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Pandemics, Peace, and Justice: Shaping What Comes Next

PeaceCon 2020

Date: Monday, December 7, 2020 / Time: 9:00am - 10:30am EST /Time: 4:00pm – 5:00pm EST 

Center: Policy, Learning and Strategy Center

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For the last eight years, the annual PeaceCon conference has offered a dynamic platform for frontline peacebuilders, policymakers, philanthropists, and private sector and civil society leaders working at the nexus of peacebuilding, security, and development to engage in meaningful dialogue and develop substantive plans for action. This year’s conference—with the theme “Pandemics, Peace, and Justice: Shaping What Comes Next”—will explore the relationship between justice and peacebuilding in the context of COVID-19 and the worldwide reckoning over systemic injustice and racism.

Plenary Session

Afternoon Keynote

With the move to an entirely virtual format, PeaceCon 2020 aimed to attract an even more diverse set of voices, expertise, and ideas from across the world. Sessions went beyond exploring the problems and challenged participants to put forward differing points of view and distill learning outcomes into pragmatic solutions.

USIP, in partnership with the Alliance for Peacebuilding, kickstarted PeaceCon 2020 with a high-level keynote and panel discussion on December 7, 2020. The discussion addressed the relationship between COVID-19, conflict, and fragility, and considered strategies for the international community to address the peace and security implications of the pandemic. Following a series of breakout sessions hosted by the Alliance for Peacebuilding, participants re-joined USIP for a fireside chat with Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation.

Agenda 

9:00am – 10:30am: AfP-USIP Plenary Session

  • Welcome Remarks
    • Lise Grande
      President & CEO, U.S. Institute of Peace
    • Uzra Zeya
      President, Alliance for Peacebuilding
    • Julia Roig
      Chair, Board of Directors, Alliance for Peacebuilding
  • Keynote Address
    • Senator Chris Coons (D-DE)
      U.S. Senator from Delaware 
  • High Level Panel: COVID and Fragility: Risks and Recovery
    • Paige Alexander
      CEO, The Carter Center
    • David Beasley
      Executive Director, World Food Programme
    • Tjada D’Oyen McKenna
      CEO, Mercy Corps
    • Ambassador Mark Green
      Executive Director, McCain Institute
    • Dr. Joseph Hewitt, moderator
      Vice President for Policy, Learning & Strategy, U.S. Institute of Peace

4:00pm – 5:00pm: Afternoon Keynote: Fireside Chat with Darren Walker

  • Darren Walker
    President, Ford Foundation
  • Uzra Zeya, moderator
    President, Alliance for Peacebuilding

To learn more about and register for the concurrent breakout sessions and workshops on Day 1 and additional content on Days 2 and 3, please visit the AfP conference website. 

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