What does the FCT do?

The Forum for Cities in Transition (FCT) is an international network of mayors, councilors, municipal officials, business people, and representatives of the voluntary and community. The Forum is an initiative of the John Joseph Moakley Chair of Peace and Reconciliation at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

FCT Network Fund is the fundraising arm of FCT member cities and is serviced by Northern Ireland Foundation (Belfast), a registered charity in the UK (No. XT11435). The FCT seed hypothesis remains the guiding principle –one divided society is in the best position to help another and the emphasis on outcomes remains the same, conferences are a secondary consideration;
What matters are projects that either help ameliorate reconciliation in a divided city or allow one city on a higher rung of transition to help a city on a lower rung.

The fund fundraises for the incorporated body or agreed lead organisation of an FCT city group or the FCT Global, as appropriate and where eligible to receive funds, under UK law. Your donations will be distributed to the cross-community projects of FCT Cities and provide them practical financial assistance to deliver outcomes pledged at FCT’s annual international conferences For example, this may include paying for capacity building for a few months, paying for physical materials, paying for venue hire, training or transportation costs to implement cross-community projects.

FORUM FOR CITIES IN TRANSITION (FCT)

Member Cities of the FCT, whether as an incorporated body or agreed lead organisation within the city.

FCT NETWORK FUND

FCT is a means of providing practical assistance for FCT member cities to work together and deliver outcomes for global events of the Forum for Cities in Transition.

FUNDRAISING

The incorporated body or agreed lead organisation of an FCT city group and/or the FCT Secretariat, as appropriate (and where eligible to receive funds, under UK law).

MAKE A GIFT

The fund will provide grant payments for agreed work, which will not be paid back.

Deliver real benefit to people’s lives

FCT has delivered an extraordinary array of practical support already, from police exchanges, community and mediation expert exchanges , to job creation and business development.

Examples of pledges delivered include:

  • The organisation and hosting by local Forum groups of large annual gatherings of the entire Forum membership (FCT 2010 Mitrovica, FCT 2011 Derry-Londonderry, FCT 2012 Kirkuk FCT 2013 Kaduna, FCT 2014 Belfast, FCT 2016 for reconciliation in Tripoli )
  • Joint policing partnership between the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Kosovo Police; visit to Kosovo by PSNI & to Northern Ireland by Kosovar Albanian and Kosovar Serbian police officers.
  • Volunteering development and improvement in cross-community relations resulting from Mitrovica and Jerusalem visit to Haifa, to learn from youth initiatives (Haifa, Jerusalem & Mitrovica)
  • Increased practical knowledge of water infrastructure management (Haifa & Mitrovica)
  • Leadership capacity building, from University of Massachusetts one-year academic scholarship to two youth workers from Mitrovica, in residence in Boston; as well as a special citizenship award to two other youth workers from Mitrovica, which included a working visit to Northern Ireland (University of Massachusetts & Northern Ireland Foundation)
  • Economic development initiative, from a visit by Derry-Londonderry members to Trepca mining company, Mitrovica (Derry-Londonderry)

Annual gatherings

Each annual gathering is an extension of the meeting convened the previous year. The host city decides the agenda for the annual gathering, which the Forum Secretariat structures into a coherent programme. The gatherings entail workshops, presentation of research and policy debates as well as project submission.

Forum city group meetings

In order to sustain momentum from the annual gathering, each Forum city group is encouraged to organise and hold regular meetings, to review the progress of their declared pledges especially. Minutes from these meetings are shared with the Forum Secretariat and other cities (as appropriate).

Forum member training

Ongoing training and skill-building workshops are held for member cities to enhance their capacity to create sustainable economic and social development, through sessions on business and entrepreneurship, good governance, leadership, management, and other topics related to the role of individuals and communities in conflict transformation.

City-to-city exchanges

There have been several, very productive exchanges between Forum city members, on matters such as community-based policing (Mitrovica-Derry-Londonderry) and civil society development (Belfast, Derry-Londonderry, Haifa, Jerusalem and Mitrovica). Through online engagement with use of various social media tools, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Skype, the Forum Secretariat and individual cities convene online for discussions and progress reports, with agreed actions.

Forum member financial and technical assistance

The FCT network fund approves projects after researching their sustainability, potential impact and structure before starting a fundraising process. Fundraising is carried out to raise the amount needed to see the project to completion.

Monitoring and support

The FCT network fund engages in regular communication with project leaders and local stakeholders to ensure the progress, completion and success of projects. It produces updated press releases, blog updates and reports to notify donors of this.

Section

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Chris Yates(Police Service of Northern Ireland)

“"You cannot take our model for working and simply drop it in your own city ... (yet) I have been a police officer for 20 years, with a mass of experience that I would like to share some practical examples of how we deliver policing to the community."”

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Pastor James Wuye and Imam Muhammad AshafaMuslim-Christian Interfaith Mediation Centre

“"Our centre has been in existence for 16 years, building community bridges, resulting in 'safe spots' in Kaduna City; this model was shared with Eldoret, Kenya, and brought together its divided communities."”

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Hasan Turan Bauhalddin SaeedKirkuk Provincial Council

“"Kirkuk is a city in transition; the rebuilding of Kirkuk and Iraq as a whole can only happen through the promotion of mutual respect, compassion and peace...Kurds, Turkmen, Arabs and Christians live together in the city, and brotherhood is promoted among all."”

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Lorraine DennisBelfast City Council

“"Belfast City Council could not do any of its Good Relations community work without the excellent partnership among the public, private and voluntary sectors, which has been central to conflict transformation in the city."”

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Fathi MarshoodSHATIL

“"My organisation's SHATIL project of Haifa as a Model City of Joint Living works to transform Haifa into a shared city based on partnership, respecting all residents and strengthening a mutual sense of ownership...I had the privilege of sharing the lessons and challenges of this project with fellow members of the Forum."”

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Chris YatesPolice Service of Northern Ireland

“"You cannot take our model for working and simply drop it in your own city ... (yet) I have been a police officer for 20 years, with a mass of experience that I would like to share some practical examples of how we deliver policing to the community."”