Geneva Peace Week

Careers in Peacebuilding: Ethical Leadership

An Interview Series about Careers in Peacebuilding explores the pathways taken by both young and seasoned peacebuilders in Geneva and in other parts of the world. It aims to provide some guidance and hope to young professionals who look forward to exploring the field of peacebuilding. As peacebuilding is a globalised local initiative that requires a step away from systems that cater to the few, we have made a conscious effort to include voices of and speak to the issues faced by populations who do not find their roots in Europe. 

We have an array of episodes lined up:

•  Podcast Episode 1: Career stories and recruitment criteria in the NGO sector
•  Podcast Episode 2: Diversity and Inclusion
•  Podcast Episode 3: Navigating a career in the UN
•  Podcast Episode 4: Ethical Leadership
•  Video Episode 5: CV and Cover Letter FAQs
•  Live online session: Virtual Career Fair

Featuring: 

• • Erhan Vural, Protection Officer, IOM - International Organization for Migration
  • Natalia Escobar, Project Coordinator, Latin America and Caribbean Unit, DCAF
  • Annika Hilding Norberg, Head of Peace Operations and Peacebuilding, GCSP
  • Archana Tomar, Peacebuilder and Dreamweaver 
  • Sabine Meitzel, Independent Trade Development Consultant
  • Manuela Morelli, Head of Human Resources Development, ITU
  • Claudia Seymour, Senior Researcher, Centre of Conflict, Development, and Peacebuilding, Graduate Institute
  • Madhumita Varma, Student, Graduate Institute
  • Annika Erickson-Pearson, Community Manager, Geneva Peacebuilding Platform 
  • Aline Dimitriou Cruz, Senior Career Services Adviser, Graduate Institute

The key for rebalancing after disruptions starts with listening

by The Global Institute For Evolving Women, Conscious Togetherness, Business plan for Peace

Listening is the most underestimated skill to master in conversations in general, and especially in peacebuilding. This podcast is transformational for your listening, supported by:

1. Scilla Elworthy (UK) 3 times nominated for the Nobel Peace Price, TEDx speaker with over 1 million views, founder of the Businessplan for Peace, author of the Mighty Heart, Businessplan for Peace and Pioneering the possible).

2. Nienke van Bezooijen (NL), Voice for authentic leadership for global Impact, initiator of the GIFEW Global Impact platform on Peace and Consciousness, author and mentor).

3. Kawtar El Alaoui (CA) (Leadership mentor and trainer, founder of Conscious Togetherness)

This podcast provides you with all you need to listen to oneself, others and what the world is asking from us.

 

Contributions to the Geneva Peace Week 2020 Digital Series do not necessarily represent the views of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, its partners, or the partners of Geneva Peace Week.

Organising and Acting for Peace & Justice: Young Women Leading Change against Gender Based Violence (GBV)

A podcast by World YWCA and the Norwegian Church Aid

 

Contributions to the Geneva Peace Week 2020 Digital Series do not necessarily represent the views of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, its partners, or the partners of Geneva Peace Week.

Enhancing wellbeing of young women peacebuilders: An interactive online networking session

A podcast by Unconventional

 

Contributions to the Geneva Peace Week 2020 Digital Series do not necessarily represent the views of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, its partners, or the partners of Geneva Peace Week.

Harnessing the Power of Nonviolence to Reorganize Power

A podcast by Nonviolent Peaceforce International, Peace Brigades International

 

Contributions to the Geneva Peace Week 2020 Digital Series do not necessarily represent the views of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, its partners, or the partners of Geneva Peace Week.

Militarised Masculinities and Sustaining Peace: Lessons from the Ground

A podcast by Impunity Watch, Master in Transitional Justice of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights

Militarised masculinities and its impact on peace has received little attention. Militarised masculinity, an idea of a certain ‘maleness’ that is violent, is central to elites strategies in staying in power.

This podcast by Impunity Watch and the Master programme in Transitional Justice of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights provides space for an in-depth debate around this neglected topic with leading expert Brandon Hamber from Northern Ireland and human rights activist Brisna Caxaj from Guatemala.

• Featuring:
  • Brandon Hamber, Ulster University
  • Brisna Caxaj, Impunity Watch
  • Thomas Unger (host), Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights

Contributions to the Geneva Peace Week 2020 Digital Series do not necessarily represent the views of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, its partners, or the partners of Geneva Peace Week.

