Conflicts are escalating. Humanitarian needs are soaring. But at the same time, development funding is being cut, and trust is low in institutions designed to ensure peace and security. Those working on the ground in fragile and conflict-affected settings are openly questioning whether today’s humanitarian, development and peacebuilding systems are breaking or may even already be broken.
On day two of the Forum, the high-level panel ‘Rethinking conflict prevention’ will discuss the ways we need to rethink, reinvent and re-evaluate conflict management to adapt to today’s changing security landscape. The speakers will share lessons learned from across the world, including Afghanistan, Somalia and Qatar, as well as reflect on the ability of local, national, regional and international institutions to manage and restrain these conflicts as crises continue to deepen.
The panel will approach these issues by asking questions such as, how do we prevent conflict in today’s changing world? What instruments and approaches are being used by the United Nations, regional organization and local actors to do so, and how effective are they? What lessons can be learned for peace and security, and how can those lessons be applied to improve conflict prevention?
Moderator
Per Olsson Fridh is Director General at our partner Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA), appointed by the Swedish government.
Per Olsson Fridh was previously the Swedish minister of Development Cooperation. His experience in Peace and Security, as well as his deep interest in climate security and peace operations, will be a great asset to the partnership.
As Director General of FBA, Per Olsson Fridh will also take on the role as chair of the Challenges Forum’s annual Partner meeting.
Conférenciers
Catriona Laing was appointed as the Special Representative for Somalia and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) on 3 May 2023. Ms. Laing brings to this position over 35 years of experience in diplomacy, development and international relations, including having held United Kingdom government policy roles in various departments at the national and international levels. Most recently, from November 2018 until April 2023, she served as British High Commissioner to Nigeria. Prior to that, she was the British Ambassador to Zimbabwe from 2014 until 2018. In addition to her diplomatic roles, Ms. Laing has held several positions in government policy and international development, notably as Deputy Head of the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit (2000-2004), Director for Human Rights at the Ministry of Justice (2009-2012) and as the Head of the Department for International Development in Sudan (2006-2009). She further headed the United Nations Development Office in Somalia from 1993 to 1994. Ms. Catriona Laing holds an MSc degree in economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a Master’s in Business Administration from Cranfield University, both in the United Kingdom.
Laing
Heela Yoon is the Founder of Afghan Youth Ambassadors for Peace Organization (AYAPO), a grassroots NGO working in the Eastern provinces of Afghanistan focusing on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security and Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security, as well as local peacebuilding.
Through AYAPO, Heela has trained nearly 100 young girls in Nangarhar, Laghman, and Kabul on gender equality, leadership, and how to act as first responders to humanitarian crises. With her NGO, she has engaged with religious and tribal leaders through community peacebuilding dialogues in the Eastern zone to advocate for Afghan girls’ education.
Heela has more than five years of experience working with humanitarian and human rights organizations. She has worked with the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP) as a Cora Weiss peacebuilding fellow focusing on localizing the Women, Peace, and Security agenda in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and the Philippines. Before joining GNWP, she worked with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Afghanistan as a program coordinator for UNFPA.
In 2020, she was the Civil Society briefer for the 64th Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations, and she was recognized as one of the young emerging peacemakers from Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice.
Yoon
Mr. Itonde Kakoma assumed the role of President of Interpeace on October 2, 2023. Prior to Interpeace, he most recently served as the Permanent Representative of the International Federation of the Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to the African Union and International Organizations (2021-2023). In this capacity, Kakoma advanced continental wide humanitarian diplomacy initiatives with the African Union in public health security; climate change; disaster risk management; food security; and humanitarian affairs. Mr. Kakoma served in various leadership capacities on matters of international peace mediation, including as Director for Global Strategy and member of the leadership team at CMI Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation. Over a period of eight years at CMI, he steered mediation support teams for both official and informal peace processes, and advanced high-level peace mediation and dialogue undertakings in the Great Lakes, the Horn, and wider Red Sea region. Previously, Mr. Kakoma was the Assistant Director for the Conflict Resolution Program at The Carter Center, managing a portfolio of the Center’s peace initiatives and supporting former President Carter’s backchannel diplomatic efforts. He was an international observer for The National Referendum on the Right to Self Determination for the People of South Sudan; and served as an advisor and report writer for the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He is an experienced facilitator and moderator for high-level peace processes and dialogue fora; and has expertise in mediation, negotiation, process design, humanitarian diplomacy and transitional justice. Mr. Kakoma is an advocate for women, peace and security and frequently moderates seminar(s) on inclusive mediation strategies. Mr. Kakoma was an Executive-in-Residence and subsequently Global Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP). He holds an Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict from the Geneva Academy for International Humanitarian Law & Human Rights and the Graduate Institute of International & Development Studies.
Kakoma
