Abbreviation | BPF |
---|---|
Founder | swisspeace |
Founded at | Basel |
Type | International Conference |
Focus | Peacebuilding, Peace Research, Innovation |
Headquarters | Basel |
Official language | English |
Key people | Basel Peace Forum Patron Committee |
Parent organization | swisspeace |
Affiliations | University of Basel, Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences |
Website | https://basel-peace.org/ |
The Basel Peace Forum is a Swiss initiative to further innovation in peacebuilding which is based in Basel, Switzerland. It was founded in 2016 by the Swiss Peace Foundation (swisspeace) and holds annual meetings in January in Basel. It aims to unit representatives from the economy, science, politics and society to reflect on previous endeavors and generate new ideas for peace and peacebuilding.
The forum is hosted and operated by swisspeace. [1] However, it has its own Patron Committee, which serves to incorporate it within society and an advisory board composed by swisspeace members to take on the operative business. It is financially supported by the city of Basel, the Swiss Federal Departement of Foreign Affairs and by contributions from private donors.
The Basel Peace Forum intends to inspire new and unconventional ideas for peacebuilding. It aims to be pioneering in its nature, as it is the first forum in the world to address the subject of peace at the highest level and in an interdisciplinary way.
From January 15 to 16 the first edition of the Basel Peace Forum took place in the Basel Messehalle and was partnered by the European Institute of Peace. It concluded that despite many international efforts, setbacks have called earlier successes of peacebuilding into question. The participants also have called on world leaders to strengthen responsive and responsible leadership for peace within the United Nations, the G8 or the World Economic Forum. [2]
The second edition of the Basel Peace Forum took place from January 14 to 15 in Basel. [3]
The third edition of the Basel Peace Forum was held January 13 to 14 in Basel and focused on the potential of AI and Big Data in mediation, health issues on migration routes, peacebuilding investment and architecture in a post-conflict context. [4]
The fourth edition of the Basel Peace Forum took place from January 9 to 10 in Basel and dealt with the topic of cities in times of conflict and peace. Among the over 50 speakers and experts present on the event were the artists Zehra Doğan, Omaïd Sharifi and Yescka. [5]
The 2021 edition of the Basel Peace Forum focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on peace and conflict in cities around the world. The event, which took place virtually on January 20 to 21 2021, brought together experts and decision-makers from a variety of fields to discuss and explore solutions to the challenges posed by the pandemic.
One of the main themes of the forum was the impact of the pandemic on urban areas, including the potential for increased segmentation, division, and competition, as well as the possibility for greater collaboration and joint endeavors. The event featured a range of panels and keynote speeches from figures in politics, business, civil society, and academia, providing attendees with the opportunity to engage in discussions and workshops on these and other related topics. [6]
The sixth edition of the Basel Peace Forum took place from January 20 to 21st in Basel and virtually. The forum focused on the connections between peace, conflict, and two main themes: the role of cities in fostering peace and the power of emotions.
On the first day of the event, attendees had the opportunity to discuss and explore how cities can address challenges such as climate change, migration, and public health while promoting peace. The second day of the forum focused on the role of emotions in peacebuilding and conflict prevention, including how to navigate between facts and fiction in a digital world, the potential for chatbots to be used in peacebuilding efforts, and the role of journalists in preventing violent conflicts. [7]
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, think tank, and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer Klaus Schwab.
Peacebuilding is an activity that aims to resolve injustice in nonviolent ways and to transform the cultural and structural conditions that generate deadly or destructive conflict. It revolves around developing constructive personal, group, and political relationships across ethnic, religious, class, national, and racial boundaries. The process includes violence prevention; conflict management, resolution, or transformation; and post-conflict reconciliation or trauma healing before, during, and after any given case of violence.
The United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) is a United Nations intergovernmental advisory body of both the General Assembly and the Security Council that supports peace efforts in conflict affected countries. A key addition to the capacity of the international community in the broad peace agenda, it was established in 2005 with the passage of both A/RES/60/180 and S/RES/1645 Mr. Ivan Šimonović (Croatia) is the incumbent chair of PBC.
The United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY Peacebuilders) is a global network of young people and youth organisations active in the field of peacebuilding and conflict transformation. UNOY Peacebuilders was founded in 1989 and is working with youth mostly in violent conflict and post war regions. The core activities of UNOY Peacebuilders are capacity building as well as advocacy and campaigning.
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Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel (Switzerland), Miami Beach (USA), Hong Kong (China) and Paris (France). Art Basel provides a platform for galleries to show and sell their work to buyers, and works in collaboration with host cities' local institutions to help grow and develop art programs.
swisspeace is a practice and research institute located in Basel, Switzerland. It is dedicated to the promotion of effective peacebuilding. Partnerships with local and international actors form the basis of its work. Together with its partner organizations, swisspeace combines expertise and creativity to reduce violence and promote peace in conflict-affected contexts.
The World Justice Project (WJP) is an international civil society organization with the stated mission of "working to advance the rule of law around the world". It produces the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, a quantitative assessment tool that shows the extent to which countries adhere to the rule of law in practice. WJP's major activity is the World Justice Forum, a global gathering at which prominent leaders from all parts of the world and a variety of disciplines come together to articulate how the rule of law affects their disciplines and regions and to develop collaborative actions to strengthen the rule of law.
Environmental peacebuilding examines and advocates environmental protection and cooperation as a factor in creating more peaceful relations. Peacebuilding is both the theory and practice of identifying the conditions that can lead to a sustainable peace between past, current or potential future adversaries. At the most basic level, warfare devastates ecosystems and the livelihoods of those who depend on natural resources, and the anarchy of conflict situations leads to the uncontrolled, destructive exploitation of natural resources. Preventing these impacts allows for an easier movement to a sustainable peace. From a more positive perspective, environmental cooperation can be one of the places where hostile parties can sustain a dialogue, and sustainable development is a prerequisite for a sustainable peace.
PeaceWomen Across the Globe (PWAG), previously known as 1000 PeaceWomen, is an organization based in Bern, Switzerland that aims to increase the visibility of women promoting peace all over the world.
The women in Nagorno-Karabakh are, in general, composed of Armenian women, Azerbaijani (Azeri) women, and other ethnic groupings. This “blend of races” of women in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic resulted because, historically, Nagorno-Karabakh became a part of Azerbaijan after the fall and disintegration of the Soviet Union. Azerbaijan started a policy to change the ethnic composition of the region. Azerbaijanis were invited to move to Artsakh while Armenians were invited to leave. This change can clearly be seen in russian and soviet demographic charts. Artsakh whose population's majority has always been Armenian, was being turned into a majority-Azerbaijani region at the expense of the Armenian population. A campaign of sterilization had also been secretcly launched during the Karabagh Khanate Karabakh Khanate against Armenian women.
European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO) is the independent civil society platform of European NGOs, NGO networks and think tanks which are committed to peacebuilding, and the prevention of violent conflict.
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