Common Security Conference 2025: Redefining Security for the 21st Century

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Date(s) - Thursday - Apr 10, 2025 - Friday - Apr 11, 2025
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Common Security Conference 2025: Redefining Security for the 21st Century

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PLEASE NOTE THAT LAST-MINUTE REGISTRANTS (from 12.00pm CEST) WILL NOT RECEIVE THE ZOOM LINKS VIA EMAIL AFTER COMPLETING THE REGISTRATION. IF YOU STILL WISH TO REGISTER, PLEASE DO SO DIRECTLY ON ZOOM USING THE LINKS BELOW.

WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU STILL COMPLETE THE FORM TO RECEIVE CONFERENCE FOLLOW-UPS AND RECORDINGS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING!

Thursday, 10 April:

Friday, 11 April:

Program available for download here
Programme résumé en français téléchargeable ici
Breve programa en español descargable aquí

Common Security – the concept that nations and populations can only feel safe when their counterparts feel safe – emerged during a period of high tension and uncertainty in 1982, as a result of Olof Palme’s Independent Commission on Disarmament and Security Issues. Forty years later, Olof Palmes Internationella Center, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and the International Peace Bureau (IPB) released Common Security 2022: For Our Shared Future, modernizing the concept for the 21st century and the modern challenges we are confronted with. 

IPB, ITUC and Olof Palmes Internationella Center and partners* hereby introduce the Common Security Conference 2025: Redefining Security for the 21st Century with the goal of revitalizing the vision, philosophy and concept of common security and redefining the paradigm through which we view ‘security’. Moreover, the Conference aims to serve as a forum in which to discuss and expand the concepts from the 2022 report, including viewing common security through regional lenses and developing strategic priorities and goals. 

*Endorsed by:

Why Attend?

The global order and balance of power is in the midst of rapid and unpredictable changes, leading to new violent conflicts, realms of contestation, and increasing global tensions. As the post-Cold War era comes to an end and reveals its shortcomings, the new international order has not yet emerged and remains to be defined. 

Today, global decision-makers have broken down nuclear arms regulation and once again resorting to power politics and strategic competition with heavy investments in the military industry at enormous social and environmental cost. We strongly believe that civil society, the working class, and marginalized groups must have a say in what the new order looks like. The concept of Common Security, developed during the 1980s Cold War confrontation and revitalized in the 21st century, can serve as an important tool to define from civil society what a new order should look like.

The online Common Security Conference 2025: Redefining Security for the 21st Century brings together politicians, international officials, trade union leaders, non-governmental organizations, peace activists, and more for critical discussions on concrete steps and strategies for global, regional, national, and local level movements for a more just and peaceful future for us all. 

We invite you to be part of the movement for a common security policy for the new age – one that prioritizes human life over war and imperialism, that emphasizes our common humanity over division, and that pushes for global cooperation to resolve disagreements and conflicts.

Register Now!

Please note that the conference will be primarily held in English. Where mentioned, there will be simultaneous interpretation into Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic, and passive Japanese.

Conference’s Program

We’ll continue to add more speakers in the coming days—stay tuned for updates!

Thursday, 10 April

15.00-17.00 CEST – Pre-Conference Session: What is Common Security? [Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic]

  • Moderated by Corazon Fabros, IPB Co-President & Oscar Ernerot, Secretary General of Olof Palmes Int. Center

15.00-15.10: Welcoming Remarks from Olof Palme Internationella Center, ITUC, IPB

  • Corazon Fabros, IPB Co-President
  • Oscar Ernerot, Secretary General of Olof Palmes Int. Center
  • Jordania Ureña, Deputy General Secretary, ITUC

15.10-15.30: The History of Common Security 1982-Present

  • Philip Jennings, IPB Co-President (recorded)

*If you would like to read about the topic in advance, please check out the Report: Common Security 2022: For Our Shared Future

15.30-15.50: Common Security in Practice: Practical Examples

  • Omar Faruk Osman, General Secretary, Federation of Somali Trade Unions (FESTU)
  • Cristian Ricardo Wittmann, Professor of International Law at UNIPAMPA and SEHLAC
  • Martin Chungong, Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) (recorded)

*If you would like to read about the topic in advance, please check out the toolkit: Human security and common security to build peace – A Toolkit for Parliamentarians

