A Practitioner's Workshop to peer review the desk study took place on January 29 and 30, 2004 in Berne, Switzerland. The twenty-seven participants included academics, anthropologists, NGO representatives, tribal chiefs, World Bank headquater and field staff, and government officials that were either from, or working in, the following countries: Sierra Leone, Ghana, Somalia, South Sudan, Tajikistan, East Timor, Switzerland and Bolivia. Of the 27 participants, thirteen came from SDC, the Swiss Foreign Ministry, the University of Bern, and Swiss NGOs. During the event Georg Lutz and Wolf Linder were given the opportunity to present their findings and comments from the participants were integrated into their paper. Two further presentations were made by Alex Widmer and Wolf Linder related to regional issues of traditional structures in local governance. For the presentations, please consult the practitioners workshop resources section.