ETC/I conducted a three day training program on 2-4 May 2008 in Erbil on collaborative problem solving and reconciliation for 33 officials involved in Iraqi reconciliation and human rights. Specifically, the participants represented a number of key institutions: the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights (MoHR), as well as its Kurdish counterpart; the Parliament's Committee on Reconciliation (CoR), including both its Human Rights Committee and its National Reconciliation Committee; the Implementation and Follow-Up Committee for National Reconciliation (IFCNR) from the Office of the Prime Minister; and the Human Rights unit within Baghdad University. The primary trainers leading this workshop included Vice President for International Programs Mike Lekson, Senior Program Officer Nina Sughrue, and Baghdad Office Senior Reconciliation Facilitator David Steele.

The workshop assisted government professionals involved in human rights and reconciliation to develop skills and contacts. The workshop began with a presentation by an Iraqi NGO leader and a senior USIP Iraqi facilitator on a successful conflict resolution effort in Mahmoudiya, where USIP trained Iraqi facilitators brokered a pathbreaking peace accord that enabled local tribal leaders to create a common vision and action plan for improving security, governance, rule of law, economic and social well being in their region. Following presentation of this stimulating example of reconciliation, participants were presented with an examination of the dynamics of relationship building in a context of deepseated conflict, focusing on such issues as the meaning of reconciliation, perception clarification and how to get out of a cycle of revenge. Each participant was then helped to discover and evaluate their own predominant style of conflict intervention prior to introducing techniques of negotiation and mediation. Through presentations and practical exercises, the officials were helped to identify common and compatible interests, negotiate creative solutions to common problems, and work together across professional and ethnic lines. On the last day of the workshop, participants formed working groups to develop action plans that would creatively address typical concrete problems at various junctures of Iraqi society.

The workshop also included a screening of the film "Confronting the Truth," a new USIP video about truth commissions and societies in transition. The session, which was facilitated by Iraqi American Sermid Al-Sarraf, generated enormous interest in the eventual development of processes whereby reconciliation and human rights could be address constructively in Iraq. Participants overwhelmingly recommended that this video be shown to members of parliament, staff from government ministries, those working in police and judicial systems, as well as other prominent government and non-government personnel.

Finally, the Baghdad office of USIP is committed to providing follow-up support to both government agencies and non-governmental institutions that have participated in this kind of training event. There is a strong desire on the part of USIP to build indigenous capacity that can adapt and pursue efforts at reconciliation and peacebuilding.