2008

June

Oberg teaches at the European Peace University, EPU, inSchlaining.

Hans von Sponeck continues work to join forces with individuals and institutions that work with long-term peace plans for Iraq.

May

Work on more videos from Burundi and three videos with Johan Galtung - and more. Intensive planning of Jan Oberg's three-week stay in Burundi June-July. TFF signs a memorandum of understanding with the Amahoro (peace) Youth Club in Burundi that will regulate our future co-operation.

The foundation engaged in the huge international Iraq Compact conference in Stockholm on May 29 which emerges as a PR conference for "the new Iraq" where everything is soon fine. TFF's Board publishes an Open Letter to Iraq's and Sweden's prime ministers, to UNSG Ban Ki-moon and to Sweden's Foreign Minister in which we state our concerns about the format and purpose of the conference. We receive no answers from any of them.

Further, TFF's Yusra Moshtat and Jan Oberg write articles in leading Swedish newspapers - Aftonbladet, Göteborgs-Posten and Sydsvenska Dagbladet - criticizing the conference and presenting the TFF 10-Point Plan for peace in and with Iraq. Oberg is interviewed twice by Radio Netherlands.

Oberg participates in various panel discussion in Sweden about the emerging security political agenda: Sweden's outdated defence, economic so-called crisis and future membership of NATO.

Various TFF Associates develop their presence on the online community Peace and Collaborative Development.

April

The Board of the foundation continues its efforts to network and gain support for its 10-Point Peace Plan for Peace in and with Iraq. TFF Associate Aleksandar Mitic produces a DVD on the Kosovo Compromise.

Three videos are published at the TFF Video Channel on YouTube, interviews with Burundi's foreign minister, Mme Antoinette Batumubwira; one about foreign policy and the peace process, one about the role of women and one about media and how difficult it is to get a good story out of Africa.

Submitting a comprehensive grant proposal to the Bernadotte Academy in Sweden concerning future activities in Burundi with basically two partners: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Amahoro Youth Club, AYC.

We support our Associate professor emeritus, Richard Falk, who - as an envoy for the United Nations, is denied visa to Israel becaue of particularly one article published by TFF here.

March

Mission to Burundi from March 15 to April 1. Journalist Gunilla Ivarsson and Jan Oberg give a training seminar on how to create an International Communication Strategy for the country; participants are from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Presidency and Parliament. They develop a draft strategy which is submitted to the Minister, Antoinette Batumubwira.

Ina Curic and Jan Oberg train 13 founding members of the new Amahoro Youth Club, AYC, to develop a mission statement and secure common understanding of the future work and organization. The AYC later develop a project proposal, for inclusion in TFF's larger grant proposal to the Bernadotte Academy, to be submitted in April.

Furthermore, we shoot several hours of video material for a series on TFF Video Channel - Burundi's beautfiul nature, citizens, interviews with lots of very different people from different parts of the country.

Ina Curic joins the Board of TFF. Since May 2007 she has served as our project coordinator in Burundi with remarkable results, including the creation of the Amahoro Youth Club. She has been an Associate since 2006.

TFF gets a presence on the English Wikipedia as well as the Danish Wikipedia.

From the 7th to the 9th Board members Annette Schiffmann and Hans von Sponeck are involved in an important international conference on Iraq's future in Berlin. Schiffmann has been a co-convenor, von Sponeck is main speaker. TFF is happy to be a sponsor and supporter of this constructive, ahrad-looking conference.

Again a higher-than-usual number of analyses and debate articles are posted - including a special section on the conflict-management capacity of the European Union vs-a-vis its decision to take on Kosovo with the new status. Amon the published works is an MA thesis by Francsco Marelli, whose supervisor has been TFF's Biljana Vankovska and Jan Oberg, on the possible establishment of a peace commissariat in the EU.

February

Board member Annabel McGoldrick decides to resign from TFF's Board because of too many very demanding tasks and commitments in her new life in Australia. Annabel remains a TFF Associate, of course.

Preparations for mission to Burundi in March - for a course at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for shooting a video for TFF Video Channel and for training and consultations with the newly built Amahoro Youth Club - spun off from the the old Coalition that discontinued its work last year.

On February 17, Kosovo declared itself independent of Serbia. This sparks off a series of articles, analyses and media work for various TFF Associates. All of it can be found at the TFF Home Ex-Yugoslavia section.

Of special important is Aleksandar Mitic's Kosovo Compromise homepage with a new online CD.

January

On the 26th, a new TFF Video is posted on TFF Video Channel - Jan Oberg's presentation of the foundation's 10 Point Iraq Peace Plan in Tokyo.

Two days later we publish a revised version of that plan on TFF's homepage.

January sees the expansion of playlists on TFF Video Channel on YouTube.

We also launch TFF on the Peace and Collaborative Networking homepage which is an online community for students, researchers and activists with special interests in peace and development in a broad sense-

This is also the month with annual economic reporting, Annual activity report-making and other organizational maintenance.