Day One: Sunday, 7 December 2025
Al majlis Hall, Sheraton Grand Hotel, Qatar
08:45 – 09:30 | Opening Session Welcome Remarks Ghassan Elkahlout, Director of the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies
Keynote Address H.E. Dr. Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al-Misnad, Minister of State for International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Head of Advisory Board of the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies)
|
09:30 – 11:00 | Panel 1: Peace Mediation in a Transforming Order
Mohamad Hamas Elmasry (moderator), Professor of Media Studies - Doha Institute for Graduate Studies Richard Atwood, Executive Vice President - International Crisis Group Alex de Waal, Executive Director - World Peace Foundation
Pierre Krahenbühl, Director General – ICRC
Erin McCandless, Director of the Qatar-South Africa Centre for Peace and Intercultural Understanding
|
11:00 – 11:30 | Break
|
11:30 – 13:00 | Panel 2: Gulf States in Mediation: Pathways to Strategic Cooperation Yasmine Farouk (moderator), Gulf & Arabian Peninsula Project Director - ICG Khalid Abdulaziz Alkhulaifi, Office of the Special Envoy - Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs H.E. Manal Radwan, Senior Advisor, Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Bader Al Saif, Assistant Professor, Kuwait University Elham Fakhro, Senior Fellow - Harvard University Belfer Center
Yousuf Al Bulushi, Chairman, Muscat Policy Council
|
13:00 – 14:00 | Lunch |
14:00 – 15:30 | Panel 3: Mediation in an Era of Great Power Competition and Nuclear Risk
Karim Haggag (moderator), Director - SIPRI Christopher Ford, Professor - Missouri State University Dmitry Suslov, Deputy Director - CCE Moscow
Wu Chunsi, Director of Center for American Studies
|
15:30 - 16:00
| Launching The Humanitarian Diplomacy Initiative
H.E. Dr. Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al-Misnad, Minister of State for International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs H.E. Yousef bin Ali Al-Khater, President of Qatar Red Crescent Society
Ghassan Elkahlout, Director of the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies
|
Day Two: Monday, 8 December 2025
Al majlis Hall, Sheraton Grand Hotel, Qatar
09:00 – 09:30
| Keynote Address Alex de Waal, Executive Director - World Peace Foundation
|
09:30 – 11:00 | Parallel Roundtables – Session One
Roundtable 1: Mediating in a Multipolar World - Beyond Neutrality: Legitimacy and Effectiveness (in partnership with the Middle East Council on Global Affairs)
Marwan Kabalan (Co-Chair) Director of Policy Analysis Unit - Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies Dalia Ghanem (Co-Chair), Director Conflict & Security Program - Middle East Council
Roundtable 2: Mediation Under Fire: Protecting Peace Processes and Peacemakers |
11:00 – 11:30
| Break |
11:30 – 13:00 | Panel 4: What Frontline Conflicts Reveal about Mediation Practice Randa Slim (moderator), Non-resident Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute, School of Advanced and International Studies Hanna Serwaa Tetteh, UN SRSG - UN Libya (UNSMIL)
Carl Skau, Deputy Executive Director - World Food Programme Akok Madut, Head - African Union Mediation Division Joshua Z. Walker, Director of Programs of the Congo Research Group -
Center on International Cooperation (CIC) – NYU
|
13:00 – 14:00 | Lunch |
14:00 – 15:30 | Parallel Roundtables – Session Two
Roundtable 3: Peace Mediation and the Crisis of Multilateralism (in partnership with Geneva Graduate Institute) Achim Wennmann (Co-Chair), Director for Strategic Partnerships of the Geneva Graduate Institute Aicha Elbasri (Co-Chair), Researcher - Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies
Roundtable 4: Enabling Locally Led Mediation (in partnership with Conciliation Resources) |
15:30 – 16:00
| Break |
16:00 – 17:15 | Panel 5: The Future of Mediation in a Transforming Global System
Sara Hellmüller (moderator), Research Professor - Geneva Graduate Institute Chris Coulter, Executive Director - Berghof Foundation
Martin Griffiths, Former UN USG - UN, Mediation Group International H.E. Dr. Majed Al Ansari, Advisor to the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Comfort Ero, President & CEO - International Crisis Group
|
17:15 – 18:00 | Closing Session Final Remarks Ghassan Elkahlout, Director of the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies
|
19:00 – 20:00
| Sudan: State Collapse and Pathways to Peace Speakers:
Alex de Waal, Executive Director - World Peace Foundation Comfort Ero, President & CEO - International Crisis Group
Moderator:
Yasmine Farouk, Gulf & Arabian Peninsula Project Director - ICG
|