Spieschris resume jan07.doc

RÉSUMÉ OF CHRIS F.J. SPIES
Contact Details
Telephone : +27 84 622 8062
Consultancy:
Address:
1 Laetitia Street, Die Boord, Stellenbosch 7599 South Africa My Strengths and Motivation in Life
I am driven by the belief that people have the wisdom and capacity to influences processes that affect their lives. These capacities can grow in spaces that are safe and free and respectful. It is possible to build those spaces with people rather than for them through relationships of trust, respect and support. Sometimes people do need accompaniment on their journey towards achieving their goals. I have been privileged to experience the value of empowering relationships in my career, and am confident that I can contribute towards the unlocking of people’s potential through working with them in developmental ways, which I describe in my article. There is no substitute for local ownership, and as an outsider I realise that my role can be at best that of a catalyst and stimulator. My experiences in Africa, Palestine, Norway, and now in the UNDP in Guyana, have given me wide exposure to dynamics that feed and prevent constructive processes. People who have participated in the training courses in conflict transformation that I facilitated have shifted in their understanding and behaviour. What Others are Saying
I am proud to say that your pioneer work as a Peace and Development Advisor has encouraged us to duplicate this approach to conflict prevention in other areas of the world. Your lessons learnt and best practices assessment will certainly support and enrich the Department’s efforts in conflict prevention and mediation and we hope that we will 1 “Resolutionary Change: The Art of Awakening Dormant Faculties in Others”, in Social Change and Conflict Transformation. The Berghof Centre Handbook Series No.5, Berlin, August 2006. http://www.berghof-handbook.net/std_page.php?LANG=e&id=134&parent=5 http://www.berghof-handbook.net/uploads/download/dialogue5_spies_comm.pdf continue to be able to draw on your knowledge and expertise in this field. Angela Kane, Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations Department of Political Affairs. Congratulations to all of you for your intense and tireless efforts over these many months. You should be really proud of your individual and collective contributions. A proud Guyanese. The country owes you, your commitment, dedication and hard work for elections that were conducted in a peaceful and orderly manner an enormous gratitude. You did an excellent job. Congrats. Pamela Nauth, Guyana. I am sure that all of your work in so many areas, from convening the national conversations at the highest level, to peace promoters at local levels, and reflected in other ways down through so many communities, created a kind of 'connective glue' between more and more people to create a sense of a whole community, so that violence against the 'other' would become as unthinkable as hurting oneself. I think that the UN classic line, "what the UN does grows best in the shade" applies here. You have been quiet catalysts that deserve congratulations, but you don't need to get them. Just keep doing it. Gay Rosenblum Kumar, UNDESA. I have been re-reading your paper…it is fascinating. From all the papers I've been trying to "digest" somehow, working on the report I found yours the most comprehensive, or simply closest to my own understanding. Dr. Minu Hemmati, Berlin. Great work! I know that it has cost a lot in terms of time investment and sweat, and I can imagine how difficult it must be for someone who works for peace to witness difficulties between the groups you try to bring together (e.g. Ethnic Groups). Notwithstanding these difficulties, I believe that the SCP and your activities in particular address the root causes of the problem in Guyana. Dr Thomas Gittens, Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean Thanks for these incredibly pleasant reports, for taking the time to produce them and of course for your efforts that are already showing a glimmer of potential for creating fundamental attitudinal shifts. Work Experience
2003 – 2006 Peace and Development Advisor in the Social Cohesion Programme of the United Nations Development Programme in Guyana. 1998 – present Owner of Dynamic Stability CC, a conflict transformation consultancy. 1994 – 1998 Senior Trainer and Researcher at the Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR) 1992 – 1994 Regional Organiser (Rural Areas) and acting Co-Director of the Western Cape Regional Peace Committee (a regional structure of the National Peace 1982 – 1991 Pastor in a black congregation (Dutch Reformed Mission Church) in Burgersdorp, and director of Yoluntu Community Development organisation. Highlights of Assignments
