Friar Luciano, manager of Fraternity – International Humanitarian Missions (FIHM), lectures on Humanitarian Negotiation within the context of indigenous populations in refugee shelters.
An extensive program of more than 80 sessions and a virtual exhibition, gathered from June 28 to July 3, in Caux, Switzerland, frontline negotiators, humanitarian policymakers, academics, donors, government representatives, and more than 1,350 online participants, for the World Summit on Frontline Humanitarian Negotiation 2021, which addressed the most challenging current issues related to humanitarian negotiation.
Thematic sessions, presented in several languages, brought key issues to the agenda for debate, such as: Negotiation with Armed Groups; Access to Vaccination for Covid-19; Remote Mediation and Negotiation; Kidnapping, Rescue & Extortion Negotiation; and stories told by those who are on the frontline of humanitarian responses around the world.
Friar Luciano, manager of Fraternity – International Missions (FIHM) was invited to deliver two presentations on “Negotiation within the context of indigenous populations in refugee shelters; dialogues, challenges and solutions”, which took place on June 29 and 30.
In the first presentation, Friar Luciano addressed the historical aspects, the partnerships and the union of efforts among the different humanitarian actors for the consolidation of the large taskforce called Operation Welcome, generated by the Brazilian government as a response to the Venezuelan immigration crisis in Brazil.
On the second thematic panel, the manager of Fraternity – International Missions (FIHM) pointed out, above all, the measures developed by the organization, with the support of ACNUR, Operation Welcome, and the other partners, in the development of the projects that go beyond the emergency phase of the humanitarian response, and provide lasting solutions appropriate for the reality of the indigenous refugee peoples, which preserve their cultural identity, and at the same time, help those peoples regain their autonomy.
“It’s no use for an international or national agency, or even governmental agency or civil society having goodwill, if they don’t hold to the principle of active listening with the population, to try and hold a dialogue with the leaders of that population, and together, build projects that can converge to mitigate as much as possible the suffering, precariousness and vulnerability of these people “, emphasized Friar Luciano , who also made an important remark to the participants of the event: “the timing of the Humanitarian Response should not be to make working groups always for the future, always thinking about two, three, five, six months ahead. Because as time goes by, while we are thinking about how to help, their suffering continues and deepens, the trauma becomes deeper and deeper and those populations remain waiting for a solution.”
Friar Luciano ended his presentation by highlighting that “the ultimate [de la Fraternidad – Misiones Internacionales (FMHI)] objective [of Fraternity – International Missions (FIHM)] is to be on the side of both the assisted populations, and the host communities and governments, in order to support these two extremes, without conflicts, and to celebrate humanitarian principles through a culture of peace and fraternal coexistence.”
