Any national reconciliation process that aims to be effective and efficient cannot dispense with the requirement to bring together, in addition to the parties to the conflict, all relevant sociopolitical stakeholders for a frank and constructive dialogue with a view to ironing out the difficulties that led to the confrontation, and especially to avoiding any misunderstanding which, unexpressed, could degenerate into a conflict with incalculable consequences.

It is on this premise that the Inter-Community Dialogue on Human Rights and Promoting a Culture of Peace was held in Mopti, Mali, from 27 to 29 November 2008. It was held as part of a project launched by the Inter-Parliamentary Union on enhancing parliamentary involvement in the work of treaty bodies with a view to effectively promoting human rights. This activity falls under a process of concerted action intended to foster the peaceful cohabitation of communities and local government authorities in Mali called on to play a determining role by dialoguing with the national institutions.

It brought together close to one hundred participants from various regions of Mali, including members of the national parliament as well as regional, local and community councillors, administrative authorities, civil society and representatives of different sociocultural sectors. The session was interactive and allowed for a healthy exchange on day-to-day human rights-related issues in Mali, various conflicts and tensions faced by and among the different communities and local government authorities. A number of recommendations were made, including the following:

• The need for widespread dissemination of national, regional and international instruments in the local languages to inform the population; the need to make citizens aware of their rights and duties;

• Recurrence of uprising in the north of Mali and gaps in implementing various peace accords; institutionalizing dialogue among communities, parliamentarians and local government authorities for regular review of agreements in collaboration with parliamentarians and State officials, as well as organizing seminars in the Kidal region;

• All regions of Mali have seen several conflicts caused by a number of reasons, notably the management of pasture land, water sources, production areas, etc. Participants proposed the ratification of community agreements and the development of agricultural land, pastures and fishing areas, taking into account local concerns and specificities.