Organized by the International Peace Institute (IPI)
Date: Tuesday, 15 May 2018
Time: 1 - 2 45 PM
Venue:
Trygve Lie Center for Peace, Security & Development
International Peace Institute
777 United Nations Plaza, 12th Floor
New York, NY, 10017
About the event:
The International Peace Institute (IPI), Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, the University of Witwatersrand, Forging Resilient Social Contracts, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations are pleased to invite you to a policy forum on the role of the social contract in sustaining peace.
Welcoming Remarks:
Patrick Keuleers, Director, Governance and Peacebuilding, UNDP BPPS
Bettina Luise Rürup, Executive Director, FES New York
Takeshi Akahori, Minister, Political Coordinator, Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations
Opening Remarks:
Fabrizio Hochschild, Assistant Secretary General for Strategic Coordination
Speakers:
Erin McCandless, Associate Professor, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa; and Research and Project Director, Forging Resilient Social Contracts
Luka Kuol, Professor of Practice, Africa Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University, Washington, DC; and Associate Professor, University of Juba
Jasmin Ramovic, Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Manchester
Moderator:
Youssef Mahmoud, Senior Adviser, International Peace Institute
The identical General Assembly and Security Council Resolutions (70/262 and 2282, respectively), adopted on April 27, 2016, offer sustaining peace as the overarching framework for revitalizing the work of the UN’s peacebuilding architecture. The resolutions and the secretary-general’s report on peacebuilding and sustaining peace, released on January 18, 2018, underscores the importance of nationally owned agendas, rooted in the needs of all segments of society. To better understand—and indeed strengthen—the relationship between the state and the citizen, it is important to examine what drives inclusive and resilient social contracts within different contexts.
Participants at this event will discuss how social contracts manifest themselves in and adapt to different contexts, transcending from what are often unsustainable, ephemeral elite bargains into more inclusive ones with durable arrangements for sustaining peace. The findings of the research project “Forging Resilient National Social Contracts” will be presented and case studies on South Sudan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Tunisia will be featured. These case studies explore social contracting within contexts of conflict and fragility, highlighting the mechanisms through which agreements are forged that support prevention and sustaining peace.
This event will engage with current policy findings and debates, and highlight how the UN can better understand the role of the social contract, and utilize this framing in its work, to support national actors in attaining and sustaining peace. It is hoped that by focusing on concrete examples and cases studies, this conversation will help member states and other key national stakeholders develop a shared and deeper understanding of what sustaining peace means in practice as they attempt to implement the above joint resolutions and deliver on their commitment to make prevention the core function of the United Nations.
For more information please click here for the Concept Note.
For questions contact:
Beatrice Agyarkoh, or 212-225-9628