WEBINAR | IPPN Knowledge Café: Cross-pillar Collaboration for Conflict Prevention – Perspectives from Peace and Development Advisors

➡️ Back to the IPPN group!

Join us for the next IPPN Knowledge Café, a webinar series focused on building the IPPN members’ capacity to better understand a systems perspective on policy integration and acceleration; and integrated policy solutions, including curation of tools and resources that support the design and implementation of cross-cutting policy solutions.

About this webinar

The Joint UNDP-DPPA Programme on Building National Capacities for Conflict Prevention is a cross-pillar initiative that enhances United Nations support to national stakeholders in their efforts to prevent conflict and sustain peace. Since its inception in 2004, the Programme has grown from a small-scale initiative supporting five countries to a UN flagship programme that now engages and supports more than 80 countries. At the forefront of these efforts are a cadre of 130 Peace and Development Advisors (PDAs), including six Regional Programme Specialists, deployed in over 70 countries and regional hubs/offices.

Working at the nexus of peace and development, and in some contexts also in humanitarian settings PDAs facilitate cross-pillar integrated conflict analysis, conflict sensitive and peacebuilding programming. By providing regular and high quality multi-dimensional analysis, PDAs enhance the UN’s understanding of the drivers of peace and conflict. Integrated analysis, often conducted in collaboration with different UN entities informs efforts to forge and or strengthen partnerships and coordination for timely, inclusive, and effective response. PDAs also assist the UN system in developing and implementing integrated prevention strategies and respond to emerging or on-going complex political situations. 

Agenda

Join this IPPN Knowledge Café to reflect on strategies used by Peace and Development Advisors (PDAs) to facilitate coherence and strategic collaboration in UN conflict prevention efforts through integrated analysis, programmatic advice, partnerships, and identification of strategic entry points for conflict prevention. This session will highlight concrete examples of how PDAs have supported context-specific conflict prevention efforts at the national and regional levels, based on the examples of Kenya, Haiti, and Asia and the Pacific.

Welcome and scene-settings remarks by Nkeiruka Kiki Didigu, Senior Interagency Specialist, UN Population Fund (on behalf of IPPN)

This discussion will present concrete experiences from the following keynote speakers:

• Prisca Kamungi, National Peace and Development Officer, Kenya  
• Mohamed Ag Alhousseini, Peace and Development Advisor, Chad (former PDA Haiti)
• Dilrukshi Fonseka, Regional Programme Specialist, Asia-Pacific, Joint UNDP-DPPA Programme on Building National Capacities for Conflict Prevention 

This will be followed by a Q&A and exchanges with the audience! 

Session materials

Watch the session recording, and find the PPT presentations and all relevant links are posted in the comments section below.

About the speakers

Prisca Kamungi is the National Peace and Development Officer based in Kenya. Prisca has over 10 years of experience in the peace and development sector in Africa, where she has served in various capacities with UN agencies, regional organizations, academic institutions, civil society and the private sector. She served as a Peacebuilding Technical Expert on the Reducing Insecurity and Violent Extremism in the Northern and Coastal regions of Kenya Project, which contributed to the development of County Action Plans to prevent and counter violent extremism. Before that she was a Research and Documentation Analyst with the Joint UNDP-Government of Kenya Peacebuilding Programme, where she strengthened partnerships between government and civil society actors through the national peace architecture, the Uwiano Platform for Peace, and creation of the Women Peace and Security Technical Committee. She oversaw the development of National Mediation Guidelines and a network of Insider Mediators, including County First Ladies. Prisca participated in the 2008 international mediation of the Kenya’s 2007 post-election political crisis and worked under Kofi Annan and the AU Mediation Team to monitor implementation of the Peace agreement between 2008-2013. Prisca is United Nations University of Peace (U-PEACE) scholar, and holds degrees in Education, International Relations and Migration and Displacement. She is a Research Associate at the Institute for Development Studies University of Nairobi and a Senior Research Associate at the Refugee Law Initiative, University of London.  

Mohamed Ag Alhousseini is the Peace and Development Advisor based in Chad. Prior to being PDA in Chad, Mohamed was the PDA in Mauritania and then Haiti from 2018-2023. Mohamed previously worked for DPKO in Mali (MINUSCA) and CAR (MINUSCA) as Civil Affairs Officer and Civil Affairs Team leader, respectively. Prior to that, he severed as a Political Affairs Officer at the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA/ DPA) focused on security trends analysis, transhumance and violent extremism issues in the Lake Chad Basin countries. Mohamed has a bachelor’s in economics and management, and M.Sc. in management from the faculty of economics and law (University of Bamako). He also holds an M.A in development specialized in governance and public management from Senghor University of Alexandria. His areas of expertise include: stabilization institutions building; dialogue, social cohesion and reconciliation; local governance and community reintegration; conflict prevention and peacebuilding. Mohamed is a certified trainer in peacebuilding and gender mainstreaming.  

Dilrukshi Fonseka is the Regional Programme Specialist for Asia and the Pacific based in Bangkok, with the UNDP-DPPA Joint Programme for Conflict Prevention. She has over twenty years of experience in international peace and development, with regional and country-based experience in conflict, post-conflict and transition contexts with the United Nations, donors, and civil society, in both advisory and programme management roles. Prior to her current assignment, she spent two years consulting with various UN offices, Development Partners, INGOs and NGOs in Asia and in the Arab States. Between 2013-2017, Dilrukshi worked with UNDP Myanmar, leading its Peacebuilding and Social Cohesion portfolios, and prior to that, in Sri Lanka heading UNDP’s Crisis Prevention, Recovery and Peacebuilding portfolios. Prior to joining the UN, Dilrukshi worked with the Berghof Foundation for Conflict Studies supporting multi-track conflict transformation initiatives, and with the International Center for Ethnic Studies and the former UN Special Rapportueur on Violence Against Women, supporting research and advocacy on Women, Peace and Security. Dilrukshi is a trained mediator, and has lectured and trained widely on peace, transitional justice, and gender. She’s a past Fellow with the Oxford Journal of Transitional Justice and the Center for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation. She holds a MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics (UK) and a BA (double majoring in International Relations and Musical Theatre) from Mount Holyoke College (USA).  

Connection details

Date: Wednesday, 5 July 2023

Time: 8:00 AM Panama | 9:00 AM New York | 4:00 PM Addis Ababa/ Amman/ Istanbul | 8:00 PM Bangkok

Register in two clicks to receive the Zoom connection details: https://bit.ly/IPPN_KC16. The registration for this event is now closed.

The Integrated Policy Practitioners' Network (IPPN) is a one-stop-shop for integrated policy practitioners, operating as a knowledge hub for the global community. IPPN aims to link existing efforts on SDG integration across UN agencies and beyond, and enabling cross-pollination and learning to enhance the UN System-wide capability to practice and deliver high-quality integrated policy support. IPPN is a joint effort under the auspices of the UNSDG Task Team on Integrated Policy Support.

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