Thank you to everyone who joined us for the insightful webinar, "Rethinking the Future of the Peace, Development, and Humanitarian Sector," co-hosted by SeeD in collaboration with the University of Warwick and the University of Cyprus on March 26th.
The peace and development sectors are experiencing seismic shifts and systemic shocks. Many organisations and beneficiaries face difficult choices in response to shrinking aid and shifting donor landscapes. This critical juncture calls for reflection, renewal, and reimagining—not just to survive but to evolve into a more resilient, collaborative, and inclusive ecosystem.
Over 50 practitioners, policymakers, and academics engaged in reflective dialogue focused on three key areas:
- Analyzing Impact & Interpreting Direction: Assessing how diminishing aid affects conflict dynamics, humanitarian responses, institutional trust, and communities' vulnerabilities, including increased marginalisation and hate speech.
- Exploring Alternatives and Responses: Identifying opportunities for adaptation, challenging outdated assumptions, and embracing locally-driven solutions, innovative financing such as peace bonds and creative taxation models.
- Collaborating for Solutions and Action: Highlighting innovative approaches to financing, new models for alliances and partnerships, inward and forward looking options for greater accountability and resource distribution while balancing flexibility and efficiency needs.
We are grateful to our expert panelists—Professor Neophytos Loizides, Dr. Theo Hollander (PhD), ESSAN EMILE AKO, Dr. Jared Ordway, and Professor Briony Jones—for their insightful reflections. Special thanks to our moderators, Dr. Ilke Dagli-Hustings and Alexander Guest, and to Dr. Alexandros Lordos for his thoughtful closing remarks.
This conversation has affirmed the power of collective wisdom, unlearning, and relearning as we build forward together.
Statement by SeeD Regarding Our X (Twitter) Profile:
Effective February 1, 2025, SeeD will no longer post content on the social media platform "X". This decision comes after careful consideration of the platform's current state and its alignment with our organizational values of promoting evidence-based dialogue, diversity, and inclusion.
This decision is driven by significant changes to the platform’s policies and culture, including the amplification of divisive content, diminishing transparency, and practices that undermine fact-based communication. We are particularly concerned about the impact of these changes on democratic discourse, journalistic independence, and the ability to foster meaningful engagement with our audience.
As an organization dedicated to sustainable peace and development, SeeD cannot condone or remain active on a platform that increasingly conflicts with our mission and the principles we uphold. While our official accounts will remain visible to prevent misuse, no new content will be shared.
We will continue to engaging with our partners, stakeholders and allies through other platforms and channels. We thank you for your ongoing support in our efforts to developing evidence-based participatory solutions towards a more peaceful, cohesive and equitable future.
To keep up with us, please sign up to our newsletter by emailing us at our email below or find us on other social medias:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeeD.IntlHQ
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/.../centre-for-sustainable.../
Website: https://seedsofpeace.eu/
For inquiries, please reach out to us at info@seedsofpeace.eu
Our BLM Solidarity Statement
SeeD’s mission is to leverage evidence to identify pathways for fostering social cohesion and contribute to the global debate on conflict prevention. We value diversity as a vehicle for protecting human rights and for building resilient societal structures which consolidate peace. Our values are aligned with the goals of the Black Lives Matter movement, and we fully embrace BLM’s commitment to eradicating racial discrimination and ensure human dignity for black people worldwide. For several years, we have worked to bring understanding to the root causes of conflict, which all too often gravitates around structural inequalities and lack of inter-group harmony.
Our values echo the preamble of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1969), where governments declared that “any doctrine of superiority based on racial differentiation is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust and dangerous, and that there is no justification for racial discrimination, in theory or in practice, anywhere”. The BLM’s mission speaks strongly to our peacebuilding mandate and we stand in solidarity with people and organisations working to eradicate race-based supremacist ideologies.
Modern scientific research by biologists, anthropologists and geneticists demonstrate the non-existence of biological races among humans, and during the 200,000-year history of modern humans there has only ever been a “single lineage sharing a common long-term evolutionary fate”.[1] Although biological races do not exist, race and racism remain a reality in human cultures and ingrained in social constructs which give voice to cultural realities. In SeeD, we try to understand these potential racial dimensions by investigating inter-group relations.
SeeD’s research methodology seeks to understand what perpetuates racial bias and intolerance and how these can drive communities to conflict. We provide evidenced policy recommendations for how these threats to social cohesion can be addressed and resolved constructively. Our work has shown that all too often societies, characterised by inequality, usually have an inclusion deficit which is historically structured and deliberately designed to marginalise specific out-groups. We are convinced that countries need to fully celebrate the contribution made by people from ethnic and racial minority groups and ensure that their voices and experiences are accurately represented in the national psyche.
As an organisation we acknowledge that we can do more to ensure we fully integrate the perspectives of diverse cultures, so we can represent the priorities and legitimate concerns of ethnic minorities and the Global South. In renewing our commitment to diversity, we will be taking the following actions to strengthen our connection to the values and efforts of all those organisations which are dedicated to equality and fighting racism in all its forms.
Institutional learning
Review and take specific action to improve recruitment practices at SeeD to ensure candidates from ethnic minorities in Europe and candidates from the Global South have equal opportunities to work with us. This will include a review of how and where we advertise positions, ensuring recruitment criteria does not unduly discriminate based on race or culture and new staff members share our organisational values of tolerance and diversity.
Introduce an internal reflection process for our staff so we can question our own unconscious biases, while providing a safe space for self-learning.
Identify resources for all SeeD staff members to read and watch and reflect on individually and collectively.
Solidarity with BLM groups & leaders
Starting in Cyprus, where our HQ is located, we will engage with local BLM leaders and groups, and those who are committed to eradicating racism and working for the human rights of marginalised minority groups.
We will explore ways to collaborate with BLM groups in other countries where we work.
Research sensitivity & priorities
Review and improve our inter-group relations and social tolerance indicators to ensure that we can better capture systemic racism and implicit biases.
Develop an analytical framework and model that identifies drivers of racial bias and intolerance, and entry points to remedy them in the countries where we work, and inform our partners, stakeholders and international peace and development actors on the findings.
Review existing and develop new measurement metrics that assess racial supremacist ideologies, radicalisation and violent extremism.
Ensure that all social tolerance and intergroup harmony indicators used in all SeeD country projects are equipped to assesses inherent racial bias beyond looking at contextual social-demographic groups.
Actively collaborate with organisations and academics who are working to improve policy approaches to eliminating racial discrimination and inequality in our global society.
[1] Robert Wald Sussman, The Myth of Race, Harvard University Press, 2017, p. 8