A reflection on the effectiveness of the technical support provided to national actors in preparation for the Bangui National Forum

In May 2015, the Central African Transitional Government and 600 Central African delegates drawn from CAR’ political parties, armed opposition groups, and civil society participated in the Bangui National Forum.

National dialogue processes are highly significant events that can provide a roadmap on the way forward and signal change in the aftermath of war. To take root they need to be combined with robust grassroots reconciliation and social cohesion work and as such, the Bangui National Forum (BNF) was designed to include multiple layers of participation which started with Track-I negotiations between government officials and the leaders of armed groups and included grassroots consultations that allowed for broad regional input and participation.

On the 1-year anniversary of the BNF, CIT organized a 3-day exchange between mediation experts to discuss the successes and challenges of organizing such a National Dialogue. With a particular attention on the participatory and inclusive nature of the Forum old and new government officials, international mediation experts, Civil Society organizations and NGO representatives who participated in the organization of the Bangui Forum came together to review their agency’s strategic objectives and mandate, role, the analytical framework that guided the design of their strategy and activities, how this had to be adapted to the CAR context and the impact of those choices a year later.