“Local or Global? The Future of Peacebuilding in Africa”

On May 2, the academic and practitioner worlds converged in a sit-down conversation between Séverine Autesserre, professor and chair of Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University and João Honwana, former director of the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs of the UN. They discussed the tensions that often exist between the international peacebuilding agenda set by the United Nations and the local implementation realities. This is hybrid event took place at HFG’s New York office.

• Séverine Autesserre | Barnard College, Columbia University
• João Honwana | Kroc Institute, University of Notre Dame

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Severine Autessere is an award-winning author, peacebuilder, and researcher, as well as a Professor and Chair of Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University. She is the author of The Trouble with the Congo (2010), Peaceland (2014), and The Frontlines of Peace (2021).

João Honwana is a Senior Advisor with the Mediation Program at the Kroc Institute. He was the 2017 Sérgio Vieira de Mello Chair at Seaton Hall University. He is a retired senior official of the United Nations, having served as Representative of the UN Secretary General in Guinea Bissau; Director of the Africa Divisions 1 & 2 in the Department of Political Affairs; Chief of Staff of UNMIS in Sudan; Head of the UN Office in Mali; and Chief of the Conventional Arms Branch at the Department of Disarmament.