Stockholm Peace and Development Forum

Within the context of the “Project in Support of Prevention, Mitigation and Management of Election Related Conflict and Potential Violence in South Africa” (PEV-RSA), a joint ECES-IEC delegation is participating in the 2018 Stockholm Peace and Development Forum from 7 to 9 of May 2018.  

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) organised and hosted the fifth annual Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development, with a focus on 'The Politics of Peace’.  It aimed to assess how different policies, processes and tools could be used to overcome political obstacles to build and sustain peace in complex environments. The Forum enabled interdisciplinary exchange among thought leaders from the policy, academic and practitioner communities with an aim to influence key policy and research agendas.

The 3-day forum included over 350 high-level policymakers, researchers and practitioners from 80 countries, UN agencies, and international organisations and not for profit foundations.

Present there are Mr. Jose Manuel Pinto Texeira, ECES Vice President, Mr. Fabio Bargiacchi, ECES Executive Director, Ms. Victoria Florinder, Project Coordinator for PEV-RSA, as well as Mr. Granville Abrahams, Senior Manager for Electoral Matters at the IEC, as well as Mr. Glen Mashinini, the Chairperson of the IEC.

ECES organized the panel for Mediation Effectiveness in Preventing Election-Related Violence taking into consideration that electoral processes marred by fraud or perceived irregularities, and the unresolved political grievances they engender, often contribute to conflict in fragile environments. ECES’s session evaluated how and under what circumstances mediation can prevent or manage election-related conflict. Three case studies have been presented by Victoria Florinder: Zanzibar, South Africa, and Madagascar. This was followed by the presentation of a methodology for determining the effectiveness of mediation. The opening discussions, moderated by Fabio Bargiacchi, led to an interesting and active debate with stimulating contributions by electoral stakeholders, academics and civil society representative.