Eritreans for Facilitating National Dialogue (EFND) Where: Alexandria, VA Date: October,23,24 and 25 The principal aim of EFND is to facilitate constructive dialog among Eritreans on issues that would help build a better foundation for Eritrea’s future. Our mission is to help narrow the differences among those who oppose the repressive regime among various groups in the Eritrean Diaspora community, which share the same or similar objectives. In our opinion, we have too many civic and political groups who can be more productive if they had a collaborative mind set. A national conference is one of many ways to get the conversation started. As a facilitator, EFND’s mission is to prepare the platform and set the tone for the conference. The primary purpose of the conference is to chart a common strategy that would help in freeing Eritrea from the grips of a brutal dictatorship, and to shed light on how to fix the monumental mess the regime has thrown the country into so that the transition would be smooth, peaceful, and democratic. EFND’s mission is to reach out to all political parties, civic association groups and individuals to discuss ways of pulling our country Eritrea out of the crisis it is in. EFND’s action plan entails the following tasks: 1. In consultation with a wide range of Eritreans from different walks of life, we will prepare a document with provisional proposals, which are intended to help the conference attendees in their dialogue on developing a roadmap showing the direction where we are going and the things we must do to get there. The document will also outline the steps that must be taken to close ranks among Eritreans, engaged in political or civic organizations, in ways that enable us to establish our organic link with the forces inside Eritrea who bear the brunt of repression and deprivation while battling the dictatorship day and night. 2. Part of the document will outline the essentials of the transition once the regime is gone. This will include defining the character of the transition phase, and the proposed institutional mechanism to insure success. The document is not for adoption by the conference, but rather to provide a platform for discussion. 3. Taking into full consideration the importance of diversity in terms of gender, religion and region, we will invite knowledgeable Eritreans to make presentations on the present reality and the nature of the transition. 4. Representatives of invited political parties and civic organizations will share their views on the two burning questions, namely, the present political environment, and their vision for Eritrea. The aim of our group is NOT to form a new political or civic organization. We are rather an ad hoc group that is solely motivated by a burning desire to facilitate dialogue among all Eritreans in general and among existing political and civic organizations in particular about the daunting challenges that our country is facing.
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 14:24:16 +0000