The number of wars in the world has roughly doubled over the course of the last 10 years. Military budgets globally are growing. The number of military bases and operationally deployed nuclear weapons has escalated significantly. 

While an incredible breadth of experience in peacebuilding, preventing violence, and addressing conflicts effectively has developed over the past 30 years, today we see governments cutting back on funding and support to peacebuilding and effective approaches and strategies to dealing with conflicts, and instead escalating armed interventions and war.

In this talk, Kai Brand-Jacobsen will draw upon more than 25 years’ of experience working on the ground in mediation and peace processes and engaging with governments, the United Nations, and organizations around the world, to map out both the scale of the challenges that face us, and a realistic road map and practical actions for how we can move from war and worsening tensions and confrontations, to evidence-based and effective approaches to dealing with conflicts, preventing violence, and building just and sustainable peace.

Kai Frithjof Brand-Jacobsen is widely regarded as one of the leading pioneers, innovators, and practitioners in the field of peacebuilding, prevention of violent conflicts, mediation and peace processes, and addressing challenging and complex crises in the world today. For more than 25 years he has worked across all continents and many of the most challenging war zones and crisis situations at the invitation of the United Nations, governments, international agencies and organizations, and local communities affected by conflict and war. He is a senior trainer for the International Peace and Development Training Centre (IPDTC) and has provided more than 400 training and Executive Leadership Programmes for governments, UN missions and agencies, and organizations in the field.