Activity reports are finalized every two years, summarizing the previous two-year workstreams. The 2021 Activity Report of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform summarizes the Platform's activities and concludes its 2020-2021 Programme. The report is structured along the three work streams of the programme, which are:
- Convening and incubation;
- Network and community management; and
- Geneva Peace Week.
The report also highlights key items, including major leadership transitions, substantive achievements, and new innovations.
Leadership Transitions
Within the Platform itself, many changes and staff transitions took place during the first quarter of 2021. Most notably, the former Executive Coordinator, Achim Wennmann, began transitioning out of his role, while Rainer Gude progressively replaced him. Moreover, the former Geneva Peace Week Focal Point, Claudia Seymour, also left the Platform at the end of December 2020 to focus on her research and teaching. The core team, Annika Erickson-Pearson (Community Management) and Danson Gichini (Geneva Peace Week) remained with the Platform throughout the year.
In early 2022, Dr. Annyssa Bellal replaced Rainer Gude as the Platform's Executive Coordinator, concluding the 18-month long leadership transition period and remaining strategic positioning exploration.
Activities
GPW21: Geneva Peace Week (GPW) continued a predominantly online forum in 2021, with a select few sessions that took place in a hybrid format. GPW21 consisted of 30 live sessions, 30 Digital Series productions and involved 2,800 participants from over 150 countries. GPW also generated over 1200 podcast listens and 4,900 video streams of the GPW21 Digital Series productions.
Community management: After a year of successful pilot testing in 2020, GPP advanced three community management processes in 2021 including the Geneva Dialogue on Environment, Climate, Conflict and Peace (ECCP), Beyond securitization, and Technology and peace.
Digital adaptations: Adaptation to COVID-19 and hybrid meeting formats has enhanced the digital footprint of GPW21, both in terms of its convening and network administration capacities, as well as working with digital products during GPW, including podcasts and videos. GPW21 involved the continuation of important work with private sector partner – Aventri – which enabled GPW’s new hybrid format and enhanced interaction with digital media.
Convenings: GPP also advanced networking between professionals and academics working on peace and security dynamics in China (Beijing-Geneva Digital Briefings on Sustaining Peace and Preventive Diplomacy), and it facilitated informal exchanges between peace forum organizers to nurture exchange and collaboration between them (Peace Forum Network).
Events: The Platform convened dozens of events throughout 2021, both in-person and online. It continued to contribute to the annual Geneva PeaceTalks, hosted its annual retreat for the first time in an online format, and brought together various professionals across the Geneva ecosystem and beyond.
Read the 2021 Report and browse the previous years' reports below:
Activity Reports
