The Private Sector and Prevention Agenda: A comparative view of Latin America and Africa

In collaboration with the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation, the BMW Group, and the Social Science Research Council, the Stanley Center will host an interactive, one-day roundtable discussion that will convene experts from the atrocity prevention, private sector, and peacebuilding fields for an exploratory meeting to examine the constructive role the private sector (including national, multinational, and transnational industries) can play in conflict and atrocity prevention, conflict resolution, and sustaining peace.

It has become clear that, without ignoring the state’s responsibility and obligation to respect and protect the rights of its population, private sector stakeholders can actively engage with state institutions and multilateral organizations to assess and mitigate risks, and can jointly work on conflict and atrocity prevention and sustaining peace.

Considering the relationship between the private sector, conflict, violence, and peace, roundtable participants will closely examine the role of the private sector in these fields in Latin America and Africa, to draw lessons-learned and identify a set of best practices that could promote an open discussion between private sector, government counterparts, and multilateral organizations on how to better collaborate and engage for prevention. Through this meeting, participants will help create a conceptual framework to understand the role that private business (domestic and international) has had in both preventing and contributing to conflict in both regions, as well as how the experiences of these regions compare. Expert participants will also discuss relevant case studies from Latin America and Africa that highlight the challenges and opportunities present in each region for private sector engagement in conflict prevention, and which could subsequently provide a series of lessons learned and best practices.

This one-day, closed-door, and off-the-record roundtable is designed to promote a full and frank discussion of the themes identified above. Participants and speakers are invited from the private sector, civil society, academia, and research institutions.