Perspectives from South Africa. Conflict transformation in a multipolar world
The international actors’ landscape in conflict transformation and peacebuilding is changing and becoming increasingly multipolar. The Berghof Foundation aims to explore the implications of these developments for the work in our sector, by engaging with multiple pathways of doing conflict transformation and peacebuilding from across the world.
In this event series, the Berghof Foundation will focus on countries with historically and contextually distinct approaches to conflict transformation who have yet received comparatively limited attention among peacebuilding communities in Western Europe and North America, while playing increasingly important roles in regional and international peacebuilding endeavours.
The Berghof Foundation invites you in cooperation with the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation to the first session, starting with a virtual roundtable discussion with renowned experts from South Africa on 10 May 2021, 15–16:30 CET/ SAST. South Africa’s history of national reconciliation and its experience with Truth and Reconciliation Commissions have invested the country with a strong voice in international debates on conflict transformation and peacebuilding. Various scholars and practitioners from South Africa have engaged in debates on rethinking and remaking the global order, often with a focus on the future of the African peace and security architecture. Calls have been raised for the peacebuilding community to depart from Eurocentric development discourses on Africa and for strengthening locally evolving conflict transformation approaches.
In this session, distinguished experts from South Africa will share insights into the country’s evolving approach to conflict transformation and peacebuilding, in relation to current challenges and trends in our sector. Drawing on their extensive practical experience and conceptual expertise, the panelists will discuss opportunities for mutual learning and fostering synergies across peacebuilding communities in the changing global order.