Geneva Peace Week 2022

Sustaining peace in practice: Breaking down the siloes between humanitarian, development, and peace actions

The in-person workshop is organized by Interpeace in collaboration with the ILO, WHO, UNFPA, IOM, UNICEF and the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform. It includes speakers from ILO, UNICEF, FAO, and WHO.

The Geneva Peace Week

The Geneva Peace Week (GPW) is a leading annual forum in the international peacebuilding calendar, and the flagship event of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform. It is a space of meaningful exchange and co-created learning linking practitioners, policymakers, researchers, students and individuals from all sectors.

The Workshop

The needs in relation to conflict and violence are growing. This requires more sustainable solutions to conflict but also a shift in the way the aid system currently operates. Peace actors cannot address the underlying drivers of conflict alone. The question remains how different actors operating in complex and protracted conflict settings not only deliver their interventions more effectively and sustainably, but also how they can make intentional and tangible contributions to building and sustaining peace, in accordance with their mandate. This interactive workshop will explore practical ways in which humanitarian, development and multi-mandated actors are enhancing the peace responsiveness of their programming and organizations.

To set the scene, co-organizers will share experiences, challenges and lessons learned in embedding and mainstreaming conflict-sensitive and peace responsive approaches within their organizations.

Through participatory group discussions, panellists and participants will engage and reflect on the opportunities and challenges of bridging the gap between humanitarian, development, and peace action. The discussion will include the required shifts that need to happen in operational modalities, institutional cultures, and individual mindsets and behaviours, including how the aid system is being financed.

The workshop will take place on Thursday, 3 November from 9:00 to 10:15 at the Maison de la Paix in Geneva.

Workshop Moderator:

Anita Ernstorfer, Principal and Owner, Untangle (LL)

Workshop Facilitator:
Annika Erickson-Pearson, Head of Community Management, Geneva Peace Building Platform

Speakers:
  • Nieves Thomet, Employment and Decent Work for Peace Specialist, International Labour Organization (ILO)
  • Cecilia Sánchez-Bodas, Programme Specialist (UNICEF)
  • Julius Jackson, Conflict and Peace Unit (CPU), UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
  • Kevin Babila Ousman, Interim Lead of the Interagency for Emergency Unit, World Health Organization (WHO)