Geneva - Journal Letter - November 2010
Dear Friends,
It’s hard to believe we’re already writing our first journal letters! It feels like just yesterday that Carolan and I were at Woodbrooke with our fellow peace workers speaking about the challenges and opportunities of the coming year. Yet, here we are, two and half months in, and already I feel settled and at home in Geneva. It has definitely helped that Quaker House is a wonderful office to work in. Not only are the building and garden truly beautiful, but the staff here have been very welcoming and I felt part of the team from the word go. Plus, I’m fairly certain I won’t work in many more offices that have a tree-swing in the garden! I have also inherited a pet squirrel named Basil that comes and sits on my window sill eating berries. Sylviane, our office manager, and I have begun leaving nuts out occasionally as I fear he won’t have enough for his upcoming nap of epic proportions! As odd as it sounds, coming to work every day is actually a very enjoyable experience.
Since arriving I’ve been getting to know my way around the United Nations and the Peace and Disarmament community here in Geneva. Through events coordinated by QUNO and its partner organisations, I have met a variety of interesting people from a collection of NGOs, Government Missions and UN bodies. My first experience of space security came at an event discussing a proposed code of conduct to control issues of concern such as space debris and kinetic energy satellite test beams. Thankfully, I now understand ‘Star Wars’ as more than just a movie title! Another highlight was a workshop I attended in Bern coordinated by fellow Friend Diana Francis. Entitled ‘From Analysis to Strategy’, we were presented with a number of conflict analysis and project planning tools, which we had the opportunity to practise in small groups. Most of the participants had extensive experience in the field and I felt this further enhanced my learning.
The Geneva Peacebuilding Platform held its 2010 Annual Forum earlier this month. The title this year was ‘Innovating to Build Lasting Peace: Is Interim Stabilisation a Promising Approach to Effective Peacebuilding?’. Interim Stabilisation is about readying post-conflict environments for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) and Security Sector Reform (SSR) programmes. Often states emerging from conflict are not socially, economically or politically ripe for such programmes. Theoretically, interim stabilisation buys time to allow such conditions to improve, increasing the effectiveness of the following DDR and SSR programmes. The day itself involved an interesting array of panellists representing NGOs, UN bodies and governments. The Platform creates a space for policy makers and practitioners to exchange ideas on peacebuilding and it is inspiring to see professionals from the various sectors come together to discuss key issues in building lasting peace.
Something which has struck me on a number of occasions is the disregard for academia among policy makers and practitioners. Academics often present the ideal, and while conditions do not always allow for the implementation of such ideals, it is a great shame to simply dismiss debates over concepts and theoretical implications as a waste of time. I dare say many of the failures among today’s peacebuilding initiatives have come as a result of refusing to take the time to truly understand and analyse the originally prescribed strategy for intervention. QUNO, along with its partners in the Geneva Peacebulding Platform, Geneva Forum and Geneva Declaration is working to try to bridge this gap by coordinating seminars and events which bring together academics, practitioners and policy makers to achieve a more holistic understanding of peacebuilding and disarmament issues.
Outside of work, I’ve been enjoying the Genevois social life. Carolan and I have joined a pub quiz team on Monday nights, at which I’ve discovered my general knowledge skills are seriously lacking, and on Wednesdays I’m attempting to improve my French, though progress is slow. We’ve attended a variety of events on the weekends, seizing opportunities to do something a little different whenever we can. On the advice of our predecessors, we went to a festival at the beginning of October called ‘La Descente des Vaches’ when the farmers bring their herds down from the mountains for the winter dressed in beautiful flower head-dresses and big cow bells! It was a fantastic introduction to Swiss culture and the atmosphere was wonderful. Last week, I got the train out to a wine festival in Peissy where you could try wine from seven caves including this year’s new harvest and the day finished with a spectacular fireworks display. Among other activities I’ve been to the Callier chocolate factory, had my first taste of fondue in the famous village of Gruyere, visited some museums and taken trips to a few towns around Lake Geneva. As someone who absolutely loves Christmas and never thinks it’s too early to start celebrating, I’m very excited about the upcoming Christmas markets and plan to get to as many as I can. The autumn has been beautiful and I have no doubt that Switzerland will be even prettier in the winter. I’ve never skied before but I hope to do plenty of snowshoeing in the Alps and get above the clouds into the sunshine throughout the season!
In Friendship,
Aoife Reaper-Reynolds
QUNO Programme Assistant
Novemer 2010