EduPeace Discussion

A podcast by Direct Democracy Global, Cordoba Peace Institute Geneva, GenerationForPeace

 

Contributions to the Geneva Peace Week 2020 Digital Series do not necessarily represent the views of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, its partners, or the partners of Geneva Peace Week.

A new global order in the making: How can peace mediation stay relevant in the post-Covid-19 world?

A podcast by The Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) in collaboration with the Changing Character of War Center of the University of Oxford and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP).

Covid-19 is impacting the foundations that underpin global peace and security, and multilateral institutions that uphold peace are facing a crisis that has left them struggling with internal deadlocks. This is felt concretely in Geneva that represents a major site for international diplomacy and peacemaking. The crisis of multilateralism is coupled with technological advancements in warfare that the peacemaking community at large has yet to fully grasp. It is clear that practice of peace mediation needs to adapt to this new reality if it wants stay relevant in the future.

The podcast ""A new global order in the making: How can peace mediation stay relevant in the post-Covid-19 world?"" aims at enhancing the understanding of practitioners in the field of peace building to emerging trends in global peace and security. It does this by providing perspectives on the changing character of conflict and by identifying questions that need to be addressed in peace mediation. 

• Featuring:
  • Annette Idler – Director of Studies, Changing Character of War Programme, University of Oxford 
  • Ville Brummer – Programme Director, CMI
  • Jean-Marc Rickli – Head of Global Risk and Resilience, Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP)

Contributions to the Geneva Peace Week 2020 Digital Series do not necessarily represent the views of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, its partners, or the partners of Geneva Peace Week.

Entrepreneurship for peace: The role of start-ups and female leadership in economic transformation

A podcast by SaferGlobe.

In a unique discussion on practical experiences from supporting entrepreneurship in North Korea, Lebanon and Somalia, Maria Mekri, Executive Director of SaferGlobe and Jukka-Pekka Heikkilä, a Scholar-Activist in Entrepreneurship Education in Extreme Environments, explore opportunities and challenges for entrepreneurship for peace with their guests Nour Atrissi and Yusuf M. Mubarak.

Four themes emerge from the discussion as practical lessons for programs focusing on promoting entrepreneurship in fragile contexts: the necessity for co-creation and local ownership in creating entrepreneurship; the central role of trust and trust-building; the need to overcome structural obstacles for change, specifically in financing and banking, and finally the central role of female entrepreneurs and inclusion for sustainability.

• Featuring:
  • Maria Mekri, SaferGlobe. Maria Mekri is the Executive Director of SaferGlobe, Finland’s leading think tank on peace and security. She  aims to foster and mentor success, strives for excellence, and drives projects forward with 20 years of academic experience in international relations, 10+ years years teaching (e.g. international relations, peacebuilding) and 7 years in management. Maria is motivated by uncovering and supporting processes by which building peace can be more effective. She personally focuses on business in fragile contexts, digitalization, peace technologies and innovation.  More from: www.saferglobe.fi
  • Jukka-Pekka Heikkilä, Aalto University. Dr. Jukka-Pekka Heikkilä is a scholar-activist based in Finland, Aalto University School of Business, a visiting scholar in Stanford University, Harvard University and a Newton Fellow of the Royal Society. His work focuses on science diplomacy, entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education in extreme settings. He has been teaching entrepreneurship in North Korea between 2012 - 2017 and is the co-founder of WTSUP! Beirut that focuses on supporting equality and equal opportunities for women entrepreneurs in Lebanon. More from: https://jukkapekka.com/ 
  • Nour Atrissi, TeensWhoCode. Nour is founder of TeensWhoCode, a Lebanon based education startup whose mission is to equip the next generation (12 - 18 y.o) with the necessary skills in order to thrive in a tech driven world. She is the director of Startup Grind in Beirut, a global community inspiring, educating and connecting two million entrepreneurs across 130 countries. Nour holds a Bachelor’s of Science from the American University of Beirut and a Master’s of Science from the Lebanese University & the University of Nantes (France). She’s also a proud Draper University Hero (Silicon Valley).
  • Yusuf M. Mubarak, Finland-Somalia Association. Yusuf is a specialist in mobile networks with over 20 years experience working for Nokia. Yusuf is also a business and Somali culture expert, who shares Somali cultural experiences through the Finland-Somalia Association as well as promotes Finland and Somalia business relations together with Finnpartnership, and VTT, MFA and other Finnish institutions. For the last five years, Yusuf has been working on encouraging entrepreneurship in Somalia and business engagement with Somalia, and has been able to foster business ties.

