Facilitation is a specific skill that requires training, know-how and experience. Its independence from the organisation hosting the process ensures its legitimacy and success.
Vulnerabilities with examples:
Perceived facilitation biases due to polarisation
Ethnic Polarization: Facilitator biases or insensitivity towards ethnic issues.
Post-Conflict: Difficulty in maintaining neutrality in charged post-conflict settings.
Mitigating Techniques/Strategies, with Examples:
Train facilitators in cultural sensitivity and conflict resolution.
In the case of the BiH National Citizens’ Assembly, facilitator training was organised specifically around the polarising issues, and also to allow for teambuilding among co-facilitators.
Employ co-facilitation with facilitators from different ethnic or conflict-affected backgrounds.