Twentieth anniversary of Oslo Forum – annual retreat on conflict mediation and peace processes

 

Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt will be hosting the Oslo Forum, an annual retreat focusing on conflict mediation and peace processes, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. 

 ‘The world is becoming increasingly polarised. Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine has created new challenges that come on top of years of pandemic disruption. Conflicts have also flared up in other parts of the world. This year’s Oslo Forum will focus on ways to promote peaceful solutions to conflicts in a changing world. It is in everyone’s interests to promote a safe and stable world,’ said Ms Huitfeldt.

The Oslo Forum has become one of the world’s most important meeting places for conflict mediators, decision-makers, parties to conflict, UN representatives and other actors engaged in peace processes. This year’s Forum will be discussing how best to employ mediation and negotiation in a world contending with increased geopolitical rivalries, rising conflict levels, and the ongoing impacts of climate change. 

‘The Oslo Forum is as relevant today as when it was established in 2003. No matter how bleak and complicated the global situation appears to be, we must never stop looking for solutions,’ said Ms Huitfeldt.

Participants at this year’s event will include Colombian Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva Durán and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, as well as other high level representatives. The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan, UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths and the UN Special Envoys for Afghanistan, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Horn of Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, will also be participating. As in previous years, parties to conflict from various parts of the world will attend the Forum as well. 

Topics for discussion at this year’s Oslo Forum will include developments in the Middle East and Asia, Afghanistan, Colombia, Ethiopia, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Ukraine, as well as other conflict areas. Participants will also discuss concrete challenges faced by mediators, such as how to negotiate with criminal groups, what role artificial intelligence can play in conflict resolution and how to incorporate climate-related measures into negotiations with armed groups.  

Press Access

Please note that the Oslo Forum is not open to the press. Press photos will be made available on Flickr.

For accreditation for interviews, please register here by end of day on Friday 9 June.

Press contact: Ragnhild H. Simenstad, rhs@mfa.no, +47 91 71 74 59