Lokarri

From the begining, on the 18th march 2006, Lokarri works for peace and the normalization of coexistence in Euskal Herria. Its principles correspond to three overarching commitments, which it assumes from the moment of its creation:

• 1- The defense of non-violence, life, and human rights as an ethical absolute.
• 2- Opting for pluralism and dialogue without exclusion as a foundation for living together.
• 3- Respect for the popular will and for democratic principles as a basic rule for politics.

Duties                Organization                Action Criteria

Duties
The duties that Lokarri takes on as a social organization can be described as four kinds of action:

• First, to analyze and make proposals, which implies rigorous study of the status of the peace process at each moment and, as a consequence, presenting suggestions and alternatives.
• Second, to inform and offer an opinion, which includes the transmission of the information to which it has access, and to implicate itself by publicly offering its evaluation of that information.
• Third, to demand and denounce, which means insisting upon its principal demands and speaking out against backsliding and human rights violations.
• And finally, to take initiative and mobilize, which means making a commitment to rigorous action and campaigns.

Organization
Lokarri defines its general actions through general assemblies and coordinates its decisions through a Coordination Commission. Lokarri articulates its activity using three complementary structures: a social observatory for the process of peace and reconciliation, an exterior network of support for dialogue, and a citizen network for agreement and consultation.

CIVIL SOCIETY MONITORING FOR THE PROCESS OF PEACE AND RECONCILIATION
Following the proposal and request of Lokarri, a group of individuals with distinct sensibilities will form a commission for study and analysis that will be called the Social Observatory for the Process of Peace and Reconciliation. Its task will consist of producing a trimestral report on the status and evolution of the peace process that will include suggestions and recommendations. This report will look at five indicators: non-violence and human rights, dialogue and non-exclusion, agreement and pluralism, citizen participation and respect for the will of the people, and reconciliation and a culture of peace. The report will be publicly presented and Lokarri will be responsible for providing it with the maximum social, political, and exterior circulation.

EXTERIOR NETWORK OF SUPPORT FOR DIALOGUE
Lokarri possesses an exterior network of support for dialogue that consists of 30,000 people, state-level organizations, and international organizations, which have maintained a relationship with Elkarri over the past thirteen years. Lokarri hopes to maintain and broaden this network with three principle objectives: to offer information on the development of the peace process, to receive opinions, suggestions and proposals, and to promote initiatives of support or collaboration when they are considered necessary in an effort to defend dialogue, agreement, and the peace process. This network will be the direct recipient of the report produced each trimester by the Civil Society Observatory.

CITIZEN NETWORK FOR AGREEMENT AND CONSULTATION
The foundation of this network is the 150,000 individuals and groups that have formed a community of participation with Elkarri. They will all be invited to voluntarily incorporate themselves into this new initiative. Lokarri hopes to broaden this network with the incorporation of new people and groups, in such a way making it even more fluid and operational. Participation in this network is free and involvement can take a variety of forms of participation and implication to be chosen voluntarily. All of its members will have the possibility of relating to each other and directly with Lokarri, principally by Internet, but also by telephone, mail, or directly through forums and assemblies. The principle goals of this network are to inform, build relationships, alert, mobilize, and encourage citizen participation. Those who make up this network will receive the report elaborated by the Civil Society Observatory on the process of peace and reconciliation. In the same way, they will be invited to participate in the mobilizations that, on a trimestral basis, will be convoked by Lokarri.

Action Criteria
Lokarri’s entire project is based upon two indispensable premises, without which this social initiative would be senseless: on the one hand, its full autonomy of decision and its independence of criteria when it comes to defining its positions and on the other, the plural nature of this citizen network together with the transversal vocation of its initiatives. Upon this base, Lokarri is guided by four criteria for action: priority and complementarity, self-organization and functioning as a network, independent discourse and communicative autonomy, and creative austerity and self-financing.

Priority and complementarity. Priority is represented by the demand for plural agreement and popular consultation and in the principals defined in this same document, which Lokarri is determined to maintain in all circumstances. This priority is combined with the will to develop a course of action that compliments social and political action and maintains equilibrium between the local and the global.

Self-organization and functioning as a network. From an organizational perspective, Lokarri hopes to bring together the best of classical forms of social organization with the best of newer tendencies.  It proposes combining an assembly model of self-organization with new forms of participation and network communication. In this sense, taking advantage of new technology and the Internet will be a strategic axis of Lokarri.

Independent discourse and communicative autonomy. Lokarri is a space for reflection and the elaboration of ideas, thoughts, complaints, and proposals. This organization has the will to create its own discourse, which, with reference to the majority social will, attempts to contribute to the objective of peace. In addition to an independent discourse, Lokarri enjoys independent media resources for its dissemination. The journal Elkarri, website, email bulletins, text messages, monographic publications, social campaigns, and communiqués, press conferences, and public acts are all communications tools that this citizen network will utilize.

Creative austerity and self-financing. Lokarri will be guided by a criterion of austerity and rigor in its expenditure and in its own style of functioning. This austerity should be an incentive for the organization’s creativity: doing more with less. To this expenditure criteria is added a fundraising criteria, that of self-financing. Lokarri should support itself fundamentally with its own economic resources. This is a necessary condition for guaranteeing its freedom. In this sense, the viability of Lokarri’s project and its self-financing depend directly on the role of the members, who are the foundation of this organization.
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