Experts to keep the peace at UQ

A conference hosted by UQ’s Social Research Centre is set to bring together the world’s leaders in the field of international peacekeeping.

To be held on July 22 and July 23 in Brisbane, the conference, themed “International Peace and Capacity Building Operations”, will explore civilian policing operations.

Project Manager Dr Bryn Hughes said this was the first workshop of its kind to be held in Brisbane.

“The purpose of the workshop is to bring together scholars and practitioners alike to explore the issues pertaining to peace and capacity building operations, with particular involvement from Australian perspectives,” Dr Hughes said.

“The intention is to generate policy insights.

“Issues pertaining to multi-dimensional peace and capacity building operations will be discussed.

“This includes critical issues in the post-conflict environment; the rule of law and its linkages from policing to the other sector components; critical issues and approaches to monitoring and evaluating mission success; and the role of state providers in these endeavours.”

The conference has attracted some of the top players in the field, including Stephen White, Head of Mission for the European Union’s Rule of Law Mission in Iraq; Luis Carrilho, the UN Police Commissioner in Timor Leste; and Commander Grant Edwards, Head of AFP Mission in Timor Leste.

“There are scholars coming from the UK, USA, and all parts of Australia,” Dr Hughes said.

“There are practitioners coming from across the South Pacific, most notably Timor Leste, in addition to other parts of the globe, such as Iraq.

“Attendees include AusAID, Oxfam, Australian Federal Police, and a number of other NGOs.”

Hosted by the UQ Social Research Centre, within the Institute for Social Science Research, the conference is also supported by the ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security at Griffith University, the Australian Federal Police and Flinders University.

Media: Dr Hughes (07 3346 7630, 07 3346 9343, b.hughes@uq.edu.au) or Penny Robinson at UQ Communications (07 3365 9723, penny.robinson@uq.edu.au)