Category: Event

UN Special Rapporteur visits Northern Ireland

Importantly, the UN Special Rapporteur for Transitional Justice Pablo De Greiff has been visiting Northern Ireland this week (9-18 November) to assess the initiatives undertaken to deal with the legacies of the violations and abuses that took place during the period known as ‘the Troubles’ in Northern Ireland. Professor Hamber was able to meet the Special Rapporteur during the visit he made to various organisations, government bodies and groups. Professor Hamber shared with him his views and research on the issue of dealing with the past in Northern Ireland. Following the visit the UN Special Rapporteur released some preliminary findings. These can be downloaded here.

Photo with UN Special Rapporteur for Transitional Justice Pablo De Greiff who is visiting Northern Ireland. Photo with Transitional Justice Institute, Northern Ireland members Louise Mallinder, Brandon Hamber (INCORE and TJI), Pablo De Greiff, Fionnuala Ni Aolain and Rory O'Connell.
Photo with UN Special Rapporteur for Transitional Justice Pablo De Greiff who is visiting Northern Ireland. Photo with Transitional Justice Institute, Northern Ireland members Louise Mallinder, Brandon Hamber (INCORE and TJI), Pablo De Greiff, Fionnuala Ni Aolain and Rory O’Connell.

 

Policy Dialogue on Non-recurrence

The Chair attended a high level policy dialogue in Sweden this week, 14-15 October 2015. The mbh2wyxvh_400x400eeting focused  on the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence latest report. The report focuses specifically on the issue of non-recurrence. The Special Rapporteur draws attention to different interventions that can impact of non-recurrence including the role of civil society, the spheres of culture and personal dispositions, as well as the role education reform, arts and culture, and trauma counselling. Professor Hamber focused his interventions and presentation on “Cultural Interventions in Divided Societies: Lessons from Northern Ireland”.

Engagement with Colombian Peace Process

Streets of Bogota
Streets of Bogota

In early September the Chair, Professor Brandon Hamber, undertook a visit to Colombia (17-24 September 2015).

At the time, the Colombian government and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) were in the midst of negotiations to end a conflict that has spanned some 50 years.

The conflict has seen the death of some 250,000 people (80% civilians) and the displacement of 6.5 million people.  Formal talks began in November 2012 in the Cuban capital, Havana. Several accords have been reached and the final agreement is set to be signed in 2016.

Meeting with Mayor Fredys Miguel Socarras Reales and giving him a gift of the Tip O'Neill Lectures book
With Mayor Reales presenting a gift of the Tip O’Neill lectures book

Professor Hamber was invited to Colombia at the request of the City of Valledupar, one of the cities (some 1.5 hours north east of Bogota by plane) that was most affected by conflict. Under the leadership of Mayor Fredys Miguel Socarras Reales, a series of conferences, presentations, and workshops is being organized, which will focus on preparing the regional implementation of the peace.

Professor Hamber addressed a range of community members (about 150-200) over a two-day process to discuss comparative peace lessons at a community level. He also met with the Mayor. After the community engagements he spent some days in Bogota meeting some key players in the peace process and sharing lessons with them and different civil society members.

The trip ended with a presentation to about 200-300 training lawyers at Libre University in Bogotá as part of conference on Reconciliation, Civil Law and Commissions. Again the focus was on comparative lessons from Northern Ireland.

Participants in the public meeting and also Dr Arun Gandhi who spoke at the event
Participants in the public meeting and also Dr Arun Gandhi who spoke at the event

Lecture in Dublin

irish_association_logoOn returning from Washington DC, Professor Hamber spoke on 12 September 2015 at the Irish Association for Economic, Cultural and Social Relations, Stephen’s Green-Hibernian Club in Dublin on the topic of “Transforming Societies After Political Violence”. The lecture focused on the challenges of building peace in societies emerging from conflict and emphasised the importance of creating context-driven approaches to political and social trauma. The lecture also focused on how dealing with the past remains a key aspect of the Northern Ireland peace process that still needs to be grappled with.

The Hume O’Neill Chair

Professor Brandon Hamber was today officially appointed as the John Hume and Thomas P. O’Neill Chair of Peace. He began work on 1 September 2015.

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Professor Brandon Hamber is John Hume and Thomas P O’ Neill Chair in Peace based at the International Conflict Research Institute (INCORE) at Ulster University. He is a Visting Professor at the African Centre for Migration and Society at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He is also a member of the Transitional Justice Institute at Ulster University.

He was born in South Africa and currently lives in Belfast.  In South Africa he trained as a Clinical Psychologist at the University of the Witwatersrand and holds a Ph.D. from the Ulster University. Prior to moving to Northern Ireland, he co-ordinated the Transition and Reconciliation Unit at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in Johannesburg.  He co-ordinated the Centre’s work focusing on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

He was a visiting Tip O Neill Fellow in Peace Studies at INCORE in 1997/1998.  He was also the recipient of the Rockefeller Resident Fellowship (1996) and was a visiting fellow at the Centre for the Study of Violence in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  In 2010-2013 he was a Mellon Distinguished Visiting Scholar at University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He has been awarded The Paul Harris medal for contributions to peace by Rotary (2013), and was listed as one of the Top 100: The most influential people in armed violence reduction by the Action on Armed Violence Network (2013/2014).

He has consulted to a range of community groups, policy initiatives and government bodies in Northern Ireland and South Africa.  He has undertaken consulting and research work, and participated in various peace and reconciliation initiatives in Liberia, Mozambique, Bosnia, the Basque Country and Sierra Leone, among others.

He has lectured and taught widely, including, on the International Trauma Studies Programme at Colombia University, New York and the Post-War and Reconstruction Unit, University of York; and at the University of Ulster.

He has written extensively on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the psychological implications of political violence, and the process of transition, masculinity and reconciliation in South Africa, Northern Ireland and abroad.

He has published some 25 book chapters and 30 scientific journal articles, and 4 books. His latest book Transforming Societies after Political Violence: Truth, Reconciliation, and Mental Health was published by Springer in 2009, and published in 2011 in Spanish by Ediciones Bellaterra and entitled Transformar las sociedades después de la violencia política. Verdad, reconciliación y salud mental.

In 2015, he published Psychosocial Perspectives on Peacebuilding (Editors: Hamber, Brandon, Gallagher, Elizabeth)and Healing and Change in the City of Gold: Case Studies of Coping and Support in Johannesburg (Editors: Ingrid Palmary, Brandon Hamber, Lorena Núñez). Both published by Springer.

He is also represented on a range of Boards and editorial committees:

Ulster Hosts President Clinton and Launches New Book

Ulster University hosted President Clinton’s 5th visit to Derry~Londonderry where he honoured John Hume’s outstanding contributions to peacebuilding, helped to launch ‘Peacemaking in the Twenty-first Century’ edited by John Hume, Tom G. Fraser and Leonie Murray and celebrated the University’s success in raising the £3m required to establish the John Hume and Thomas P. O’Neill Chair in Peace.

For the full photo gallery click here.