Navigating Conflict: The UN’s Role in Peacebuilding and Peacemaking

Join us for the next edition in the Fireside Peace Chats series with Elizabeth Spehar, Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) for Peacebuilding Support at the United Nations. This edition is titled “Navigating Conflict: The UN’s Role in Peacebuilding and Peacemaking,” following Ms. Spehar’s professional journey, we will explore the opportunities and challenges for the UN in contributing to peacebuilding in different contexts (e.g. Cyprus, Latin America, at HQ level).

While geopolitical shifts and transnational challenge undermine the position of multilateral diplomacy; how can the UN be a viable peacemaker and peacebuilder? How did Ms. Spehar experience her engagement with situations of (post-)conflict while positioned in a large multilateral organization?

About Ms. Spehar

Ms. Elizabeth Spehar has been the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support since 2022. She has over 35 years of experience in international and political affairs, having worked at United Nations Headquarters and in the field leading political, development, peacemaking, peacebuilding and conflict prevention initiatives. Key roles have included serving as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), also serving as Deputy to the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus. Previously, Ms. Spehar was Director of the Policy and Mediation Division in the former Department of Political Affairs (DPA) and Director for the Americas and Europe Division. Before joining the United Nations, Ms. Spehar was a senior official with the Organization of American States (OAS) for more than 12 years, working to promote democracy and develop the organization’s dialogue and conflict resolution instruments.

She speaks English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Croatian.

Moderator

Sever Dzigurski (KPSRL)

More about Fireside Peace Chats

The Fireside Peace Chats series is an event series consisting of informal, intimate chats with peacebuilders who have either lived in for an extended period of time or are from conflict-affected environments. Fireside Peace Chats are a joint initiative of Leiden University College The Hague (LUC), Knowledge Platform for Security and Rule of the Law (KPSRL), and The Hague Humanity Hub (THHH), with an aim to open a space where practice, research and policy in peacebuilding come together in an informal way, through experience of people on the ground. This initiative aims to contribute to a locally informed paradigm shift in liberal peacebuilding.