Contributions to the Geneva Peace Week 2020 Digital Series do not necessarily represent the views of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, its partners, or the partners of Geneva Peace Week.

How can behavioural science help understand issues of trust and collaboration in fragile settings?

A podcast by Busara Center, OECD.

 

Contributions to the Geneva Peace Week 2020 Digital Series do not necessarily represent the views of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, its partners, or the partners of Geneva Peace Week.

Social cohesion as a core dimension of building better social contracts: MENA country reflections

A podcast by University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, DIE (German Development Institute), Center for Maghrebian Studies in Tunis.

As the search for more reliable pathways for peace grows in our increasingly complex and polarised world, the social contract concept is drawing interest from policymakers and scholars focused on peacebuilding, as well as states and societies pursuing peaceful change.

This podcast explores the role of social cohesion in social contracts, both as a driver and an indicator of their realisation. It investigates these issues through two Arab Spring countries – Tunisia and Yemen. While Arab Spring settings offered a wealth of possibilities for reimaging, reinventing and manifesting new and inclusive national social contracts, many are not on track to achieve anticipated outcomes desired by many within these societies.

The discussion reflects upon the status of the social contract, the meaning of social cohesion, and the challenges and opportunities for the growth of social cohesion and forging or enriching inclusive and resilient social contracts in both contexts. Lessons for international cooperation are considered in this dynamic, rich discussion with specialists from the region and development aid community.

• Featuring: 
  • Erin McCandless is an Associate Professor at the School of Governance at Witwatersrand University in South Africa, and directs a research and policy dialogue project on forging resilient social countries in countries transitioning from conflict and authoritarianism. A widely published scholar and policy advisor, she has over two decades of experience working on and in conflict affected settings, broadly on issues of peacebuilding, statebuilding, development and resilience - and their intersections. Her research currently is focused on forging resilient social contracts in countries affected by conflict, fragility and fraught transition. Professor McCandless is author of more than 100 publications, including three books, one entitled Polarization and Transformation in Zimbabwe: Social Movements, Strategy Dilemmas and Change, and several influential, policy-shifting United Nations reports. She is also co-founder and former Chief Editor of the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development.  www.erinmccandless.net, www.socialcontractsforpeace.org
  • Bernhard Trautner is senior advisor to the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development since 2005: As Deputy Head Middle East Department 2012-15 and at research & evaluation dep’t since 11/2020; He serves as Adjunct Professor at Tübingen University/Institute for Political Science since 2014. Bernhard was seconded as senior researcher at the project on ‘stabilization and development in MENA’ at the German Development Institute 2015-20 and is still an associate researcher there.. https://www.die-gdi.de/en/bernhard-trautner/ Recent co-authorships include: “Reconstituting social contracts in conflict-affected MENA countries: Whither Iraq and Libya?” (w. Mark Furness) DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105085;  “Le contrat social: un outil d’analyse pour les pays de la région Moyen-Orient et Afrique du Nord (MENA), et au-delà” (w. Loewe, Markus & Zintl, T.) DOI: 10.23661/bp5.2020  
  • Laryssa Chomiak is a political scientist, specializing on the comparative politics of the Middle East and North Africa, Director of the Centre d'Etudes Maghrebines a Tunis, and Associate Fellow at Chatham House in London.  She is the author of the forthcoming Archipelagos of Dissent: Protest and Politics in Tunisia.  Most recently, she was a visiting researcher at the German Development Institute’s (DIE) Middle East Program in Bonn, has lectured at the University of Tunis, and worked on comparative African research programs on political violence, transitional justice and societal peace. Her work has appeared as book chapters and journal articles in Middle East Law and Governance, The Journal of North African Studies, Portal 9 and Middle East Report.   Dr. Chomiak has received research fellowships from the Fulbright Commission (Morocco), the International Research and Exchange Board (IREX/Ukraine) and The American Institute for Maghrib Studies (AIMS/Tunisia). She is a member of the advisory board of Middle East Law and Governance. Before her doctoral studies she worked at USAID’s Bureau of Global Health in Washington, DC. Her opinion analyses and essays have appeared in the Washington Post and Christian Science Monitor, as well as for Middle East Institute. 
  • Fatima Abo Alasrar is a Non-Resident Scholar at the Middle East Institute. Before joining the Institute, Alasrar was a Senior Analyst at the Arabia Foundation in Washington DC, MENA Director for Cure Violence, Research Associate at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, a Mason Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, and an International Policy Fellow at the Open Society Foundation. From 2006-12, she worked as an advisor for the Embassy of Yemen in Washington, DC. Earlier in her career, Alasrar served as a program officer for the Department for International Development (DFID) in Yemen. Alasrar holds an MA in Public Administration from Harvard University, an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University, and a BS in Architectural Engineering from Sanaa University in Yemen.