2003 – 2006 Peace and Development Advisor for the UNDP in Guyana: • Staff member of the UNDP Social Cohesion Programme that contributed to the first peaceful elections in Guyana in more than 50 years. • Facilitation and design of capacity building workshops for more than 450 civil society persons, senior politicians and police. • Helped in the design and execution of 150 Multi-Stakeholder Forums on issues of • Contributed to learning of others in the field of conflict transformation through Co facilitated a workshop on mediation and dialogue for the UN Department of Political Affairs in Bear Mountain, New York, organised by the Folke Bernadotte Academy, Sweden. Facilitated workshops for members of the parliament of Lesotho on behalf of the Africa project of the Centre for Conflict Resolution. Conducted a series of 40 diversity training workshops for employees of the Power Group of Companies in Blackheath, South Africa Presented a paper with Dr Zola Makosana on: “Lessons from diversity training in a South African construction company” at a conference on Corporate Social Responsibility and Diversity – Histories, Principles, Practices, organized by iNCUDISA, University of Cape Town. The Lesotho Network for Conflict Management; The Kenyan Centre for Conflict Resolution; Senior Government officials and political parties in Malawi; The UN Economic Commission for Africa in Lusaka, Zambia; Various groups for UNDP Zimbabwe and the Centre for Conflict Resolution. Conducted a study on behalf of the Malawi Forum for Dialogue and Peace on the feasibility of the formation of a peacebuilding network in Malawi. Facilitated part of the negotiations between the ≠Khomani San and other commercial stakeholders about the protection of intellectual and indigenous knowledge with regards to the use of the Hoodia plant for commercial benefits. Strategic planning workshops for the Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA) Facilitated support processes for Somali Peace Line in Mogadishu and Nairobi, such as coaching Somali trainers and the facilitation of study tours by parliamentarians from the Puntland State of Somalia and the Transitional National Assembly of Somalia to South Africa on behalf of Diakonia Sweden (Somalia) and the UNDP respectively. Co-ordinated a three-day Sweden-South African Civil Society Encounter in Cape Town on behalf of the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and then compiled and co-edited the book Sweden South African Partnership: Civil Society Encounter – Cape Town Report (SIDA, 2000). 1998 – 1999 Mediating the Ebenezer, ≠Khomani San, Mier and Majeng land claims in South Africa as a mediator on the National Land Reform Mediation and Arbitration Panel. Assisted Nicole Ball of the Overseas Development Council (ODC) in writing a research paper on Managing Conflict: Lessons from the South African Peace Committees (www.dec.org/evals.cfm#9). 1997 – 2002 Three training for trainers courses for the Norwegian Centre for Conflict Co-presenter of a workshop on "Conflict: Lessons from South Africa", at the bi-annual National Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution in Pittsburgh, USA 1996 – 1997 Two Basic Conflict Resolution Skills workshops in Norway for the Peace Research Institute in Oslo, Norway, and the Norwegian Directorate for Immigration. 1994 – 1998 Co-founder and co-ordinator of CCR's Project Saamspan, a conflict resolution skills training and research project in rural areas. This project has trained three representative teams over a 24-month period in mediation, prejudice reduction, facilitation and understanding the link between conflict and development. This project is described by German scholars Denis Dressel and Jochen Neumann in their unpublished Masters Thesis The Long Road to Peace. Constructive Conflict Resolution in South Africa. Online at http://www.lit-verlag.de/cgi-local/suchbuch?isbn=3-8258-4663-6. 1994 – 1995 Facilitated 2 conflict transformation workshops in Gaza, Palestine for 1992 – 1994 Helped establish and oversee 15 local peace committees and played a prominent role in mediation, crisis intervention and the facilitation of negotiations, mass meetings and community-police relations. Elements of his life and work during this period are described by Susan Collin Marks in her latest book Watching the Wind: Conflict Resolution During South Africa’s Transition to Democracy (United States Institute of Peace Press, Washington, 2000). 1982 – 1991 Worked to dismantle apartheid in South Africa through solidarity with oppressed communities, advocacy and practical community development initiatives. Experienced first hand the devastating effects of state policies, security forces actions, and white “superiority” on black communities who internalised the oppression in many ways. Realising the need for third party intervention and peacebuilding, he committed himself to the field of conflict transformation and moved to Cape Town. Member of the facilitation/training team of the Folke Bernadotte Academy, Sandö, Sweden. Attended the “Moral Imagination” course at EMU under the guidance of Prof John Paul Lederach and Herm Weaver. Member of The Association of Diversity Providers in South Africa (ADiPSA). Online at http://incudisa.uct.ac.za/index.php?page=adipsa 2000 – 2003 Guest lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch in the faculties of Theology 2000 – 2002 Associate of the Institute for the Healing of Memories, working for reconciliation and healing in South Africa. Attended the “Design of Training” and “Fundamentals of International Peacebuilding” courses at the Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), Harrisonburg, VA, in the USA, presented by John Paul Lederach. 1990 – 1992 Participated in the first WK Kellogg Foundation’s International Leadership Program (KILP). During this period he was the organising team coordinator of the 1992 KILP Southern Africa Leadership Seminar in Cape Town.
