CCTS
Review 34

QPSW’s work in the Balkans

In the second presentation, Alan Pleydell described the work of Quaker Peace and Social Witness in the Balkans. Alan, like Jonathan, has been personally involved in the work from the outset.
QPSW’s involvement in the region spans almost exactly the same time as CR’s in the Caucasus and, although the foundations for their work were inevitably rather different from CR’s, being governed by Quaker processes and principles, Alan felt there were many similarities with CR’s approach, and with Jonathan’s analysis of the key qualities needed in order to do this type of work.

Any work undertaken by the Society of Friends (Quakers) is set in a context of certain qualities and processes. The qualities Alan described were those of discernment, which many Quakers would see as guided by the Holy Spirit, and which is a necessary part of strategising, and faithfulness – sticking with people in hard times.

In general, the area of engagement is determined in Quaker committees. At the outset of the work in the 1990s, the prevailing inherited ‘model’ for overseas work was to have expatriate Quaker representatives in the selected region. The money to pay for the work, now as then, is mostly raised within the Quaker community (which, depending on the measure used, consists of between 16,000 and 35,000 people). Almost inevitably this means that work develops organically, through the slow development of relationships of trust with local actors and in response to changing circumstances, rather than mechanistically, in response to a worked out external analysis and prescription. QPSW’s work in the Balkans continues to fit this model, though in 2000-02 there was a managed transition to employing representatives who were local people embedded within their communities and already known and trusted for their peacebuilding work.

The Balkans Programme began in 1992 when the Quaker European Relations Committee, aware of the expansion of the Balkan war, wanted an increasing involvement from what was then called QPS (Quaker Peace and Service). At the same time, they recognised that QPS was fully committed in Russia and Northern Ireland. So the only work that could initially be afforded, in time and money, was done by Alan. It consisted of making contacts and building relationships of trust with people in the region, occasionally visiting, often together with a voluntary committee member, and recommending originally very small grants to assist their initiatives in the hope that the links fostered would become of use for more engaged peacebuilding and conflict transformation work later on. (During this period, a number of other Quakers were involved in the region, but not explicitly as representatives of the Society of Friends.)

By 1997 QPS’s involvements in Russia and Ireland were winding down, and more resources became available for work in the Balkans. After preliminary research, two representatives (both ex-pats) were hired in late 1998 to work in Sarajevo, with the objective of making stronger links in the region and supporting partners through capacity building training and continued small grant aid. They liaised with key local individuals who were engaged in a variety of peacebuilding and conflict transformation work. (In theory the relationships were formed with particular organisations; in practice, it was nearly always the individuals that mattered.) Who became key associates and partners was not determined by any pre-articulated focus on which specific sectors of the grass-roots community would be particularly key to peacebuilding (whether young people, women's groups, or income-generation schemes), but by an adherence to the Quaker tradition of supporting groups and their leaders whose activities could be seen to fall under the broad description of fostering peace. Similarly, the focus on Bosnia was not a strategic decision but a response to the dawning pragmatic recognition that they could not effectively function region-wide with only two people.

By the end of the 1990s many of the international organisations working in Bosnia had moved on to new conflict areas. QPS, in line with its principle of faithfulness and the sense that the real opportunities for sustained peacebuilding and reconciliation arose when the fighting had been over for some years, wished to remain in Bosnia and the wider region. Owing to internal financial constraints, however, it could not freely expand its budget or fundraise to fit an emerging broader regional need. Funding became available unexpectedly when a discussion of the Kosovo war at the summer 1999 Yearly Meeting of Quakers in Britain resulted in about £20,000 of relief money being raised almost immediately, when the head of fundraising ‘sent round some buckets’. At this time QPS had no programme in Kosovo and they felt a deep commitment to their work in Bosnia, which was already stretching them, they had no Albanian speakers, and many other organisations were already working there. However, in order to spend the new and unplanned money, they hired a temporary worker to advise on which relief groups within Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro should receive it. The contacts thus quickly made were not sustained but, in recognition of the importance of Kosovo to the regional picture, QPS did participate in the Balkan Peace Team, which was managed by a peace movement consortium, and contributed a volunteer.

In 2001 QPSW (as it now became) conducted a weekend consultation with its region-wide partners to consider what, if any, future work Quakers should undertake. The overwhelming response was that the Quaker approach, which consists essentially of using the Socratic method of drawing out and encouraging reflection, rather than coming with preconceived answers, was usefully different, in that it carried with it no agenda other than being ‘helpful for peace’. They were asked if they could work region-wide on ‘Dealing with the Past’, by assisting and engendering informal, non-governmental processes for truth and reconciliation. It was felt that the existing processes were either too politicised (because they were initiated by the state) or too remote from the people (because sponsored by urban intellectuals) to be able to do this work effectively.

The work has taken several years to get off the ground – affected not only by its small budget but also by the fact that it involved a change in focus for the organisation, and the appointment of new staff – but authentic truth and reconciliation work is now taking place, and growing. It has been a slow process, but the people and groups encouraged by QPSW are now starting to feel confident enough to work not only with the ‘victims’ of violence but also to begin work with its ‘perpetrators’ – recognising that the unprocessed violent tendencies that these ‘perpetrators’ had visited on society would continue to be recycled until they were directly addressed.

Challenges

Because of the way they are funded, Quakers cannot easily grow programmes to fit with the changing situation ‘on the ground’. For this reason they often engage in what Alan called ‘strategic tokenism’– being selective as a way of responding to increasing demand without any increase in funding.

Funding pressures are increasing, and one recent effect is that QPSW is now under pressure to set up projects with a duration of no more than 5 years. This fits badly with the Quaker principle of faithfulness, as well as with a broader truth about the length of time it takes to bring about lasting change.

The newly-created truth and reconciliation team suffered initially from a great deal of internal conflict. Alan reflected that when you create a new team in an area of present or recent violence, you must expect the stresses of working in that environment to affect inter-personal relations. Such workers need extensive training in dealing with the external stresses that manifest themselves in their own relationships.

Discussion

In the ensuing discussion session it was generally agreed that it is necessary to wait until people are emotionally ready to deal with the past. This requires patience (a quality already identified by Jonathan). Alan commented that courage is also needed, especially if funders are pushing for action or only committing to short-term support.
In much of QPSW’s work in the Balkans, key local individuals have been far more important than the organisations for which they worked. Several participants recognised that this was also true in their work, and were concerned with the limitations that this might impose on their capacity to expand the work. Alan’s view was that the amount of growth that could be achieved inevitably depended on the individuals’ capacity to inspire and to establish co-operative lattices of relationships.

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