Tolu Owoeye/Shutterstock.com
The global peace and security landscape is undergoing significant changes. Consecutive shocks such as COVID-19, economic decline, climate change, and rising food insecurity, along with a degradation in democracy and uptick in violent extremism in some countries have contributed to increasing fragility. Meanwhile, on the African continent, the acceleration of economic integration through the African Continental Free Trade Area and progress toward digital transformation open new opportunities for advancing development goals. What does all of this mean for peacebuilding in Africa? From September 12-16, 2022, the Wilson Center Africa Program will host the 2022 Southern Voices Network for Peacebuilding (SVNP) Annual Conference, “Business Unusual: A Rapidly Changing World Calls for Adapting Peacebuilding in Africa.”
To register for this event: Please select the in-person RSVP button to register to attend at the Wilson Center or the virtual RSVP button to register to watch the webcast.
In-Person RSVPVirtual RSVP
The conference will convene leaders from 22 African organizations working on peacebuilding, along with US policymakers, practitioners, international stakeholders, and experts to assess the current state of peace and security in Africa and analyze how peacebuilding approaches can or should change to fit the current environment. It will take stock of the peace and security challenges prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and consider how these challenges have evolved and what can be done to address them. It will take a wide view of peacebuilding to examine issues of citizen-state relations, democratic decline, gender, youth, technology, food security, and terrorism, among others. The conference will also discuss best practices, concrete recommendations, and policy options for adapting and strengthening peacebuilding in Africa.
Public conference sessions will include:
13:30-14:30: Keynote: Peacebuilding in Africa: Adapting to a Changing World (Wilson Center)
10:30-12:00: Democratic Decay and the Comeback of Coups (National Press Club)
13:30-15:00: Assessing the State of Citizen-State Relations in Peacebuilding in Africa (National Press Club)
15:30-17:00: Women and the African Peace and Security Agenda (National Press Club)
09:00-10:30: Digital Transformation, Governance, and Peacebuilding: New Threats and New Responses (Wilson Center)
15:30-17:00: Terrorism in Africa: State of Play and Solutions (Wilson Center)
09:00-10:30: Economic Integration, the Private Sector, and Peacebuilding (National Press Club)
11:00-12:30: Interlinked Challenges: Food Security and Peace (National Press Club)
13:30-15:00: Youth and the Future of Peace and Security in Africa (National Press Club)
15:30-17:00: Good Governance and Institutional Strengthening in Africa (National Press Club)
This conference will take place at the Wilson Center and the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
The National Press Club is a secure facility which for entry all attendees/staff must scan a this QR code on phone or printed to pass through the security gates at the entrance of the Club on the 13th floor:
Click to View QR Code
The Southern Voices Network for Peacebuilding: Centering African knowledge and agency is key to building and sustaining peace in Africa. The Southern Voices Network for Peacebuilding (SVNP) works with the Wilson Center’s Africa Program to attain the most appropriate, cohesive, and inclusive policy frameworks and approaches for achieving sustainable peace in Africa. Generously funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York since its establishment in 2011, the SVNP works to generate African knowledge to inform US and international peacebuilding policies on Africa; help build the next generation of African peacebuilders through its scholarship program; and create a pan-African network of African peacebuilding organizations, practitioners, and experts to collaborate and share knowledge, best practices, and lessons learned on peacebuilding in Africa.
More information about the SVNP can be found here.
Follow the Africa Program Twitter account @AfricaUpClose and catch up on the conversation using the hashtag #PeacebuildinginAfrica.
The Africa Program works to address the most critical issues facing Africa and U.S.-Africa relations, build mutually beneficial U.S.-Africa relations, and enhance knowledge and understanding about Africa in the United States. The Program achieves its mission through in-depth research and analyses, including our Africa Up Close blog, public discussion, working groups, and briefings that bring together policymakers, practitioners, and subject matter experts to analyze and offer practical options for tackling key challenges in Africa and in U.S.-Africa relations. Read more
One Woodrow Wilson Plaza
1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20004-3027
