On 03.06.2026, E-Baraka, as a practitioner of PeaceTech, participated in the Geneva Peace Forum Meets Vienna, organized by the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, a knowledge hub that connects the critical mass of peacebuilding actors, resources, and expertise in Geneva and worldwide.Our Co-Founder, Esther Madi, intervened in the thematic discussion « Risks and Opportunities in PeaceTech: The Need for a People-Centered Approach », which explored both the opportunities and risks associated with emerging PeaceTech tools.
Using the results of Agroecopaix, her presentation stressed the importance of the inclusion of locally generated, community-level African data in emerging PeaceTech tools. PeaceTech solutions in Africa are often built on large aggregated and non-African datasets that do not adequately represent African communities and realities, fostering biases and increasing the risks of solutions that do not fit local needs. E-Baraka advocated for the inclusion of local communities and experts in the decision-making and design processes of PeaceTech solutions.
The discussion continued with Heather Wokusch, Executive Director of MESPERO: Impact for Resilience; Helmut Leopold, Head of the Center for Digital Safety & Security at AIT Austrian Institute of Technology and PeaceTech Alliance; Simon Ilse, Head of the Global Unit for Human Security at the Heinrich Böll Foundation; and Ted Holmquist, Senior Lead Policy Accompaniment at Principles for Peace, on how peace practitioners and the communities affected by conflict need to help define the problem, the risks, the data, and what success looks like in Peacetech.Simon Ilse focused on how human security should be at the center of PeaceTech solutions. Finally, Ted Holmquist presented Principles for Peace existing PeaceTech tools.
Overall, dialogues between international and regional peace and security actors spotlighted emerging challenges and opportunities for sustainable peace and strengthened collaboration across Geneva and Vienna.
NGOs in bridging institutional gaps
"NGOs play a critical role in bridging institutional gaps, making E-Baraka’s advocacy-driven mission essential to advancing sustainable peace and security."
NGOs in bridging institutional gaps
"NGOs play a critical role in bridging institutional gaps, making E-Baraka’s advocacy-driven mission essential to advancing sustainable peace and security."
Build peace solutions
“Events like this clearly show that we should build peace through solutions to common problems, together”
Build peace solutions
“Events like this clearly show that we should build peace through solutions to common problems, together”
PeaceTech Community
"We want to thank the Geneva Peace Forum for the invitation and Heather Wokusch and Nathan Coyle for the work they do in the peacetech community in Vienna. "
PeaceTech Community
"We want to thank the Geneva Peace Forum for the invitation and Heather Wokusch and Nathan Coyle for the work they do in the peacetech community in Vienna. "
