Strengthening What Remains: Nurturing Peace in Post-War Environments
Symposium Overview
Symposium Theme
Strengthening What Remains
Our experiences affirm the connection between poverty, hunger, and conflict, and support the growing consensus that conflict transformation and peace-building demands the reformation of structures that perpetuate circumstances of poverty and desperation. While poverty and hunger do not directly lead to conflict and war, research concludes that situations of economic inequality coupled with political exclusion predispose a country or region to violent conflict. Conflict, especially intra-national conflict, is costly in both human and economic losses, thus “trapping” the nation in poverty and hunger. Through our symposium plenary and other events, we sought to demonstrate how development initiatives that bring together agriculture, economic development, and political advocacy play an integral role in preventing further conflict, reducing poverty, and addressing hunger.
Mr. Jonathan Greenham, Program Director of USAID's Incentives Driving Economic Alternatives in Afghanistan, delivered the plenary address entitled, “Negotiating Post-Conflict Complexities: Balancing the Tyranny of the Present versus Long-Term Transformation.” The plenary concluded with a panel between Mr. Greenham and fellow guest speakers, Dr. Alfonso Wieland, Executive Director of Paz y Esperanza (Peace and Hope International) in Lima, Peru and Dr. Samm Musoke, a development policy and planning economist who has worked with the United Nations in several Southeast Asian countries. Dr. Alfonso Wieland gave the Chapel Convocation.