BENIN GPRA REPORT: AFRP CONFLICT RESOLUTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COTONOU 000307 PARIS FOR ARS (DWINTON) DEPARTMENT FOR AF/PD (ANYASO, TITUS, LISENBY),ECA/PE/V/R/A (EBUTLER),AF/W (VHARPER) SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OEXC KPAO SCUL BN SUBJECT: BENIN GPRA REPORT: AFRP CONFLICT RESOLUTION REF: SECSTATE 46194 ¶1. DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITY: Benin's participants in the June 8-26, 2009 Conflict Resolution Program, Zacharie Dah-Sekpo, President of the Second Commercial Court and the Fourth Civilian Court dealing with land disputes and Charles Badou, Attorney at Law, returned to Benin and debriefed the Public Affairs Officer and the Cultural Affairs Assistant about their visit to the U.S. They also assured us that they will share the newly gained U.S. experience with their Beninese counterparts. ¶2. DATE OF ACTIVITY: June 8-26, 2009; third quarter, FY 09. ¶3. PROGRAM JUSTIFICATION/OBJECTIVES: The program was a good opportunity for both participants to get an understanding of U.S. perspectives on the use of dispute resolution, and of various techniques for mitigating or resolving a variety of conflicts and disputes resulting from ethnic, religious, socio-economic and regional differences. ¶4. MPP UMBRELLA THEMES AND AUDIENCE REACHED: Subject program meets Post's objectives in promoting Democracy and Good Governance, Human Rights and Mutual Understanding. ¶5. ACTIVITIES/IMPACT/RESULT: During the debriefing session, both participants expressed their appreciation for Americans' kindness, discipline and respect for public property. They were impressed by how decentralized American local government is and the very active and dynamic role that the civil society takes in the control of local governments as well as the high level of citizen involvement in local as well as social, economic and political affairs. As a member of the civil society of Benin, Attorney Badou alluded to his positive U.S. experience in his interview on TV on July 14 when the journalist asked his opinion about the President's policy toward combating corruption. He asserted that the Beninese civil society is not playing the role it should be playing, which is to speak up, denounce and condemn injustice, improprieties and poor management. ¶6. The participants were also pleasantly surprised to discover that mediation is used to avoid litigation in many cases in the U.S. They felt that this was an excellent model to encourage in Benin because it fosters communication between the different antagonists and allows for peaceful resolution of conflicts, as opposed to a traditional adversarial courtroom setting. They also noted that mediation could ameliorate the situation of overcrowded courtroom dockets. They were struck by the fact judges in the U.S. had the authority to refer some cases to the mediator and they longed for the day when judges in Benin could be given that power or prerogative to delegate more minor cases to a mediator. ¶7. As an immediate result of their participation in this program, they intend to organize meetings with leaders and civil society members to share with them the positive experience they had in the U.S. The PAO offered to host such a meeting at the American Cultural Center and she also suggested involving them in a TV panel discussion with the Charge d'Affaires to discuss actions Beninese could take based on their experience in the U.S. as it relates to President Obama's Ghana speech. ¶8. Both participants felt that it would be helpful to bring people together to begin thinking about how to anticipate and prevent eventual conflicts in the near future, in the lead-up to Benin's legislative and presidential elections. Mounting problems of a widening gap between the rich and the poor and concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, flooding, poor government management, all factors that could lead to conflicts. According to Badou, the role of civil society is to reflect on these important issues related to the society's well being and see to its interests. He noted that the time has come and the need is great to establish a think-tank committee or organization that would take on the responsibility for seriously reflecting on the country's many problems with an aim of promoting recommendations and solutions for the government to follow. Both participants agreed that it will take a lot of work to educate the citizens about their civic responsibilities and the need to impose self- discipline and inculcate a sense of working for the good of the nation before incremental changes will come. ¶9. The participants found the program to be well organized and tightly focused, with interesting presentations by most speakers. Nevertheless, they would have liked more simulations and real cases for the program. They also would have preferred that the program finish on Thursday to allow them to return home and get enough rest before resuming work on Monday. ¶10. NON-USG SOURCES OF IN-COUNTRY FUNDING/IN KIND SUPPORT: None COTONOU 00000307 002 OF 002 ¶11. QUALITY OF USG SUPPORT: Excellent. The participants were very impressed by the quality and professionalism of the speakers, ELOs and programs. BOUSTANI