E-Dialogues

E-Dialogues are series of online capacity building forums to create a global forum for interaction and discussion on the issues of empowerment and citizen engagement; to connect participants and other interested parties in a forum for sharing knowledge and experience; and to encourage greater cooperation among government officials, donors, development agencies, civil society, NGOs, and communities.

Some of SSD's e-dialogue discussions are introduced below and linked to more detailed information on the substance of each discussion:

Traditional Structures Dev-Forum (April 18 - May 20, 2005)

Overview: The online E-Discussions cover 4 topics from April 18th till May 20th 2005. Each discussion will be moderated and then summarized by the Contents Moderator while the Technical Moderator will take care of ensuring proper functioning of the e-Discussion interface and the suitability of messages received.

Regional Dialogue on Access to information, Transparency and Good Governance in Bolivia, Honduras, and Nicaragua
February - May, 2005 (in Spanish)

The World Bank Institute's Community Empowerment and Social Inclusion (CESI) program, together with the Civil Society Team of the World Bank's Latin America and Caribbean Region (LCR), and the Global Development Learning Network (GDLN), are conducting a regional dialogue on access to information and transparency issues in Bolivia, Honduras and Nicaragua. The    Carter Center is also collaborating in this initiative.

Pakistan and Afghanistan: Opportunities and Challenges in the Wake of the Current Crisis (November 11 – December 10, 2001)

Overview: This event built upon meetings and discussions hosted by different organizations, including a dialogue organized by PAKNET, a World Bank staff association, in early October, 2001. Subsequently, a large number of internal and external groups expressed interest in the substance of the dialogue. This initiative opened the discussion to the larger community. Participants in the dialogue included scholars, historians, social scientists, students and practitioners of development, and other active community members.

The objectives of the discussion were to:

1. Increase knowledge and understanding of the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan;
2. Improve the appreciation of perspectives of different actors;
3. Enhance understanding of the roots and branches (causes and symptoms) of the current situation; and,
4. Analyze the complexities, along with the opportunities and challenges for both countries, and a realistic assessment of the way forward.

The discussion was organized in three portions. Part One of the discussion will consider the question: How did we get here? Part Two will consider the question: What are the implications of this crisis on the economic, social, and political development of Pakistan and Afghanistan? Part Three will consider the question: Where do we go from here?

Freedom of Information Access (October 2001)

Overview: The objective of the e-dialogue is to address both aspects of information as a means to raise awareness about people's rights and the need to exercising them which in turn leads to empowerment, and information as a means to help people hold all institutions accountable.

Instruments to Enhance the Voices of Vulnerable Groups
(September 10-20, 2001)

Overview: The purpose of this e-dialogue is to explore the relevance, feasibility, and adaptability, in the Balkan context, of the three following mechanisms for participation:

1. A State Initiative to Promote Policy Dialogue with Civil Society: The Mesas de Concertacion in Peru
2. Making the Law Work for People: La Defensoria del Pueblo.
3. Empowering Who? Questions of Ethnic and Gender Diversity: Ethnic
   Minority Facilitators Training in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

These mechanisms are being employed in Latin American countries to enhance the voices of marginalized groups in order to gain control over processes affecting their lives, as well as to make institutions more inclusive of and accountable to them.

In the past, Latin American countries faced similar problems to those that exist in the Balkans: ethnic conflict; rigid centralization power; lack of trust and isolation; social exclusion of ethnic and other minority groups; lack of transparency and accountability.