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The pandemic generated by Covid-19 presents new challenges to peacekeeping and global development, which calls for preparation. Invited by the Swedish Embassy in Buenos Aires, CADAL joined, for the first time, the debates proposed by the Stockholm Virtual Forum on Peace and Development.
The 2020 edition was held from 11 to 22 May, with the theme "Sustaining peace in the time of COVID-19". Representing CADAL, Victoria Maineri, Coordinator of Institutional Relations participated.
The activity was co-sponsored by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with partner organizations. Its organizers have considered this edition -which was carried out entirely via streaming- as the most global and convivial of all. It counted with the participation of 3,500 actors and organizations from different parts of the world, while 1,600 people connected through the YouTube channel.
The initiative began in 2014, with a small series of workshops in the Swedish capital. Today it has become a global event held annually, over several days. It aims to provide a space to discuss international policy and to promote dialogue that will strengthen development and peace.
With the local context as a starting point, the Forum works with its network of partners to bring together governments, think tanks, civil society and multilateral organizations in roundtable meetings. It combines high-profile public sessions among decision-makers and opinion leaders from around the world, with closed discussions among officials, civil society and experts.
The Forum recognizes the emerging challenges that the international community must address. The objective is to explore the best alternatives through an open exchange. It states that global collective action must be the solution to climate change, food insecurity, and to pandemics as well. This is particularly necessary in contexts of conflict and fragile States.
This session addressed issues of great relevance for CADAL's work. Among others, the impact that the pandemic generated by Covid-19 has on democracies, State security and human rights were explored. The strengthening of civil society in different contexts, democratic governance in crisis conditions and political missions by regional organizations were also discussed.
Given the current circumstances, this time the Forum changed its format. It went from being a unique, face-to-face event to a series of virtual debates, thanks to the technology that enables communities to meet.
