Interpeace official to speak on peace, justice and reconciliation after violent conflict
Graeme Simpson, director of policy and learning at Interpeace and director of Interpeace USA, will speak on “Easier Said Than Done: a practical reflection on peace, justice and reconciliation in the wake of violent conflict…and how we know if we are succeeding” on Thursday, Feb. 28 at noon in 423 Tobin Hall.Interpeace is a global peace-building organization headquartered in Geneva and working in 18 conflict and immediate post-conflict zones around the world for the past decade and a half.
His talk is part of the Psychology of Peace and Violence Program’s Interdisciplinary Seminar Series on “Best Practices in International Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding” sponsored by the Public Education for Peacebuilding Support Initiative of the United States Institute of Peace.
Simpson has more than two decades of experience working on peacebuilding, transitional justice, human rights promotion and accountability issues in newly emerging democracies, including extensive work on dealing with political violence and human rights abuses, including truth (and reconciliation) commissions, national and international justice institutions and reparations programs. He is a global specialist on peacebuilding strategies, reconciliation and reconstruction in societies emerging from conflict with expertise on violence and violence prevention in societies emerging from conflict, including specific experience in the fields of youth violence, gender violence and violence in industrial conflict.
Simpson has done extensive work on democratization, state-building and transformation of social and state institutions within embryonic democracies, with particular emphasis on building accountable, integrated criminal justice systems.
He has also engaged in the development of victim empowerment and support services, including: setting up and running one of the first free psychological services for victims of violence in South Africa; substantial involvement in building a survivor support movement for victims of human rights violations; and evaluation of the feasibility of a national compensation fund for victims of violence in South Africa; and he has experience working on memorialization interventions including heritage and educational work on public sites of conscience, museum development, oral history programs and symbolic reparation interventions.
Simpson has a law degree and a master’s degree in history from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He was a co-founder and executive director of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in Johannesburg, South Africa, until 2005 when he was appointed director of country programs at the International Center for Transitional Justice (in New York City. In that capacity, he oversaw the organization’s work in more than 25 countries.. Thereafter, he was the director of thematic programs at the ICTJ for two years, and oversaw work on prosecutions, reparations, truth-seeking, security system reform, memorials, gender and a program on peace and justice.
Simpson also co-founded and now serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Transitional Justice published by Oxford University Press. He is a member of the international advisory board of the International Conflict Research Institute in Northern Ireland. He is an adjunct professor and has taught a postgraduate seminar on transitional justice at Columbia Law School since 2006. Simpson has published widely in books and journals covering a wide range of issues.
Simpson has done extensive work on democratization, state-building and transformation of social and state institutions within embryonic democracies, with particular emphasis on building accountable, integrated criminal justice systems.
He has also engaged in the development of victim empowerment and support services, including: setting up and running one of the first free psychological services for victims of violence in South Africa; substantial involvement in building a survivor support movement for victims of human rights violations; and evaluation of the feasibility of a national compensation fund for victims of violence in South Africa; and he has experience working on memorialization interventions including heritage and educational work on public sites of conscience, museum development, oral history programs and symbolic reparation interventions.
Simpson has a law degree and a master’s degree in history from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He was a co-founder and executive director of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in Johannesburg, South Africa, until 2005 when he was appointed director of country programs at the International Center for Transitional Justice (in New York City. In that capacity, he oversaw the organization’s work in more than 25 countries.. Thereafter, he was the director of thematic programs at the ICTJ for two years, and oversaw work on prosecutions, reparations, truth-seeking, security system reform, memorials, gender and a program on peace and justice.
Simpson also co-founded and now serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Transitional Justice published by Oxford University Press. He is a member of the international advisory board of the International Conflict Research Institute in Northern Ireland. He is an adjunct professor and has taught a postgraduate seminar on transitional justice at Columbia Law School since 2006. Simpson has published widely in books and journals covering a wide range of issues.
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Friday, February 15, 2013
