The Peace Corner Podcast

In this last episode of season 10, Sofia Biscuola, Co-Director of UNOY, and Peter van Sluijs, Coordinator of the CSPPS and expert on peacebuilding and conflict prevention, join Antonia Rincón Anderson for a conversation about the role of peacebuilding networks and what it means to build collective power in a sector facing profound change. During the conversation they explored what networks actually bring to the peacebuilding ecosystem, from connecting organizations and practitioners to sharing knowledge, supporting members, and creating opportunities for collective advocacy. Sofia and Peter reflected on the origins of their respective networks, the gaps they were created to address, and how their roles have evolved as the peacebuilding landscape continuous to changed. The conversation looks closely at advocacy in practice: how networks engage with policymakers and institutions, whose voices they seek to amplify, and how their approaches differ depending on their members, mandates, and contexts. Finally, Peter and Sofia discuss the growing shift towards regional and locally led peacebuilding. They reflect on the tension between maintaining the benefits of global networks and ensuring that decision-making and ownership are closer to the communities and organizations most affected by conflict. The Peace Corner Podcast is a collaboration between CSPPS and UNOY Peacebuilders. #PeaceCornerPodcast #Peacebuilding #Youth4Peace #PeaceUnderPressure #SustainablePeace #LocalPeacebuilding #CivilSociety #PeaceAndSecurity #Advocacy

What happens when the religion we practice carries the weight of colonial violence, cutting through our ties to each other, to the land, and to our responsibility for one another? In this episode, Eline, a theology student, pastor-to-be, and community organiser for Christian spaces in the Netherlands, reflects on what it means to practice peacebuilding close to home, rather than somewhere else. She speaks to a shift many young peacebuilders recognise, from once imagining the work as something done abroad, to realising it belongs with her own people, in the Netherlands. Drawing on her own reading of sacred texts as radical, activist works, Eline unpacks the difference between theology, what needs to change, and spirituality, what religion still has to offer. She reflects on what it looks like, on a daily basis, to hold a decolonial lens inside a tradition that hasn't caught up yet.

At a time when polarisation is pulling people further apart and misinformation is spreading, how do we learn to think critically, listen to one another, and imagine different ways of living together? We are joined in this episode by Andrés Morales, humanitarian, peacebuilder, and a strong advocate of youth engagement. Drawing on his own experience as a Scout, his research on peace education, and his work with young people and volunteers around the world, he reflects on why peace is not only built through formal processes or institutions, but through the everyday experiences that shape how we relate to one another. Our conversation explores non-formal education as a powerful, yet often overlooked, tool for peacebuilding. Through learning by doing, creating spaces for dialogue and connection, and empowering young people to take action through responsibility, non-formal education can help nurture the skills, relationships, and mindsets that peace is built on. We discuss why non-formal education is increasingly relevant today, how it builds critical thinking skills, whether it can be seen as a form of resistance, and how everyone can practice “learning peace” in our everyday lives. The Peace Corner Podcast is a collaboration between UNOY Peacebuilders and CSPPS.

How can we recognise the resilience of peacebuilders without romanticising the conditions they are forced to survive? In Episode 6 of 'Peace Under Pressure', our host Fama speaks with Ufra Mir, peace- psychologist and Founding Executive Director of the International Center for Peace Psychology, about rethinking care, wellbeing and resilience in peacebuilding. Ufra explores why wellbeing cannot be understood only as an individual issue, but must also account for the political, social and cultural conditions shaping people’s lives. She discusses the risks of placing the responsibility for resilience on those living through oppression and ongoing trauma, and asks us to consider the systems and institutions surrounding them. Drawing on her work in Kashmir, South Asia, Majority World and globally, Ufra also reflects on what decolonising wellbeing can look like in practice, including recognising community-based forms of care, culture, spirituality and creative expression. The conversation also highlights the need for stronger protection mechanisms, resources, recognition and structured wellbeing support for young peacebuilders and activists. The Peace Corner Podcast is a podcast by the Civil Society Platform for Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (CSPPS) and the United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY).

In a time where states are involved in almost 3/4 of all violent events, how and where can civil society peacebuilders make an impact? In this episode, Liz Hume, the Executive Director of the Alliance for Peacebuilding, discusses the rise in state-led violence, including the US–Iran conflict, and its indirect impacts for fragile contexts across the world. She recommends for countries in the Global North to ‘practise what they preach’ on peacebuilding and conflict prevention and to implement these principles, not only in their development cooperation funding, but in their own domestic and foreign policies. Liz talks about how civil society can build peace from the ground up, starting with the community level, citing key lessons from contexts such as the US, Senegal, Hungary, Zimbabwe and Kosovo. She stresses the importance of resilience, optimism, and engaging with tools such as the private sector and the rule of law. In particular, Liz highlights the key role of the public in demanding more from their political leaders. She also speaks of the need for the United Nations and other international institutions to play a more active role in preventing and reducing conflict. The Peace Corner Podcast is a collaboration between UNOY Peacebuilders and CSPPS.