Conflict: Cause, Effect and the Art of Making Peace

Lakhdar Brahimi, veteran conflict mediator and former UN diplomat, joins fellow Elder Mary Robinson to discuss peace, conflict and leadership.

In 2019 alone, 54 state-based conflicts and 67 non-state conflicts were recorded around the world – the highest number since 1946. While poor governance and corruption are leading causes of conflict, there are now new drivers of conflict such as climate change, growing inequalities and forced migration. According to the United Nations Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (UNOCHA), almost a quarter of the world’s population live in countries and territories affected by crises and conflicts. The effects of conflict primarily affect poor and marginalized groups and people and one in every 70 people worldwide live in a conflict crisis setting and are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, according to the UN. 

In this episode, hosts Hazami Barmada and Mary Robinson discuss global trends in conflict with veteran UN diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi. What are the causes and consequences of conflict? What emphasis should the international community place on peacebuilding versus peacemaking and peacekeeping? What kind of leadership does the world need to shift current trends in war? How effective are current international systems, including the United Nations, at maintaining peace and curbing the consequences of conflict?

Speaker Biographies:

Lakhdar Brahimi is a veteran conflict mediator and former UN diplomat.

Lakhdar Brahimi joined Algeria’s liberation struggle as a student and later served his country as an ambassador and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1991 to 1993. In 1989 he brokered the Taif Agreement, which ended Lebanon’s civil war. He has represented the United Nations around the world, including in South Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan. Widely respected as a ‘diplomatic troubleshooter’, he also chaired an independent panel in 2000 to review United Nations peacekeeping operations; the resulting ‘Brahimi Report’ made ground-breaking recommendations for change. He was most recently the Joint Special Representative of the United Nations and the League of Arab States for Syria. 

Mary Robinson is former president of Ireland, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Chair of The Elders, an independent group of global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007, who work together for peace, justice and human rights.

Mary Robinson was the first woman President of Ireland (1990–1997) and is a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997–2002). A tireless advocate for justice, she was President of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative from 2002 to 2010. Mary Robinson served as the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region of Africa from 2013-2014, stepping down in July 2014 to take up the post of Special Envoy for Climate Change. She continued in this post until the end of December 2015 which saw the successful conclusion of the COP21 Climate Summit and the historic Paris Agreement on Climate Change. In 2016, Mary Robinson served as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on El Niño and Climate.

Hazami Barmada is the Founder and CEO of the Humanity Lab Foundation and Executive Producer and Host of the Finding Humanity Podcast

Hazami is a social entrepreneur, thought leader, and public affairs and social impact expert recognized by Forbes as an “inspirational agent of change.” She has consulted for many leading global brands including the United Nations, United Nations Foundation, Aspen Institute, and the Royal Court of the Sultanate of Oman. She served as the Coordinator for the United Nations Secretary General's World Humanitarian Summit, an Advisor to the first-ever United Nations Secretary-General's Youth Envoy, as as a member of the UN's SDG Strategy Hub. Hazami has a Masters from Harvard University where she was an Edward S. Mason Fellow in Public Policy and Management. She studied social and public policy at Georgetown University and has a BA from Rhodes College in Anthropology and Sociology.

Finding Humanity is a production of Humanity Lab Foundation and Hueman Group Media. 

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