What About Peacebuilders?

Presented by the Carter School's Better Evidence Project in collaboration with PartnersGlobal

Title: What About Peacebuilders? Re-Purposing Resiliency-Building and Collective Care Interventions to Support Those Building Peace at the Frontlines

As a community of scholar-practitioners, the Carter School focuses on the application of theory to practice and the development of the most effective tools for effective and sustainable peacebuilding work around the world. This session will focus on ways in which we can center individual and collective well-being for peacebuilders, particularly for work at the community level. 

Building on its work in the field, PartnersGlobal and its network of local peacebuilding organizations have been at the forefront of supporting civil society through innovative capacity-building approaches. One of its flagship initiatives, the ResiliencyPlus Framework and Process, has helped over 200 civil society organizations and networks strengthen their ability to adapt and thrive while working at the intersection of democracy, development, and peace. Too often, the healers, bridge-builders, teachers, witnesses, coaches, and mediators are expected to hold space for others, while rarely being the focus of resiliency-building or collective care efforts. This gap places tremendous emotional and psychological strain on those sustaining peace at the frontlines. In countries such as Cambodia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Palestine, Serbia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, PartnersGlobal has repurposed tools and approaches to directly support those leading struggles for justice, healing, and transformation. This session will share key lessons, emerging practices, and provocations for how the peacebuilding field can better invest in the sustainability and care of its own, while continuing to dismantle structures of violence and injustice that prevent substantive peace(s) from taking root. 

Moderator: 

• Jeffrey Helsing, Executive Director, Better Evidence Project, Carter School 

Presenters: 

• Alexa Brand (USA), Holistic Security and Resiliency+ Specialist 
• Uros Misljenovic (Serbia), Serbian civil society specialist, Program Coordinator at Partners Serbia. R+ Coach 
• Claudia Vargas (Nicaragua), Nicaraguan activist exiled in Costa Rica, Programs Director at local peacebuilding organization Fundación Arias para la Paz. (Spanish speaker - we will have translation) 

Discussants: 

• Kamila Elyazgi, Better Evidence Project, Carter School 
• Isabella Cuevas, Better Evidence Project, Carter School