Senior Leadership for Peace Seminar 2026

This three-day intensive seminar is based on a long-standing executive programme jointly delivered at the Maison de la Paix in International Geneva by the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and the Federal Department for Foreign Affairs of Switzerland (FDFA). Held in International Geneva, the seminar brings together senior leaders for peace from around the world, embedded in the city’s unique peacebuilding ecosystem, combining rich expertise in thought leadership, convening, research, and capacity building. 

The Senior Leadership for Peace Seminar 2026 aims to provide an opportunity for senior leaders to focus, explore and reflect on the accelerating challenges to peace and security, and how leadership for peace needs to evolve in the face of uncertainty, rupture and ever-growing complexity. 

The seminar will provide space for facilitated peer exchange and collective leadership reflections on:

• What impact do broad-based violations of the rule of law, including international humanitarian law, have on peace and security at international and organizational levels, and what response by leadership is required?
• What impact - positive and negative- are new and emerging technologies, including AI, having on peace and security around the world?  What actionable insights and policy recommendations are relevant for the future?
• How can adaptive, inclusive and ethical leadership for peace, essential for advancing peace and security in complex and sensitive contexts, be strengthened in the current environment?
• What collaborative action can be catalyzed to more effectively address peacebuilding complexities and interconnected challenges by applying frameworks of systems thinking and futures thinking, across agendas and organizations?

The Senior Leadership for Peace Seminar 2026 brings together a diverse and global cohort of senior-most leaders and decision-makers responsible for shaping peace and security agendas in fragile and rapidly evolving contexts. Participants typically hold strategic, executive, or senior advisory roles within governments, multilateral and international organizations, civil society, and the private sector.

All seminar costs are covered by the organizing partners. To ensure strong engagement, a participation fee has been introduced as a symbolic contribution to signal commitment and support the seminar’s long-term sustainability. For this year, the fee will be waived for all participants.