THE former Executive Secretary of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRCC) in The Gambia, Dr Baba Galleh Jallow, is to become the first Roger D. Fisher Fellow in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at Harvard University Law School, Desmond Davies reports.
Roger D. Fisher, a distinguished professor for over 40 years who died in 2012, was co-founder and Director Emeritus of Harvard’s Programme on Negotiation.
He wrote several books and articles on the art and science of negotiation and conflict resolution and was involved in the negotiations that ended apartheid in South Africa.
His family created the fellowship to honour him for devoting his career ‘to studying and advancing the art and science of conflict resolution and negotiation’.
Jallow is a former journalist and human rights advocate who taught at two US universities before he was invited by former Gambian Justice Minister Abubacar Tambadou in 2017 to return home from exile in America to help set up the TRRC and serve as its Executive Secretary.
His work in transitional justice at the TRRC is now globally considered a model for successful truth commissions.
Jallow said he felt ‘deeply humbled and honoured to be named the inaugural Fisher Fellow and entrusted with the responsibility to continue Professor Fisher’s life’s work at Harvard’.
‘He was a great man and a brilliant scholar whose work on negotiation and conflict resolution is internationally acclaimed.
‘I was particularly pleased to learn about Professor Fisher’s contribution to negotiating an end to apartheid in South Africa,’ added Jallow who will start the one-year fellowship in mid-2023.
Dean John Manning of Harvard Law School noted: ‘Roger Fisher was a pioneering visionary who helped to create the academic field of negotiation and conflict resolution and who put his own ideas into practice resolving conflicts large and small around the world.
‘With intellectual rigour and creativity, he approached the fundamental problem of how human beings can get past seemingly intractable disputes that threaten peace and stability.’
He added: ‘Professor Fisher sought ways to apply learning about negotiation and leadership to address difficult national and international qu
estions and advance crucial goals.
‘He held a deep belief that mutual understanding could and would improve our collective ability to reconcile and negotiate our differences.
‘The Roger D. Fisher Fellowship seeks to continue Professor Fisher’s life’s work by bringing to Harvard Law School individuals of national and international stature who have demonstrated a commitment to making progress through the processes of negotiation and leadership.’
In his letter to Jallow, Manning wrote: ‘It would mean so much to our community to learn from your wide-ranging experience with different forms of negotiation, influence, coalition-building, societal reconciliation and influencing long-term social change.
‘Your presence as our inaugural Fisher Fellow would enable our students to enrich their understanding of these processes and enrich conversations across the Harvard Law School and wider university.’
Jallow holds a PhD in African History from the University of California at Davis.
