PeaceCon 2019: Seizing the Moment for Peace in a Disrupted World
With a global upsurge in violent conflict, environmental degradation, great power competition, and technological change, the challenges facing the peacebuilding community have never been greater or more urgent. In response to these challenges, USIP was pleased to partner with the Alliance for Peacebuilding to host the largest annual gathering of peacebuilding practitioners in the United States: PeaceCon 2019. This critical and timely discussion of today’s complex conflict dynamics explored conflict prevention amid a rapidly evolving global landscape and offered ways the peacebuilding community can advance innovative efforts amid these disruptions.
Eminent members of the peacebuilding community, diplomats, scholars, business leaders, military strategists and other specialists gathered from hundreds of organizations across dozens of countries at PeaceCon 2019. Take part in the conversation on social media with #PeaceCon2019.
Video recordings of additional sessions are below.
Agenda
8:45am - 9:00am: Welcome
- The Honorable Nancy Lindborg
President & CEO, U.S. Institute of Peace - Dylan Matthews
Chief Executive, Peace Direct and Board Chair, Alliance for Peacebuilding - Uzra Zeya
President and CEO, Alliance for Peacebuilding
9:00am - 9:30am: Morning Plenary Speaker Address
- H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Former President of Liberia
9:30am - 10:30am: Navigating Disruption: A Conversation with Stephen J. Hadley and Avril D. Haines
- The Honorable Stephen J. Hadley
Former National Security Advisor, Chair, U.S. Institute of Peace Board of Directors - Avril Haines
Former White House Deputy National Security Advisor - The Honorable Nancy Lindborg, moderator
President & CEO, U.S. Institute of Peace
10:30am - 11:00am: Break
11:00am - 12:15pm: Concurrent Breakout Sessions
Reorienting International Aid to Fragile and Conflict-Affected States: Toward More Strategic and Preventive Approaches
- Caroline Bahnson
Senior Operations Officer, World Bank Fragility, Conflict, and Violence Group - Peter Quaranto
Senior Advisor for Peace and Security, Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources, U.S. Department of State - Mark Segal
Senior Advisor, Stabilisation Unit, United Kingdom Government - Katy Thompson
Team Leader, Rule of Law, Security, and Human Rights, United Nations Development Program - Ambassador Mary Ann Peters, moderator
CEO, The Carter Center
People Power and Peace Processes
- Aden Abdi
Horn of Africa Program Director, Conciliation Resources - Nadine Bloch
Training Director, Beautiful Trouble - Dr. Veronique Dudouet
Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow, U.S. Institute of Peace; Program Director for Conflict Transformation Research, Berghof Foundation - Palwasha Kakar
Senior Program Officer for Religion and Inclusive Societies, U.S. Institute of Peace - Maria Stephan, moderator
Program Director for Nonviolent Action, U.S. Institute of Peace
The Role of Russia and China in Peace Processes
- Heather Conley
Senior VP for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic, Center for Strategic and International Studies - Chris Robinson
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European & Eurasian Affairs, U.S. State Department - Jake Stokes
Senior Policy Analyst, China, U.S. Institute of Peace - Robert Faucher, moderator
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, U.S. State Department
12:15pm - 2:00pm: Lunch
1:00pm - 1:45pm: PeaceTech Speed Geeking: Rapid Fire Learning about Tech Tools for Peacebuilding (Seating limited)
- Zeluis Teixeira, Director of Acceleration & Operational Excellence, PeaceTech Lab
2:00pm - 3:15pm: Concurrent Breakout Sessions
The U.S. Government’s Capabilities for Responding to Violent Conflict: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities
- Richmond Blake
Director for Policy and Advocacy, Mercy Corps - Adam Mausner
Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability and Humanitarian Affairs, U.S. Department of Defense - Tess McEnery
Senior Advisor for Conflict Prevention, Bureau of Conflict and Stabilizations Operations, U.S. State Department - Peter Quaranto
Senior Advisor for Peace and Security, Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources, U.S. Department of State - Julie Werbel
Senior Policy Coordinator of Conflict and Violence Prevention, Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation, USAID
Building Digital Peace
- Kate O’Sullivan
General Manager, Digital Diplomacy, Microsoft - Ambassador Jarmo Sareva
Ambassador of Innovation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland - Lisa Schirch
Senior Research Fellow, Toda Peace Institute; Senior Fellow, Alliance for Peacebuilding - Brett Solomon
Executive Director, Access Now - Alexandria Walden
Global Policy Lead for Human Rights and Free Expression, Google - Sheldon Himelfarb, moderator
President and CEO, PeaceTech Lab
Women, Peace, and Security at 20: Challenges and Opportunities
- Sanam Anderlini
Founder and Executive Director, ICAN - Gary Barker
President and CEO, Promundo - Bonnie Jenkins
Executive Director, Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation - Dr. Chantal de Jonge Oudraat
President, Women In International Security - Alex Arriaga
Founder and Managing Partner, Strategy for Humanity - Kathleen Kuehnast, moderator
Director, Gender Policy and Strategy, U.S. Institute of Peace
3:15pm - 3:45pm: Break
3:45pm - 5:00pm: Keynote | American Diplomacy in a Disordered World
- Ambassador William J. Burns
President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace - Uzra Zeya, moderator
President and CEO, Alliance for Peacebuilding
