Event Date: January 31, 2017 - 4:00pm to 6:00pm
Location: FSS 4006, Pavillon des Sciences Sociales. 120, University Pvt.
Presented by CIPS and the Fragile States Research Group
Re-building fragile states poses one of the most significant challenges to the international community. It has been widely recognized that working effectively in fragile states such as Afghanistan and Haiti requires donor countries to adopt a so-called “whole-of-government” or “comprehensive approach,” developed in response to a growing recognition that a more coherent and holistic approach by government departments responsible for security, political, economic, and development affairs was needed to assist fragile states in their post-conflict reconstruction and thus to increase the overall effectiveness. Implementing a WoG or CA approach involves a range of agents: policy analysts, humanitarian workers, diplomats, military personnel, bureaucrats, and politicians. Departmental priorities, organizational cultures, accountability frameworks, access to resources, and shifting political interests are just a subset of the barriers involved with such an undertaking.
In this roundtable, our panelists examine the WoG/CA approach with theoretical, practical, and comparative lenses. How is it set up, how is it implemented, how does it work (including which elements do not work), and what lessons can be learned by comparing Canada’s experience with that of its closest allies? What are the long-term prospects of WoG/CA? Are we better equipped today to help fragile states in their reconstruction efforts than we were a decade ago?
Panellists:
Dr. Jennifer Baechler, Assistant Professor in the Rowe School of Business and Associate Director of the Corporate Residency MBA program at Dalhousie University
Caroline Delany, Director, Peace and Stabilization Operations, Planning and Deployments, Global Affairs Canada
Dr. Michael Rostek, Program Director, Futures Forum, University of Ontario Institute of Technology
Dr. Stephen Baranyi, Associate Professor, School of International Development & Global Studies, uOttawa
Moderator: Dr. Benjamin Zyla, Assistant Professor, School of International Development & Global Studies, uOttawa