DATE / TIME:

2015•06•04    09:00 - 18:00

Location:

New York

On 4 June 2015, the United Nations University, in concert with the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) section of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), will convene a conference with senior experts on Demobilizing and Disengaging Violent Extremists: Practical Lessons from Somalia at UN Headquarters.

About the Project

The event is the culmination of a year-long collaborative research initiative with DPKO’s DDR Section, made possible by generous support from the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, that seeks to identify and analyze field-level innovations in DDR considered in complex conflict environments, with a particular focus on Somalia. This project was undertaken with the ultimate goal of building momentum towards a policy framework that would allow the UN to play a constructive role in demobilizing and disengaging violent extremists both in peace operations contexts and other contexts.

About the Conference

The 4 June senior experts meeting will also serve as the launch of the UNU-CPR publication, UN DDR in an Era of Violent Extremism: Is It Fit for Purpose? The publication is a collection of essays by senior experts that contemplate the future of principled US DDR programming and support in conflict scenarios where there is no peace to keep, forcing DDR programming to operate in the shadow of offensive operations, and there is a proliferation of radicalized combatants, many of them suspected members of listed terrorist groups.

Speakers include:

H.E. Ms. Sylvie Lucas, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Luxembourg to the United Nations;

Mr. Dmitry Titov, Assistant Secretary-General, Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Office of the Rule of Law and Security Institutions;

Major General Adrian Foster MBE, UN Deputy Military Advisor;

Mr. Abdiaziz Shire, Director of Counterterrorism and Maritime Security, Ministry of Internal Security, Somalia;

Dr. Vanda Felbab-Brown, Senior Policy Expert, Brookings Institution;

Ms. Naureen Fink, Research Director, Global Center on Cooperative Security;

Dr. Bruce Oswald CMC, Director of the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law, University of Melbourne;

Dr. Desmond Molloy, Programme Director, Nippon Foundation, Myanmar Liaison Office;

Mr. Simon Yazgi, Section Chief, Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration Section (DDRS), DPKO;

Mr. Ernesto Granillo, Advisor and Spokesperson, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC);

Ms. Naz Modirzadeh, Director, Harvard Law School Program on International Law and Armed Conflict (PILAC); and

Mr. Ibrahim Sesay, Child Protection Specialist in Emergencies, UNICEF.

See the related files tab for a draft meeting agenda.