‘We need to put civilians at the centre of peacebuilding’

Building peace in times of war goes beyond shaking hands, says Renée Larivière, a senior official at Interpeace. As the Geneva Peace Talks begin on September 19, she talks to SWI swissinfo.ch about what it means to be a peacebuilder in an increasingly unstable world. “Peace cannot be taken for granted”, says Renée Larivière, Senior Director of Programme Management at Interpeace, an NGO which focusses on fostering peace. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), there are around 120 armed conflicts around the world today, compared to 20 just 30 years ago. This escalation in violence raises critical questions about the feasibility of achieving and maintaining peace in such a tense geopolitical landscape. The 22nd edition of the Geneva Peace Talks, which begins on September 19, will explore the future of peacebuilding amidst these growing challenges. Interpeace, based in Geneva, works around the globe to embed peace in societies broken by war. Larivière talks ...