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The Fredskorpset International Advisory Council Meeting, North-South and South-South Forums |
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| 7th to 11th September, 2006, Oslo, Norway |
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Palitha Gurusinghe, President, Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation has been invited by the Fredskorpset, Norway (FK Norway), to take part at the FK-North-South Forum -2006 FK Advisory Council Meeting and the FK-South-South Forum-2006 held in Norway from 7th to 11th September, 2006. |
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The FK North-South Forum 2006 marked the second biennial gathering for sharing visions and experience with partners of FK Norway and representatives from society at large. The intention is to focus on some of the most vital issues facing us today- Peace building and Conflict Management. FK Norway provides a framework that enables public and private enterprises, institutions, non-governmental organizations and solidarity groups in the North and the South to exchange staff, members and resource personal. More than 350 partners and over 2500 participants form part of the FK Network world wide.
Today FK has exchange projects in almost 60 developing countries, with main focus on Norway’s developing partner countries. In 2005, the five major FK countries were Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi and Sri Lanka. |
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Fredskorpset partners around the world |
FK North-South Forum 2006 was held at famous Oslo City Hall, the venue for the awarding ceremonies of prestigious Nobel Prizes. The FK-South-South Forum was held in Geiranger, west of Norway, from 9-11 September, 2006.
Among the celebrities who have been invited at the FK North-South Forum were, Andre Stoylen, Oslo Municipality, Erik Solheim, Minister of International Development, Norway, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Dra Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Nobel Prize Laureate, and the Prime Minster of East Timor, Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta and Nobel Prize Laureate, Member of Parliament, Prof. Wangari Maathaai. The Master of Ceremony was Mr. Knut Jostein Berglyd, Head of Department, FK.
Geiranger, where the FK South-South Forum took place is located in the west of Norway, sandwiched by the West Norwegian Fjords and beautiful hills. Fjords are among the most dramatic and spectacular landscapes on the planet. West Norwegian Fjords is one of the World Heritage Sites in Norway. The World Heritage area of Fjords embraces some of the longest, deepest, narrowest and most beautiful fjords in the world.
More than 85 Partners took part at this forum. The FK-Partners to the FK South-South Forum-2006 were welcomed by the Chairperson of the FK Board, Mr. Per Kristian Lunden, and the Introduction to the south/south forum was delivered by, By Helge Espe, Deputy Director General, FK. There was a very interesting presentation to the South-South Forum by by Mr. Arne Sandnes, Mayor of Norddal Municipality and a Member of the FK Board on ‘Furniture, strawberries and tourism - Opportunities and Challenges in a small fjord community’. In his articulate presentation he outlined the fascinating topics such as Geiranger: the World Heritage site and the threat posed to the environment. |
• Seasonal labour and its effects on the municipal economy
• Youth and the future (interview with young Marita from a sheep farm) and The threat of a Tafjord tsunami. By Profession, Arne is a farmer; his main business is strawberry cultivating. He has international experience from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) in Zambia, and from main office of NORAD in Oslo, Norway |
| A detailed session on ‘How can FK recruit a larger proportion of women to the south/south programs and how to resolve the bottlenecks of the FK south-south programmes?’ were conducted by Fikre Hailemeskel, Regional Representative Africa and Sacha Jotisalikorn, Regional Representative Asia and their respective teams. |
The delegates were housed in the Union Hotel, one of the most beautiful Hotels in Geiranger. FK has arranged some exciting excursions and community programmes for the delegates.
Some of them were. |
Driving to the hills to see summer farms, with local serving their delicacies.
The Fjord Community Center
The Hydro-electric power station
The Church |
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| Ichsan Malik, Director, Institut Titian Perdamaian, Peace Building Institute, in Geiranger, Norway |
Elizabeth (EBC) and Cherry (FK-Asia) |
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