Selected Project for the first Paris Peace Forum
11 to 13 Novmeber 2018, Paris

This article is written by Elsa D'Silva and Eirliani Abdul Rahman who represented the Global Diplomacy Lab at the first-ever edition of the Paris Peace Forum from 11 to 13 November 2018.

The Paris Peace Forum is an annual event that is intended to promote governance solutions in five key areas: peace and security, the environment, new technologies, development and inclusive economy. It was created at the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron to provide a platform for government officials, international organisations and representatives of civil society from around the world. Its open, bottom up format aims to enable these actors to launch collaborative initiatives and track two exercises, as well as mediation efforts and bilateral dialogues.

Being one of 120 selected projects in the Space of Soulutions, we had the opportunity to meet various project leaders and organisations over the three day period. Apart from one on one conversations, we held a pitch on the second day as well as a longer, more in-depth “meet up” on the last day of the event. Our one hour long session used the issue of “Women-friendly Cities” to apply a creative tension format. Asking the participants from various professional backgrounds, countries and different genders a series of ten difficult questions, we encouraged them to take a stand on the issue as well as share their personal experiences. The questions we asked included the following: “Is your city friendly to women and girls?”, “Do you feel safe using public transport late at night in your city?” and “Is the mobile phone a tool for security?”.

All the women present confirmed that they had experienced some form of sexual harassment in public spaces. The men who participated listened respectfully and took in the varying view points as well as sharing their own stories. This storytelling helped to ascertain the fact that sexual violence is a common issue. At the end, there was agreement that there is a need to create spaces for such discussions and dialogues in order to create greater understanding.

This is true not only of the session’s topic, but also of the Paris Peace Forum itself, which plays an important role in promoting peace and intercultural understanding on a variety of issues by creating such a space. Both of us felt strongly encouraged by the openness displayed by the participants, each trying to develop solutions to intractable problems: “Finding common ground at a people to people level has never been more important than at the present when nationalism is on the rise in various countries and multilateral institutions appear to be at risk.”