Blog of the John Hume and Tip O'Neill Chair in Peace
As part of the Donegal County Council Tip O’Neill Diaspora Awards, Ulster University hosted a morning session focusing on Peace, Economics and Education. The keynote speaker was Marty Meehan, former Congressman and now President of University of Massachusetts Lowell. The session was Chaired by Professor Hamber.
In 2017 Interpeace and the Kofi Annan Foundation launched a joint project on reconciliation that aims to contribute to the current debates on reconciliation by identifying innovations and lessons that can inspire national and international actors engaged or willing to engage in reconciliation efforts, as well as shedding light on how such efforts can best be supported by international actors. Professor Hamber and Grainne Kelly were contracted by the Kofi Annan Foundation to write a case study for the large research project, as well as contribute to a high-level symposium convened by Mr Kofi Annan aimed at capturing lessons on experiences of reconciliation and provide guidelines on how to design and implement reconciliation processes. Over 2017 Professor Hamber and Grainne Kelly worked on research to inform their report (high level interviews with policymakers). A draft Northern Ireland case study was submitted to the Kofi Annan Foundation in the summer of 2017 and then presented to a high-level symposium in October 2017 in Bogota, Colombia. Kofi Annan opened the symposium on reconciliation in Bogota, Colombia. Grainne Kelly presented her and Brandon Hamber’s research on reconciliation and its challenges in Northern Ireland. You can see more about the event here: http://www.kofiannanfoundation.org/building-lasting-peace/reconciliation-symposium/
Professor Hamber spoke at the 29th Annual Nobel Peace Prize Forum at Augsburg University in Minneapolis. At the Forum he presented the paper “Cultivating Peace: An Exploration of the Role of Nature-Based Activities in Conflict Transformation”. This was a joint paper by Brandon Hamber and Alistair Little and Wilhelm Verwoerd. Little and Verwoerd belong to ‘Beyond Walls’ which organised ‘the Journey through Conflict’ process in the framework of ‘Sustainable Peace Network’.
Yesterday Professor Hamber attended a meeting of the Women, Peace and Security Oversight Group in Dublin discussing Ireland’s National Action Plan. He spoke on issues of masculinity and inclusion in women, peace and security agenda. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Conveney, attended for some of the time [Photos from Irish Foreign Ministry Twitter] #wpsireland
Professor Hamber and Grainne Kelly continued to work on the concept of reconciliation. In 2017 they spoke at two high-level events in Northern Ireland. The first with The Executive Office and staff as they consider the role of reconciliation in the draft Programme for Government and Together: Building a United Community (TBUC). They participants and delivered the keynote address at a further seminar at the “Together: Building a United Community Engagement Forum” on 15 June 2017, with the Executive Office (TEO) and over 160 community practitioners, policymakers and academics that took place at the Girdwood Community Hub.
Professor Hamber hosted the Seminar “Resilience to Conflict – A New, Integrated, Granular Measure” by Dr David Backer (University of Maryland) working with community partners Healing Through Remembering on 25 May 2017. The seminar explored the issue of resilience, an important topic in peacebuilding and international development.The seminar was part of a new formal partnership between Ulster University and the University of Maryland. Watch the seminar below.
In Mid-May 2017 Professor Hamber visited Uganda again as part of the Summer Institute focusing on “Men’s and Women’s Relations in Coercive Settings” (17-19 May 2017) hosted by the Refugee Law Project (RLP) and in War Partnership (CSiW). As part of the event Professor Hamber participated in a 2-day long workshops run by RLP and partners with men who were former combatants/abducted during the Northern Uganda war to learn from their experiences. The second part of the event was a more open conference focusing on women’s and men’s experiences of forced relationships in wartime.
