Intercultural competence has emerged as a critical foundation for Pan-African peacebuilding, enabling practitioners to navigate diverse identities, histories, and value systems across conflict-affected contexts. Drawing on the work of the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative in South Africa, Uganda, and South Sudan since 2012, it is evident that culturally grounded dialogue, youth empowerment, and leadership based peacebuilding training can transform tensions into collaborative problem-solving. These experiences demonstrate that sustainable conflict resolution in Africa depends not only on institutional frameworks but also on the cultivation of mutual respect, empathy, and indigenous embedded knowledge systems.
This webinar is part of the UNESCO Chair on Intercultural Competences' monthly webinar series on African Voices on Intercultural Competence.
About the speaker
Chance Chagunda holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Social Development and a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) in Public Policy from the University of Cape Town; a Master of Philosophy in Theology & Social Development, Honours Degree in Theology & Development and Bachelor of Theology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal; and a Bachelor of Philosophy from the Ubaniana University-Rome and St. Joseph’s Theological Institute, South Africa. He worked for the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference Parliamentary Liaison Office in the South African Parliament as a Senior Socio-economic Researcher; later worked for the Catholic Welfare and Development as an Economic Focus Area Manager; then worked for the University of Cape Town in the Department of Social Development and now working as the Country Manager for the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative (WPDI). His research interests include: Peace & Development; Food Security; Public Policy; Social Development; Social Protection, Migration, and Indigenous Knowledge Systems.