• encouraging universities and research institutions to develop focused studies on the main trends in the region, integrating anticipatory approaches and scenario-building methodologies.

Finally, the Forum aims at creating a circle of committed scholars and intellectuals tied by the sentiment of solidarity and mutual assistance, which should guide the sharing of ideas and visions on their common fate.

Status and autonomy of the Forum

Autonomy and self-determination of the Forum must be considered crucial, given the sensitivity of the issues to be discussed. The credibility of this type of Forum lies in its independence from governments and other institutions, allowing it the necessary space for decisions and initiatives, and guaranteeing the objectivity of the studies it conducts. As regional ownership is paramount, it should be perceived as one emanating from the scholars and intellectuals of the region. To that end, an ethical code of conduct for participating scholars and intellectuals was adopted.

Given the Forum’s role in contributing to shaping the direction and destiny of the region from the common will of its citizens, the participants cannot represent any particular government. Rather, they are part of the scientific community of independent scholars and intellectuals — both from the region and the diaspora — acting in their individual capacities. The network should not exclude anyone who wishes to participate, provided that he or she subscribes to the Forum’s code of conduct, with special attention to gender, age mix and geographical distribution. Although autonomous and independent, the Forum is in line with the concerns of the main African regional bodies and initiatives, including IGAD and the African Union, of developing early-warning and conflict-prevention systems and sustainable policies at the regional level.

Activities of the Forum

A step-by-step approach is recommended in order to better manage the usual obstacles, build confidence and make the appropriate decisions and adjustments. In the first phase, a two/three-year programme is envisaged, including the following specific activities:

• Organization of seminars — biannual research-policy seminars on resource and facilities sharing, peace-building, security, dialogue and regional integration in the Horn of Africa.
• Research and elaboration of thematic studies — policy-related studies developed by regional and international experts and discussed at each seminar.
• Transformation of thematic studies into policy papers, including concrete recommendations for decision-makers.
• Organization of annual capacity-building training workshops for local, national and regional policy-makers and civil-society actors.
• Translation, publication and wide dissemination of policy papers, made available in French and English in print and electronic form.
• Production and broadcasting of radio and television programmes in local African languages.
• Networking and partnership-building — cooperation with similar forums and think tanks, and close cooperation with IGAD, NEPAD and the African Union.

Past activities

UNESCO contributed to the following preparatory activities in order to facilitate the establishment of the Forum:

• Feasibility study (2004) — commissioned to assess existing initiatives and explore the viability of a new research-policy Forum in the Greater Horn; it confirmed the project’s utility and complementarity.
• Consultations with IGAD and government officials — including a mission to Djibouti, where the authorities confirmed their commitment to respect the independence and autonomy of the initiative.
• Workshop on scenario-building techniques — Nairobi, 11–15 September 2006, gathering fourteen scholars from the seven IGAD countries to discuss future scenarios for the region up to 2015.
• Two preparatory meetings — Paris, 7–9 November 2005, and Djibouti, 10–18 March 2007 — agreeing the organization and functioning of the Forum, establishing the draft code of conduct, and identifying the launch-conference themes (identities, multiculturalism and regional integration; the future of democracy; pastoralism, agrarianism and resource sharing).
• Creation of a website and a quarterly online journal in English and French, launched ahead of the official establishment of the Forum.
• Workshop on Anticipatory Approaches and Methodologies — Djibouti, 8–10 November 2007, training fifteen researchers from the region and the diaspora.
• Launch of the Forum — Djibouti, 12–15 November 2007, with around eighty participants. The agenda comprised the adoption of the Statutes, the adoption of the Ethical Code of Conduct, the election of the Executive Committee, and the adoption of the Action Plan 2008–2009.

The role of this Forum in building new bridges for dialogue among researchers and with policy-makers constitutes both its main challenge and its principal value. If this experience succeeds, the lessons learned could serve as a model for analogous future initiatives in other regions.