Contributions to the Geneva Peace Week 2020 Digital Series do not necessarily represent the views of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, its partners, or the partners of Geneva Peace Week.

Connecting the dots: integrated approaches to migration, peace & security

A podcast by KOFF - The Swiss Platform for Peacebuilding, DCAF - Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance, Paxion.

This podcast brings together local and international perspectives from different areas (research, psychosocial support, exemplary initiatives) to discuss the relevance of the peace-migration nexus for peace policy and practice.

What are the linkages between security, peace and migration? How do security approaches in migration governance affect peace(building)? By focusing the relevance of security sector governance as a sub-aspect of migration governance, we jointly explore what characterizes the security needed in situations of displacement and examine its relevance to peace. 

Moreover, we present and apply two recent publications concerning the nexus: The “Toolbox – addressing migration in peace policy and practice” by KOFF/swisspeace, and the policy paper “The security sector governance-migration nexus: strengthening SSG for the benefits of migrants and migration governance” commissioned by DCAF.  

• Featuring: 
  • Joëlle Gehrig, actress and moderator, finance officer at swisspeace;
  • Carmela Bühler, deputy head of the migration foreign policy section in the human security division at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs;
  • Emine Sariaslan, social education worker with a focus on integration, participation and social support for families, board member of Paxion; 
  • Dr. Sarah Wolff, director of the Center for European Research at the Queen Mary University in London.

Contributions to the Geneva Peace Week 2020 Digital Series do not necessarily represent the views of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, its partners, or the partners of Geneva Peace Week.

Funding of local faith actors during COVID-19

A podcast by Partnership for Religion and Development, Islamic Relief, World Vision International, World Evangelical Alliance, Side by Side.

Religious communities and actors can and have shown to be sources of guidance and support, sharing the responsibility of care and acting as a support network to vulnerable groups during the pandemic. In many contexts, faith actors have played an important role through creative and practical approaches to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 measures and effects on vulnerable populations. 

This podcast is a collaboration with Islamic Relief Worldwide, World Vision International, Side by Side and World Evangelical Alliance, who lead PaRD’s work-streams on Health, Gender, Environments and Peace. PARD's contribution to the Geneva Peace Week 2020 is a dialogue with local and international religious actors, who are each addressing the challenges  COVID-19 has had on their community.  We will take you to Delhi, Birmingham, The Democractic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, and Thailand, to see what faith leaders and representatives of faith groups have done in response to COVID-19, what were their success and challenges, and what stories of hope emerged from that. 

• Featuring: 
  • Justine Aenishaenslin, World Vision International (narrator), Kuki Rokum, Evangelical Fellowship of India Commission on Relief known as EFICOR (speaker), Shahin Ashraf, Head of Global Advocacy at Islamic Relief Worldwide (speaker), Reverend Siyani, Senior Pastor at Tabernacle of Power (speaker), Wah Wah Yeh, Program Manager at the Spirits in Education Movement, and Som-boon Chung-pram-pree or (Moo) who is the  Executive Secretary for the  International Network of Engaged Buddhists  based in Thailand.

Contributions to the Geneva Peace Week 2020 Digital Series do not necessarily represent the views of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, its partners, or the partners of Geneva Peace Week.

Geneva Peace Week 2020 Trailer

Conversations from Geneva Peace Week are leaving Geneva this year and coming straight to you, wherever you consume your videos, podcasts, and media. Particularly as COVID-19 introduces the necessity of new modes of work and learning around the globe, people interact with new kinds of media and educational methods. We’ve asked our partner organizers to develop their peacebuilding expertise, research, and stories into digital formats (videos, podcasts, and other media) so that they can contribute to the frontline work of peace long beyond Geneva Peace Week, across geographical, cultural and temporal borders. This digital series will be free to view, listen, download, and interact with during and after GPW20. Details on how to engage with the Digital Series can be found on our website here: www.genevapeaceweek.ch.