In June 2000, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Office of the of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UNHCR Spanish Committee, organised an International Colloquium on Humanitarian Crises and Reconciliation. The success of the Colloquium encouraged us to continue working on the issues discussed and we articulated the follow-up of the Colloquium on the discussion of reconciliation mechanisms centred around the two following perspectives:


• Legal and political mechanisms that would ensure it.


• Psycho-social aspects which promote coexistence among individuals belonging to communities that experienced (or experience) conflict.


Globalitaria-Peace-building Initiatives organises and implements the project, initially an initiative of the UNHCR Spanish Committee. The reflection process culminated in a Final Conference in the framework of the Universal Forum of Cultures - Barcelona 2004. The Final Conference was preceded by a series of preparatory Seminars consisting of analysis of significant contemporary situations in different regions such as the Balkans, the Great Lakes region, South and Central America and the Middle East, as well as cases of past experiences that have achieved a degree of relative stability, like South Africa and Mozambique. The conclusions of the process are meant to be action-oriented and to have an impact on peace building initiatives in different contexts. Additionally, they are at the basis of the Barcelona Declaration that will serve as the axis of advocacy and dissemination on issues central to the process.


At the moment, Globalitaria is working on the promotion of the Barcelona Declaration in relevant national and international foro. At the same time, it is also focusing on reflection and action in the regions addressed in the process (Balkans, the Great Lakes region and Sub-Saharan Africa, South and Central America and the Middle East) in order to implement the Barcelona Declaration.