Join us for one or both of two online seminars exploring transformative justice and peace on the African continent. Please register here

Transformative Justice and Peace in Africa

Session 2: Monday 4 September, 7:30 – 8:30 pm

Power and Influence: Civil Society, the African Union and Peace with Justice on the African Continent

Panel:

• Dr Wendy Lambourne, University of Sydney (facilitator)
• Daniel Gobena, Peace for Ethiopia Now
• Simeon Gready, University of Melbourne

Participants at this event on zoom will have a chance to ask questions of the panelists and discuss the implications for diaspora community influence and involvement in transitional justice processes and the quest for peace in their countries of origin. We welcome contributions to the discussion from anyone interested in peace with justice on the African continent.

Speakers:

Pictured left to right: Wendy Lambourne, Daniel Gobena, Simeon Gready

Dr Wendy Lambourne is Senior Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies, Discipline of Sociology and Criminology, University of Sydney. Her research and writing in transitional justice over the past 20+ years has focused on a critique of the dominant legal and political Western paradigms, models and concepts being imposed on local communities around the world without sufficient regard for other sociocultural and disciplinary perspectives on what might be needed for building peace and reconciliation. Drawing on her experiences conducting fieldwork in a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia/Pacific, Dr Lambourne proposed a model of transformative justice going beyond legal justice to incorporate political and socioeconomic justice, along with psychosocial healing and relational transformation to support the structural transformation required for peacebuilding. She has contributed as a member of the expert network on Psychosocial Peacebuilding led by the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation in Cape Town, South Africa, and the WUN Resilient Peace network led by the University of Bristol. She is also an associate of the Burundian non-government organisation, Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Services (THARS), and an invited participant in the Ethiopian diaspora community’s Peace for Ethiopia Now Initiative.

Daniel Gobena is a man of diverse origins, having been born in Ethiopia, raised in New Zealand and migrated to Australia in 2012. He is happily married with two daughters. At present, he serves as a manager at the Mount Druitt Ethnic Communities Agency (MECA) in Western Sydney, where he assists in resettling new Australians from refugee backgrounds. Additionally, Daniel is a co-founder and secretary of the African Australian Advocacy Centre (AAAC). Prior to his work in the social sector, he worked as an engineer in Australia and New Zealand. Moreover, Daniel is actively engaged in leading an initiative called ‘Peace for Ethiopia Now’ which aims to contribute to peace development in Ethiopia following the recent civil war.

Simeon Gready is a South African PhD Candidate in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. His current research focuses on the role of the African Union in the transitional justice initiatives of its Member States, through the lens of the African Union Transitional Justice Policy (AUTJP). More broadly, he focuses on the potential for a ‘transformative’ transitional justice framework, with incorporation of the pursuit of structural socio-economic reform, holding a particular focus on Tunisia, South Africa and The Gambia. He has practitioner experience in developing and delivering workshops on human rights and security for at-risk human rights defenders and has also worked in the humanitarian aid sector in response to the current policy crisis on refugees in Europe, partly in the capacity of conducting Psychological First Aid training for humanitarian professionals.