For countries emerging from violent conflict, transitions from peacekeeping to peacebuilding efforts often represent critical junctures. What challenges do actors face when planning for such handover periods? What opportunities does this process provide? And what does it look like in practice in the Democratic Republic of the Congo? Based on interviews with experts and senior policymakers, this two-part podcast explores the major pitfalls on the road to lasting peace and takeaways from the process.
Part 1: Lessons Learned and the Importance of International Coordination
In episode one, we dissect the anatomy of transitions from peacekeeping to peacebuilding and dig deeper into why this topic has garnered more and more attention in recent years. We take stock of key lessons learned from past transitions in Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, and Haiti and discuss three typical challenges that international actors and donors have faced in these situations: maintaining organizational coherence and external partnerships; crafting joint strategies and analyses; and avoiding gaps in financing.
In this episode, our host Marie Wagner is joined by five expert guests:
- Roselyn Akombe, co-chair of the UN Transitions Project;
- Franck Bousquet, senior director of the World Bank’s Fragility, Conflict, & Violence Group;
- Daniel Forti, senior policy analyst at the International Peace Institute (IPI);
- Hilde Hardeman, head of the Foreign Policy Instruments Service of the European Commission;
- Rüdiger König, director general for Crisis Prevention, Stabilization, Post-Conflict Peacebuilding and Humanitarian Assistance in the German Federal Foreign Office.
