Kelman Seminar: Negotiating Peace Agreements in the Face of Global Challenges: The Case of Mozambique
The Herbert C. Kelman Seminar on International Conflict Analysis and Resolution presents:
Negotiating Peace Agreements in the Face of Global Challenges:
The Case of Mozambique
A discussion with:
Ambassador Mirko Manzoni
Swiss Ambassador to South Africa, Botswana,
Namibia, Lesotho, Mauritius, and Eswatini
Permanent Representative to SADC
Former Under Secretary General
Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General
for Mozambique
Neha Sanghrajka
Senior Conflict Sensitivity Advisor – UNOPS
Fellow and Senior Advisor at the Geneva Centre
for Security Policy (GCSP)
Thursday, October 10, 2024
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm, ET (US and Canada)
Free and open to the public.
About the talk:
The world is facing simultaneous substantial global challenges while new mediators are emerging and more traditional forms of resolving conflict are experiencing a lack of tangible results. As we see an increased focus on the war in Ukraine and the Middle East, we run the risk of forgotten conflicts worsening and new forms of conflict emerging. This Kelman Lecture will address how mediation and implementation are used in peace agreements negotiated in the 21st century using the 2019 Maputo Accord (Maputo Accord) case for Peace and Reconciliation. The Maputo Accord ended a resurgence of violence between the armed opposition group Renamo (Mozambican National Resistance) and the armed forces of the Government of Mozambique that began in late 2012. Learning from failed attempts at mediation in 2016, mediators Swiss Ambassador and former Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Mozambique, Mirko Manzoni, and Senior Advisor Neha Sanghrajka, will address what made this process work. Their talk will include the importance of listening, creating a bespoke structure and strategic inclusion based on building trust, fostering national ownership, and ensuring that international supporters are managed at every stage to serve and protect the process.
Ambassador Mirko Manzoni is a Swiss Ambassador to South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Mauritius, and Eswatini, a Permanent Representative to SADC, and Former Under Secretary General and Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Mozambique. He has more than 25 years of experience in diplomacy and the humanitarian field, having worked in Iraq, the DRC, Mali, and Kosovo. Manzoni recently concluded his mandate as Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Mozambique (2019-2023). As a lead mediator for and witness to the Maputo Accord for Peace and National Reconciliation (signed in 2019), he oversaw the implementation, disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of 5,221 former combatants. Manzoni negotiated a historical pensions decree for former combatants. He brings extensive experience in providing good offices and engaging with governments and international organizations at the highest level. Since November 2023, he has been Switzerland’s Ambassador to South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Mauritius, and Eswatini and Permanent Representative to SADC. Manzoni holds a Master’s degree in Architecture and an MBA from HEC Lausanne – School of Business.
Neha Sanghrajka is a Senior Conflict Sensitivity Advisor at UNOPS and a Fellow and Senior Advisor at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP). Sanghrajka is a negotiator, mediator, and author with over sixteen years of experience delivering definitive and positive outcomes in high-stakes negotiations, including working for Kofi Annan in Kenya on the 2007 electoral crisis and most recently with the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Mozambique as a mediator in talks which led to a ceasefire, peace agreement and successful DDR of 5,221 former combatants. Sanghrajka has advised senior officials on policy and political strategy in highly complex environments. She holds a Degree in Law and a Master’s Degree in International Relations. Sanghrajka is Kenyan, of Indian descent, and is a founding member of Women Mediators across the Commonwealth. She is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Berghof Foundation and a Fellow and Senior Advisor at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. She has authored several publications, including the book Back from the Brink: The 2008 Mediation Process and Reforms in Kenya.
About the Herbert C. Kelman Seminar Series:
The Herbert C. Kelman Seminar on International Conflict Analysis and Resolution series is sponsored by the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School and The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. The seminar considers ways to strengthen the capacity to prevent, resolve, and transform ethnonational conflicts.
For more information on the Kelman Seminar Series, contact Donna Hicks at dhicks@wcfia.harvard.edu.
Accommodation Statement:
The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School (PON) is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation(s) for persons with disabilities in connection with its programs and activities. Accommodations must not fundamentally alter applicable PON programming and are not retroactive.
Event participants should request accommodations at least two weeks prior to the start date of a program or event, as accommodations may take time to implement. Please note that PON will make every effort to secure services, but these are subject to availability.
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