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Executive Summary
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The present report is the outcome of part of the work that the Division for Social Policy and Development of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat has been undertaking to explore the potential role of participatory dialogue as a tool for facilitating social integration processes. It offers an overview of social integration and related concepts, explores the role and principles of participatory dialogue in creating more socially cohesive societies, and provides practical examples of dialogue use and dialogic tools. Thus, the report covers a range of approaches to the subject of participatory dialogue for social integration, and is meant to satisfy a variety of readers’ interests, ranging from conceptual explorations through normative thinking to practical tools and methodologies.
The World Summit for Social Development (the Social Summit) was held at Copenhagen in 1995 to forge agreement on social challenges and responses to them. The Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development established a new consensus on placing people at the centre of our concerns for sustainable development. Member States committed themselves to promoting social integration to create “a society for all”, through fostering inclusive societies that are stable, safe and just and that are based on the promotion and protection of all human rights, as well as on non-discrimination, tolerance, respect for diversity, equality of opportunity, solidarity, security and participation of all people, including disadvantaged, marginalized and vulnerable groups and persons.
A society for all is one in which people play an active role in peace and development, engaging in socially integrative processes that are guided by the fundamental principles of seeking unity within diversity with social justice. Participatory dialogue is a key catalytic mechanism in such processes and should be part and parcel of building more cohesive societies. Introducing the thinking behind social integration and its linkages to participatory dialogue includes clarifying terms and concepts that help to explain social integration as a process relevant to all societies. This process is highly complex, as it is multidimensional and dynamic and includes a wide range of diverse stakeholders. Social transformation processes spiral, continuously moving through different stages while building on previous stages. Social relations are in constant flux—from fragmentation, exclusion and polarization (formative stages) to coexistence, collaboration and cohesion (expansive stages). It is argued that inclusion, participation and justice form the main ingredients of social integration, ideally bringing forth the active engagement of all citizens in building their common future.
Dialogue is among the interventions necessary to bring about engagement and represents the shape that such engagement needs to take. In other words, dialogue processes should be an integral part of a comprehensive strategy of interventions towards social integration, and dialogue should be the method of interaction used in relation to other interventions such as healing, reconciliation, mediation, education, and policies and mechanisms for equality and equity, etc. It is evident that all stakeholders need to be included and need to take active and complementary roles in building more cohesive societies— government, international organizations, civil society, the private sector, and so on, with a particular emphasis on the participation of marginalized groups whose voices have not, or have hardly, been heard.
While measuring social integration is a complex and difficult undertaking, it can serve as a powerful tool in the process of building more cohesive societies, and preliminary thinking in this regard is presented, including consideration of developing a social integration index. The report includes a number of examples of dialogic practices from around the world, illustrating the arguments made, and demonstrating global trends towards increased use of dialogue at local, national and international levels. Conceptual thinking and analysis of both case examples and global trends form the basis of emerging principles of participatory dialogue for social integration. The report argues that such principles should be upheld in order for dialogue processes to be effective but that this has to be done in a highly flexible manner, ensuring that dialogue practices are appropriate to the context in which they are used and that all stakeholders assume ownership of the process.
The report also presents a range of practical tools and methodologies that fall under the broad umbrella of “participatory dialogue”, serving purposes ranging from increasing mutual understanding through facilitating to create collective visions of the future to joint decision-making and collaborative action, as well as building skills and capacities. These tools represent merely a small number of examples from among the plethora of practices being used around the world, encompassing the traditional and modern as well as many hybrid forms.
The report finally offers conclusions and recommendations for actions, aiming to increase our understanding of participatory dialogue processes as well as to promote and support them, to be considered by United Nations entities, Member States, international donors and stakeholders within civil society and the private sector. It is hoped that the report besides offering these explicit recommendations, will encourage readers to learn more about dialogue and explore ways to apply dialogic practices to building inclusive societies and fostering the active engagement of all in building a society for all. It is also meant to inspire innovation and experimentation in the various related programmes and projects in which readers are engaged at the local, national and international levels.
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Source:
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United Nations Document, Jan 2007: Participatory Dialogue: Towards a Stable, Safe, and Just Society for All – released June 2007.
“The report includes a number of examples of dialogic practices from around the world, illustrating the arguments made, and demonstrating global trends towards increased use of dialogue at local, national and international levels."... "It is evident that all stakeholders need to be included and need to take active and complementary roles in building more cohesive societies— government, international organizations, civil society, the private sector, and so on, with a particular emphasis on the participation of marginalized groups whose voices have not, or have hardly, been heard."…
The full document is 188 pages and costs $39.00.
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