Policy Forum 2024

Biennial MAS ETH MPP Policy Forum on Peace Mediation: Process Design

Overview

The MAS ETH MPP is a two-year postgraduate program for mid-career professionals involved in mediating violent political conflicts and supporting dialogue and peace processes globally. The program has the vision of contributing to a more peaceful and secure world by providing peace mediators with the knowledge, skills, techniques, and networks to effectively mediate violent political conflicts. The MAS ETH MPP is built on a close partnership between ETH Zurich and its key strategic partners, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the United Nations (UN) and the foreign ministries of Germany and Finland.

On June 7, 2024, the MAS ETH MPP program will organize the third edition of its biennial policy forum on peace mediation. This year’s policy forum will focus on peace mediation process design, bringing together the MAS ETH MPP community of practice and invited experts for a full day of substantive discussions.

Objectives

The 2024 edition of the Biennial MAS ETH MPP Policy Forum on Peace Mediation aims to foster substantive exchanges and networking between mediation scholars, policymakers, and practitioners within the broader MAS ETH MPP community of practice. Substantively, the event aims to contribute to a better understanding and study of process design for peace mediation by:

Offering fresh and innovative perspectives on key elements of process design;
Studying how mediation processes were designed and re-designed in specific cases;
Assessing the implications of the current global peace and security context on process design.

Finally, the event will also provide insights, cases, potential contributions, and fresh perspectives for a forthcoming book on process design by the Mediation and Peace Promotion Cluster at ETH Zurich.

Schedule and Format

The event will consist of an invitation only forum from 09.00 – 17.00, followed by an open session from 17.00 – 19.00.

Participation

The event will bring together mediation scholars and practitioners from around the world, including around sixty MAS ETH MPP program alumni and students. Registration is required for both the closed session during the day as well as the public session in the late afternoon. You can register for the public event HERE. If you are interested in attending the closed session during the day, please get in touch with MAS ETH MPP at to discuss further.

Speakers and Topics

The closed session will consist of a few keynote speeches on mediation process design and the current global peace and security context. Additionally, a few case studies will be discussed in detail. Finally, the closed session will include specific inputs on “fresh perspectives” to inform the event’s reflections on process design. These perspectives include the following:

Innovative Designs for Third-Party Coordination
Futures and Foresight in Mediation
Balancing Acts: Designing Peace Processes Amidst External Military Involvement in Civil Wars
Mediation in the Arab World
Designing Communal Peace Processes in the Shadow of Climate Change
Learning from Process Design in Indigenous Communities
Time, place, and plot: Intersectional and Gender Analysis in Mediation Spaces
Leadership and Process Design
Braiding Knowledges: Designing Mediation Processes from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Perspectives
Mediating on the Digital Frontlines of Conflict

Below is a list of some of the speakers at the event. Please note that the list is subject to changes and further additions are likely as further speakers are confirmed.

Public Event: Conflict Resolution in the Current Global Peace and Security Context

State Secretary Alexandre Fasel, Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
Asif R. Khan, Director of Policy and Mediation Division, UN DPPA
Stephanie Williams, Former Special Adviser on Libya to the United Nations Secretary General
Itonde Kakoma, President of Interpeace
Amb. Mohamed Ali Guyo, IGAD Special Envoy for the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Somalia
Katia Papagianni, Director, Policy and Mediation Support, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue
Prof. Andreas Wenger, Professor of International and Swiss Security Policy; Director of Center for Security Studies (CSS); Program Director of MAS ETH MPP

Closed Session: Biennial Policy Forum

Barney Afako, Commissioner on Human Rights in South Sudan
Martin Albani, Head of Peace Mediation and Dialogue Sector, European External Action Service (EEAS)
Prof. Cedric H. de Coning, Research Professor, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI)
Prof. Allard Duursma, Assistant Professor in Conflict Management and International Relations, ETH Zurich
Dr. Gal Harmat, Associated Expert, swisspeace
Fleur Heyworth, Head of Gender and Inclusive Security, GSCP
Lorelei Higgins, Métis Canadian Cultural Mediator
Joane Holliger, Senior Program Officer, Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich
Juan Jeannet Arce, Political Affairs Officer, Mediation Support Unit (MSU) of the Policy and Mediation Division in the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs
Prof. Ibrahim Fraihat, Associate Professor in International Conflict Resolution, the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies
Sebastian Kratzer, Project Manager, Mediation Support and Policy, Centre for Humanitarian Doalogue (HD)
Denis Matveev, Mediation and Dialogue Expert
Dr. Julia Palmiano Federer, Senior Researcher, Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich
Volker Perthes, Former UN Under-Secretary-General, Special Representative for Sudan and head of UNITAMS
Johanna Poutanen, Head of Women in Peacemaking and Digital Peacemaking, CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Foundation
Christopher Thornton, Special Adviser, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD)
David Vincent, South Sudan Peacebuilding Opportunities Fund
Teresa Whitfield, Editor of “external pageStill Time to Talk: Adaptation and Innovation in Peace Mediation” Accord issue; former Director of the Policy and Mediation Division in the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs
Stephanie Williams, Former Special Adviser on Libya to the United Nations Secretary General
Prof. Marie-Joëlle Zahar, Professor of Political Science, Université de Montréal; Member of the UN Standby Team of Senior Mediation Advisors.