The Darfur Early Recovery and Development Initiative
In early 2008,the Mosaic Institute partnered with the Centre for the Study of Human Rights at New York’s Columbia University to produce the Darfur Early Recovery and Development Dossier, which proposes specific development goals for the region in the healthcare, agriculture, and education areas. With the participation of members of the Darfuri diaspora in Canada, Mosaic later convened a meeting in Ottawa where officials of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) reviewed the proposal, which argued the need for a coordinated, comprehensive, development strategy to be readied for implementation in Darfur even prior to the full cessation of armed conflict there.
In November 2008, the Mosaic Institute and Columbia University co-sponsored a conference in Cairo, Egypt to which Darfuri educators, community leaders, and scholars living both inside and outside Sudan shared best practices with each other and with select representatives of international organizations concerning the implementation of this report’s recommendations. The conference focused on four key areas: water; agriculture; pastoralism; and public health, and included early discussions regarding the establishment of a Darfuri-led “Darfur Development Committee” to serve as a key point of interface with both the international donor community and the Government of Sudan. Both CIDA and DFAIT’s Sudan Task Force sent representatives to Cairo, and DFAIT provided funding to facilitate the travel of a small group of key representatives from the Mosaic Institute, Columbia University, and the North American Darfuri diaspora. At a follow-up conference in May 2009, the membership of the Darfur Development Committee was confirmed, and its Terms of Reference for working with the Sudanese government in Khartoum on the full implementation of the Darfur Early Recovery and Development Dossier were established.
The Mosaic Seminars
In 2008, the Mosaic Institute created its Mosaic Seminars series, in which business and community leaders from Canadian diaspora communities (typically 15 to 20 in all) come together, often in the presence of consular officials from their countries of origin and DFAIT officials, to discuss the ways in which they interact with each other and their countries of origin. In addition to promoting dialogue for its own sake, these sessions also try and identify areas of common ground regarding their communities’ traditional conflicts and recommend specific courses of action for addressing them.
i. Armenia-Turkey: The Mosaic Institute organized and hosted a dinner meeting in Toronto that brought together senior representatives from the Embassies of Armenia and Turkey in Ottawa, as well as leaders of their respective communities, to hear and discussion a presentation by Kaan Soyak, the Turkish Co-Chair of the Turkish Armenian Business Development Council (TABDC), a think tank/ngo dedicated to improving relations between Armenia and Turkey. This event and discussions subsequent to it have explored the possibility of a the TABDC organizing a trade mission to West Asia involving both Armenian-Canadian and Turkish-Canadian business leaders.
ii. China-Tibet: The Mosaic Institute organized and hosted a roundtable seminar entitled “Improving Chinese-Tibetan Relations: The Role of the Chinese-Canadian Community.” The seminar brought together leaders from the Chinese-Canadian diaspora, including representatives of the Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC), the National Congress of Chinese Canadians (NCCC), and the Chinese Professionals Association of Canada (CPAC) to hear numerous perspectives on the Tibetan struggle within China, and the Chinese response. The dialogue facilitated by the Mosaic Institute is ongoing between these two communities, and Mosaic is currently involved on a committee of community leaders working to establish an “action plan” for an ongoing series of joint public events.
iii. Pakistan-India: The Mosaic Institute convened a large session of Indo-Pakistani and Indo-Canadian leaders, along with consular representatives from both Pakistan and India, to discuss the role of the private sector and NGOs in promoting greater cooperation between India and Pakistan. The Institute has held subsequent, smaller sessions with leaders of the respective communities and is at the beginning stages of formulating a more comprehensive strategy for South Asia.
Canada's World
The Mosaic Institute became a partner in the Canada’s World initiative that is a project of Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue in Vancouver. This is a national citizens’ dialogue on international policy with funding from the IDRC designed to enhance Canada’s international reputation and help citizens collectively envision and develop a new international policy for Canada. The Mosaic Institute co-hosted two sessions in 2008. The first was entitled “Leveraging our Global Connectivity: Exploring the role of diversity in Canadian Foreign Policy”, and the second was an interfaith dialogue involving representatives of the Islamic, Mennonite, Hindu, First Nations, Roman Catholic, Protestant and Baha’I communities. In partnership with Canada’s World, Samara and the Walter & Duncan Gordon Foundation, the Mosaic Institute co-hosted a follow-up Dialogue with 60 Toronto area “thought leaders” at the Ontario Investment and and Trade Centre in Toronto on July 2, 2009. Mosaic’s Executive Director, John Monahan, was the Master of Ceremonies for the event. In December 2009, John presented a seminar entitled “The Role of Diaspora Communities in Canadian Foreign Policy” at a Foreign Policy Camp organized by Canada’s World at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.
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