Interpeace, the Permanent Missions of Switzerland and the Netherlands to the United Nations at Geneva, in association with the Geneva International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH), will co-host a Human Rights Council Side Event: A collective approach to safeguarding peace and human rights in South Sudan, with the exceptional presence of Mr. Forest Whitaker.

Friday March 8 2019, at the Palais des Nations, Room XXI / 16:30 - 18:00

Please note: A UNOG badge is required to attend the event  

• Ms. Pascale Baeriswyl, State Secretary of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland
• H.E. Ms. Monique van Daalen, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations
• Mr. Forest Whitaker, UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation and founder of the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative (WDPI)
• Ms. Magdalena Nandenge, South-Sudanese Peacebuilder, Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative (WPDI)
• Mr. Daniel Endres, Director of the Division of Resilience and Solutions, UNHCR
• Moderator: Mr. Scott Weber, President of Interpeace

South Sudan made the news in September 2018, when its main warring parties reached a deal to put an end to violence that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, displaced a third of its population and generated enormous social and psychological trauma. Yet despite the scale of the suffering – much of which has continued since the deal – South Sudan has been crowded out of the international agenda by conflicts elsewhere.

The signing of a peace agreement is really the start of the process of building peace, not the end. The challenges in South Sudan are multifaceted, and the success of any measures implemented as part of the peace agreement is contingent on redressing the major deficit of trust among different parts of the fractured society, encouraging respect for human rights, and delivering a permanent constitution that represents the needs and ambitions of the society as a whole.

• To emphasize the multi-dimensional nature of the South Sudanese conflict context and the need for a “collective impact” approach that ensures that peacebuilding, human rights and humanitarian activities reinforce each other’s outcomes for the South Sudanese population;
• To discuss how local capacities and solutions can be identified, harnessed and enhanced to prevent further violence. This includes in particular solutions to empower youth and women for them to play a leading role in shaping bottom up peace and development initiatives.