15.50-16.05:  Collective Security and International Solidarity in UN’s New Agenda for Peace

  • Cecilia M. Bailliet, UN Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity

16.05-16.25: Presentation of Common Security in the Indo-Pacific Report

  • Ryu Mikyung, International Director at the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU)
  • Francis Daehoon Lee, Director of Trans-Education for Peace Institute of PeaceMOMO

* If you would like to read about the topic in advance, please check out the Report: Common Security in the Indo-Pacific Report

16:25-17:00: Open Discussion on Common Security and Q&A

  • Moderated by Sean Conner & Danielle Barsoum Malki

Friday, 11 April

10:00-12:00 CEST – Regional Discussions: Southeast Asia, West Pacific, Northeast Asia [passive Japanese], South Asia, West Asia

10.00-11.30 Division into breakout rooms 

  • Southeast Asia (with Merci Llarinas Angeles, Executive Director of Peace Women Partners);
  • West Pacific;
  • South Asia (with Anuradha Chenoy, Adjunct Professor at the Jindal School of International Affairs and TNI Associate); 
  • Northeast Asia (with Francis Daehoon Lee, Director of Trans-Education for Peace Institute of PeaceMOMO); Japanese interpretation
  • West Asia (with Ahmad Bakdad, IPB Assistant Coordinator)

11.30-12.00 Sharing of Outcomes of Sessions [passive Japanese]

  • Moderated by Corazon Fabros, IPB Co-President

12:30-15:50 CEST – The Urgency of Common Security [Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic]

12.30-13.00 Welcoming Remarks [only here also passive Japanese]

  • Oscar Ernerot, Secretary General of Olof Palmes Int. Center
  • Philip Jennings, IPB Co-President
  • Akiko Gono, ITUC President
  • Moderated by: Danielle Barsoum Malki, Policy & Methods Adviser, Peace and Dialogue & Gender Equality at Olof Palmes Int. Center

13.00-14.40 The Urgency of Common Security

  • Moderated by Reiner Braun (IPB) & Jeroen Beirnaert, ITUC Political Director

13.00-13.20 The Shifting Geopolitical Landscape

  • Ms. Ciru Mwaura, Director of Political Unit in the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General

13.20-13.40 The Global Nature of Common Security: The Polycrisis and Interconnections

  • Shirine Jurdi, President of WILPF Lebanon

13.40-14.00 A Just and Peaceful International Order

  • Jan Eliasson, Swedish and international diplomat, former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations (2012-2016) and Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs (2006)

14.00-14.20 Building Trust and Solidarity, Deescalating Conflicts

  • Fabio Arias, President CUT Colombia

14.20-14.40 Global Efforts to Resolve Regional Crises and Wars

  • Annika Söder, Chair of the European Institute of Peace and former State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Sweden

10 minutes break

14.50-15.50 Forum for Discussion Between Civil Society, Academics, and Policymakers

  • Moderated by: Danielle Barsoum Malki, Policy & Methods Adviser, Peace and Dialogue & Gender Equality at Olof Palmes Int. Center and Emily Molinari, Deputy Executive Director of IPB
  • Opening Remarks
      • Manal Taha, Sudanese Anthropologist and Conflict Analysis Expert
      • Hervé Kambiniam Salambote, Deputy Secretary General of the Democratic Confederation of Labour (CDT) DRC
      • Hania Bitar, PYALARA, from Palestine

Brief closing remarks by the organizers, including an overview of the conference follow-up steps.

  • Oscar Ernerot, Secretary General of Olof Palmes Int. Center
  • Jordania Ureña, Deputy General Secretary, ITUC
  • Philip Jennings, IPB Co-President

16:00-18:00 CEST – Regional Discussions: North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, Africa

16.00-17.30 Division into breakout rooms 

  • Latin America (with Angelo Cardona, IPB Board, and Theo Valois)
  • North America (with Joseph Gerson, CPDCS)
  • Africa (with Cyrille Roland Bechon, Director of New Human Rights Cameroon)
  • Europe (with Reiner Braun, IPB)

17.30-18.00 Sharing of Outcomes of Sessions

  • Moderated by Sean Conner, Executive Director of IPB

The conclusions will be sent around to all participants via email.