ICIP calls for political autonomy and an effort to establish alliances with all social, institutional and academic actors involved in peacebuilding

The president and the director of ICIP (International Catalan Institute for Peace), Xavier Masllorens and Kristian Herbolzheimer, respectively, appeared before the Commission on Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, Institutional Relations and Transparency of the Parliament of Catalonia on Thursday to present the institution’s Activity Report for the years 2017 and 2018.
In his address, the President called for “the political, organizational and operational autonomy of ICIP,” and urged parliamentary groups and peace organizations to strengthen their relationship with the institution: “Trust in ICIP, make ICIP your Peace Institute, use it to learn about issues related to peace and conflict,” said Masllorens.
For his part, the director of ICIP emphasized the “great potential impact of the institution in Catalonia and beyond” and “the desire to strengthen alliances and collaboration with social, institutional and academic actors.” He also talked about creating synergies at different levels: “We are faced with the challenge of gaining everyone’s trust,” Herbolzheimer told the parliamentary groups. In this sense, the director of ICIP highlighted the work that the institution has done to promote social and political dialogue in Catalonia, in a context of increasing polarization. This work is based on “CaReS”: Curiosity to understand different positions, Respect for people regardless of their ideas, and Self-criticism, because no one owns the absolute truth.
For their part, the spokespersons for the parliamentary groups present on the Commission praised the extensive work carried out by ICIP, despite budget constraints. Ciutadans representative Susana Beltran thanked ICIP for its efforts to include the full range of perspectives when addressing the Catalan conflict, but she regretted that political parties do not exercise more direct control over the election of the institution’s Governing Board members. She also referred to a lack of an “integrated perspective” in ICIP’s highest decision-making body.
Representative Ferran Pedret, speaking in the name of the Socialist group, emphasized ICIP’s work towards becoming a “leading international institution.” ERC representative Ruben Wagensberg praised ICIP’s work as a “generator of opinion and rigor,” while the representative for Junts per Catalunya, Francesc de Dalmases, highlighted ICIP’s efforts to establish international alliances and increase networking.