This is a draft article. It is a work in progress open to editing by anyone. Please ensure core content policies are met before publishing it as a live Wikipedia article. Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL Easy tools: Citation bot (help) | Advanced: Fix bare URLs · Article logs · Draft logs. Last edited by Wikishovel (talk | contribs) 5 months ago. (Update) Finished drafting? Submit for review

One Text Initiative

Formation	2003
Founder	Multi-party political representatives
Type	Track 1.5 political dialogue platform
Legal status	Non-governmental organisation
Purpose	Multi-party political dialogue, conflict transformation, policy option generation
Headquarters	Colombo, Sri Lanka
Region served	Sri Lanka
Facilitators / Conveners	Neutral facilitators approved by political stakeholders

One Text Initiative (OTI) is a Sri Lankan multi-party political dialogue platform established in 2003 to sustain structured engagement among political actors during the breakdown of the peace negotiations between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Operating as a Track 1.5 mechanism, OTI provides a confidential, non-binding space for political representatives to analyse issues, explore policy options, and work toward consensual approaches to governance and conflict transformation.

OTI remains one of the few long-standing forums in Sri Lanka where representatives of major political parties, smaller parties, and parties representing numerically smaller communities continue to meet regularly for dialogue, especially during periods of political tension and conflict.

The One Text Initiative was formed in mid-2003 following a stalemate in peace negotiations between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE, and disagreements surrounding participation in the Donor Conferences in Washington and Tokyo. The initial dialogue group included representatives from the United National Party (UNP), the People's Alliance (PA), and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC).

The platform soon expanded to include:

• the Tamil National Alliance (TNA)
• the National Unity Alliance (NUA)
• the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP)
• the Peace Secretariat of the LTTE
• the Peace Secretariat for Muslims (PSM)
• civil society organisations such as the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (BCIS), the Berghof Foundation, and Sarvodaya

These actors adopted the "One-Text" method, a facilitated negotiation and consensus-building approach, to consolidate political positions and generate policy options that could support Track 1 negotiations while informing Track 3 community-level processes.

In 2007, OTI invited an external team of international experts to review its processes. Based on their recommendations, OTI restructured its governance to place political party stakeholders at the centre of decision-making, limiting formal membership exclusively to political actors. This adjustment strengthened ownership, credibility, and institutional legitimacy, ensuring the process remained Sri Lankan-driven.

During periods of war and heightened political tensions, OTI remained one of the few spaces where government, opposition, minority parties, and (in earlier years) representatives of the LTTE Peace Secretariat could engage in direct dialogue. After the end of the armed conflict in 2009, OTI facilitated discussions on emerging political developments, recognising both the rise of victory-based narratives and new opportunities for inclusive democratic reforms.

Scenario-building sessions supported stakeholders in analysing unfolding political trajectories and identifying the need for equitable, pluralistic, and democratic responses to unresolved root causes of conflict.

OTI's mandate includes:

• maintaining sustained multi-party political dialogue
• facilitating conflict transformation
• generating "One-Text" and "sufficient consensus" policy documents
• strengthening negotiation capacity among political stakeholders
• providing research-based information for decision-making
• linking citizen perspectives with national deliberations through district-level dialogues

OTI functions as a Track 1.5 mechanism, bridging formal political negotiations (Track 1) and wider societal and community-level reconciliation efforts (Track 3).

OTI is guided by the principle that durable political solutions emerge from structured, sustained dialogue rather than adversarial negotiation. Its methods draw on interest-based negotiation, Basic Needs Theory, conflict mediation frameworks, and structured dialogue models.

To avoid deadlock caused by binary decision-making, OTI uses a Graduated Consensus Model, which allows participants to express varying degrees of agreement—from full endorsement to constructive opposition. This enables progress without requiring unanimity.

Participants adhere to several shared principles, including:

• equality among stakeholders
• confidentiality under the Chatham House Rule
• inclusivity of political voices
• commitment to conflict transformation
• the right to dissent without obstructing collective progress

OTI's work follows an eight-step structured dialogue process, typically including:

1. Agenda setting
2. Joint problem analysis
3. Framework and Terms of Reference
4. Appointment of technical committees
5. Capacity-building workshops
6. Roadmap and strategic option design
7. Generation of the "One-Text" document
8. Submission of outcomes to political leadership

Facilitation is carried out by neutral professionals approved unanimously by political stakeholders. Scenario-building exercises supplement the process by enabling forward-looking analysis.

OTI's contributions include:

• providing one of the only continuous multi-party dialogue platforms during periods of conflict and political crisis
• supporting communication between political actors who otherwise lacked channels for engagement
• producing policy option papers ("One-Text" documents) on issues such as constitutional reform, human rights, power-sharing, public finance reform, and human security
• strengthening analytical, negotiation, and consensus-building skills among political actors
• bridging formal negotiations with civil society engagement
• establishing District Dialogue Forums to integrate citizen perspectives into political deliberations

In the post-war period, OTI has placed emphasis on:

• democratic governance and the rule of law
• devolution and power-sharing
• post-war reconciliation
• socio-economic reforms
• pluralism and inclusive state-building

OTI continues to operate at national, provincial, and district levels as a platform for evidence-based dialogue, political communication, and consensus-building.

• Peace process in Sri Lanka
• Track 1.5 diplomacy
• Conflict transformation
• Political dialogue mechanisms in South Asia