The African Leadership Ce ntre \;(A LC)\, is pleased to invite you to the ALC \;Re search \;seminar series event titled &ldquo\;< b>Beyond the Usual Suspects: New Voices for Women\ , Peace and Security&rdquo\; happening on Tues day\, 27 October 2026\, from 11:00 AM GM T/14:00 EAT.
\n \nAbstract< /span>
\n \nThis Research seminar examines why the UN Wome n\, Peace and Security agenda must move beyond its established community of policymakers\, gender ex perts and activists&mdash\;the agenda&rsquo\;s &ld quo\;usual suspects&rdquo\;&mdash\;and become a br oader societal movement. \; Over the past 25 y ears\, the WPS agenda has increased recognition of women&rsquo\;s roles in conflict prevention and p eacebuilding\, strengthened accountability for con flict-related sexual violence\, and established ge nder as an important analytical tool in internatio nal peace and security. However\, implementation r emains slow\, top-down and insufficiently connecte d to the people and institutions that influence ev eryday attitudes\, behaviour and security. The lec ture will briefly examine the WPS agenda&rsquo\;s African roots and the substantial role of African states\, regional institutions and civil-society o rganisations in its development.
\n \nIt will then consider why formal mechanisms&mdas h\;including national action plans\, mediation net works\, gender advisers and gender focal points&md ash\;have not yet generated sufficiently broad or transformative change. The central argument is tha t WPS must engage &ldquo\;everyday influencers&rdq uo\;: people whose professional\, cultural\, relig ious or social authority allows them to shape atti tudes and practices at community level. These incl ude teachers\, youth mentors\, police officers\, j udges\, health workers\, artists\, musicians\, soc ial-media influencers\, religious leaders\, tradit ional leaders and customary authorities.
\n \nVenue:
\n \nSpeaker:
\n \nDr Angela Muvumba S
ellströ\;m\, Senior Researcher\,
The Nordic Africa Institute (NAI).
Dr Angela Muvumba Sellströ\;m&rsquo\ ;s work focuses on the determinants of Africa&rsqu o\;s security policies and the gendered dimensions of conflict and peace processes. She is Senior Re searcher at the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI). Wit h over 25 years of experience\, she has led multiy ear projects on sexual violence and armed groups&r squo\; wartime behaviour\, and the role of elected members of the UN Security Council. She is curren tly exploring how global governance and geopolitic al competition shape peace and security dynamics.& nbsp\;
\n \nSUBJECT EXPE RTISE
\n \nUN Security Council\;
non-permanent members of the Security Council\; Af
rican Union (AU)\; women\, peace and security (WPS
) agenda\; conflict-related sexual violence\; Arme
d actors\; conflict mediation\; amnesties.<
/span>
REGIONAL EXPERTISE
\n \nDiscussant:
\n \n< span style="font-family:Aptos\,sans-serif">Vicky Karimi is a human rights lawyer with expertise in Women\, Peace and Security and Gender Justice. She has considerable experience in legal and policy work and has worked on gender equality\, constitution-making\, develo pment of legal frameworks and human rights issues in Kenya\, Liberia\, Northern Uganda\, Sudan\, Sou th Sudan and Sierra Leone among other countries. V icky has a demonstrated commitment to gender equal ity\, good governance\, constitutionalism\, democr acy and human rights. She is an alumnus of the Wom en\, Peace and Security Fellowship of the African Leadership Centre/King&rsquo\;s College\, London ( 2009/2010).
\n \n < p style="text-align:justify\; margin-bottom:11px"> Chair: \n \n\;
DESCRIPTION:\n \n \n \n \n The African Leadership Centre (ALC) \, is pleased to invite you to the ALC Research se minar series event titled “Beyond the Usual Suspec ts: New Voices for Women\, Peace and Security” hap pening on Tuesday\, 27 October 2026\, from 11:00 A M GMT/14:00 EAT.\n \n \n \n Abstract\n \n \n \n Th is Research seminar examines why the UN Women\, Pe ace and Security agenda must move beyond its estab lished community of policymakers\, gender experts and activists—the agenda’s “usual suspects”—and be come a broader societal movement. Over the past 2 5 years\, the WPS agenda has increased recognition of women’s roles in conflict prevention and peace building\, strengthened accountability for conflic t-related sexual violence\, and established gender as an important analytical tool in international peace and security. However\, implementation remai ns slow\, top-down and insufficiently connected to the people and institutions that influence everyd ay attitudes\, behaviour and security. The lecture will briefly examine the WPS agenda’s African roo ts and the substantial role of African states\, re gional institutions and civil-society organisation s in its development. \n \n \n \n It will then con sider why formal mechanisms—including national act ion plans\, mediation networks\, gender advisers a nd gender focal points—have not yet generated suff iciently broad or transformative change. The centr al argument is that WPS must engage “everyday infl uencers”: people whose professional\, cultural\, r eligious or social authority allows them to shape attitudes and practices at community level. These include teachers\, youth mentors\, police officers \, judges\, health workers\, artists\, musicians\, social-media influencers\, religious leaders\, tr aditional leaders and customary authorities.\n \n \n \n Venue:\n \n \n \n Virtual- Zoom\n \n \n \n S peaker: \n \n \n \n Dr Angela Muvumba Sellström\, Senior Researcher\, The Nordic Africa Institute (N AI).\n \n \n \n Dr Angela Muvumba Sellström’s work focuses on the determinants of Africa’s security policies and the gendered dimensions of conflict a nd peace processes. She is Senior Researcher at th e Nordic Africa Institute (NAI). With over 25 year s of experience\, she has led multiyear projects o n sexual violence and armed groups’ wartime behavi our\, and the role of elected members of the UN Se curity Council. She is currently exploring how glo bal governance and geopolitical competition shape peace and security dynamics. \n \n \n \n Dr Muvum ba Sellström is also a Visiting Researcher at Upps ala University’s Department of Peace and Conflict Research\, Vice President of the Board of Director s of the Life and Peace Institute (LPI)\, a Non-re sident Fellow at the International Peace Institute (IPI)\, an Associate Senior Researcher of the Sto ckholm International Peace Research Institute (SIP RI). \n \n \n \n SUBJECT EXPERTISE\n \n \n \n UN Security Council\; non-permanent members of the S ecurity Council\; African Union (AU)\; women\, pea ce and security (WPS) agenda\; conflict-related se xual violence\; Armed actors\; conflict mediation\ ; amnesties.\n \n \n \n REGIONAL EXPERTISE\n \n \n \n Africa\, Great Lakes\; South Africa. \n \n \n \n Discussant: \n \n \n \n Ms. Vicky Karimi\n \n \ n \n Vicky Karimi is a human rights lawyer with ex pertise in Women\, Peace and Security and Gender J ustice. She has considerable experience in legal a nd policy work and has worked on gender equality\, constitution-making\, development of legal framew orks and human rights issues in Kenya\, Liberia\, Northern Uganda\, Sudan\, South Sudan and Sierra L eone among other countries. Vicky has a demonstrat ed commitment to gender equality\, good governance \, constitutionalism\, democracy and human rights. She is an alumnus of the Women\, Peace and Securi ty Fellowship of the African Leadership Centre/Kin g’s College\, London (2009/2010).\n \n \n \n Chair : \n \n \n \n Dr Shuvai Nyoni\, Executive Director \, African Leadership Centre\n \n \n \n \n \n \n CATEGORIES:Conference CALSCALE:GREGORIAN DTSTAMP;TZID=Europe/London:20261027T110000 DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261027T110000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261027T110000 URL:https://alcoffice.systems/civicrm/event/info/?reset=1&id=34 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR