Constructing Peace students from the seminar taught by Frances Younger on approaches to peacebuilding welcomed two guest speakers this semester via video call, who provided the class with insights into peacebuilding from their unique global perspectives.

Alfie Pannell, a freelance Latin America and Caribbean journalist based in Colombia, spoke to the class in October about the obstacles to peacebuilding in Colombia related to recent USAID cuts and the limitations of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) when addressing crimes committed during the internal armed conflict.

In November, Eva Hansen spoke about her work as a Climate, Peace and Security Specialist at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Hansen presented on conflict sensitivity and emphasized the importance of assessing development interventions to avoid amplifying pre-existing tensions in the communities they aim to support.

Following Pannell and Hansen’s lectures, students engaged in an extensive Q&A session to understand how the speakers’ roles contribute to the peacebuilding process and the challenges that remain within this field. They then wrote reflections on the discussions and how they contributed to their understanding of peacebuilding.