PUBLICATIONS

By Chris Spies
2006 “Resolutionary Change: The Art of Awakening Dormant Faculties in Others”, in Social Change and Conflict Transformation. The Berghof Centre Handbook Series No.5, Berlin, August 2006. http://www.berghof-handbook.net/std_page.php?LANG=e&id=134&parent=5 http://www.berghof-handbook.net/uploads/download/dialogue5_spies_comm.pdf 2006 Vaaltyn. A LitNet Publication. http://www.litnet.co.za/cgi-bin/giga.cgi?cmd=cause_dir_news_item&news_id=5072&cause_id=1270 2005 Guyana. A case study prepared by the Social Cohesion Programme (UNDP Guyana). UNDESA Expert Meeting on Dialogue, November 2005. New York. www.un.org/esa/socdev/egm/paper/Chris%20Spies.pdf 2002 “ South Africa’s National Peace Accord: its structures and functions”, Accord 2002 http://www.c-r.org/our-work/accord/public-participation/southafrica-structures-functions.php 2002 "Waar is die lighties?" in the Vuurhoutjie column, Die Kerkbode, April 2002 2001 "Versoening oor grense heen - 'n gevallestudie" in Kruisgewys, Jaargang 1, Vol. 1. 1999 “Shared vision?” [A case study on dilemmas facing international and aid organisations] and “Growing trees or growing people?" [A case study exploring issues of identity and labour relations on a farming community] in Effective Fieldwork & Managing Conflict, in the Action-learning Series: Case studies and lessons from development practice (ALED), compiled and edited by Dirk Marais and James Taylor. 1999. Cape Town: Juta & Co in association with Community Development Resource Association (CDRA) 1997 “A safe space. How local leaders can make room for reconciliation”, in Track Two, Vol. 6, No. 3&4, December 1997. http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/archive/two/6_34/p11_safe_space.html 1995 “Ethnicity and competition over scarce resources – the case of Grabouw” in Track Two, Vol. 4, Nos. 1/2, March/June 1995, p 18-19. With Others
2000 Spies, Chris and Faye Davids. Sweden South African Partnership: Civil Society Encounter – Cape Town Report. A SIDA Publication, 2000. 1998 Ball, Nicole and Chris Spies. Managing Conflict: Lessons from the South African Peace Committees. Washington, D.C.: US Agency for International Development, Center for Development and Evaluation. http://pdf.dec.org/pdf_docs/PNACD083.pdf#search=%22%22Chris%20Spies%22%2BAccord%22 1998 Odendaal, A. and Chris Spies. “Building Community Peace in South Africa” in Transforming Violence. Linking Local and Global Peacemaking, edited by Robert Herr and Judy Zimmerman Herr. 1998. Herald Press, Pennsylvania. A book of the Historic Peace churches / Fellowship of Reconciliation Commission of the World Council of Churches. This chapter captures some of the lessons learnt through the Saamspan project. 1997 Odendaal, A. and Chris Spies. “You have opened the wound, but not healed it. The Local Peace Committees of the Western Cape, South Africa." Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, Vol. 3:2, pp. 261-273. 1997. 1996 Odendaal, A. and Chris Spies. “Local Peace Committees in the rural areas of the Western Cape. Their significance for South African’s transition to democracy.” Occasional Paper, a Track Two publication, 1996. 1995 Odendaal, A. and Chris Spies. “Learning from the past – lessons for the RDP from the experience of local peace committees” in Track Two, Vol. 4, No 3, September 1995, p 18 – 19. 1995 Odendaal, A. and Chris Spies. “Project Saamspan – Promoting ownership of conflict resolution and development by local communities” in Track Two, Vol. 4, Nos. 1/2, March/June 1995, p 17 –18. Personal Details
• Born on 17 February 1956 in Cradock, South Africa • Married to Annemarie van Velden in 1979 Formal Educational Qualifications
• Matriculated at Oudtshoorn High School in 1973 • Obtained B.A., B.Th., and a Masters in Theology at the University of
Referees
former Director of the UN Department of Political Affairs Africa Desk (DPA) and former Resident Representative of the UNDP in Guyana, currently Head of the United Nations Integrated Office in Burundi (BINUB). [email protected] [email protected] Former UNDP Social Cohesion Programme Manager in Guyana [email protected]. Tel +592 6600743 or +592 2203252 Conflict Transformation Practitioner Cape Town, South Africa [email protected]. Tel +27 21 5323654 Public Administration Officer Governance and Public Administration Branch United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), , [email protected] Tel +1 (212) 963 8381 Organisational Development Specialist Catalyst Consulting Ontario, Canada [email protected] +1 (905) 883 8817

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