Join us for another episode of the Extraordinary Leaders series on Monday, August 8th, 3pm BST!
Imagine that your job is to remove weapons from the hands of combatants. You are in a room with the leader of one of these armed groups, and you must convince them to disband the group and disarm its members. What do you do?
Join us on Monday, August 8th, at 3pm BST to discuss how to adapt to difficult circumstances and enact change with Bruno Donat. Mr. Donat encountered situations like these while leading Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration (DDR) of armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the United Nations. Today, he protects civilians from the threat of landmines and explosive ordnance by running humanitarian coordination and advocacy as Chief of the Geneva office of the United Nations Mine Action Service.
Though many of us may never disarm combatants or advocate to clear landmines, we often encounter challenges with no clear solution. Join us to discover:
- How can we make decisions while balancing conflicting aims and principles?
- What can we do to successfully adapt in challenging situations?
- How do you initiate change in an organisation like the United Nations?
Register soon because space is limited.
Monday August 8th, 3pm BST | 10am EDT | 10pm HKT
Bruno Donat, Chief, UNMAS Geneva
With more than 20 years in international affairs, Mr. Bruno Donat is the Chief of the Geneva office of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), the component within the Department of Peace Operations which works to eliminate the threat posed by landmines, explosive remnants of war, and improvised explosive devices. Just before this posting, Mr. Donat was the Chief of the Section of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) working on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) – of armed groups - and Community Violence Reduction. He was also previously the Team Leader for Political Affairs at the United Nations Mission for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) covering some 16 countries of the region. Earlier postings include Headquarters and country-level roles for both the United Nations and the World Bank, the last years of which he served in the Fragile States, Conflict, and Social Development unit of the World Bank’s Africa Region.
INTERVIEW BY
Kayla Kim, Marketing Manager, Laidlaw Foundation
Kayla was a Laidlaw Scholar in 2019, researching national, regional, and local identity in northern Tajikistan through the lens of women's fashion. After graduating from the University of Oxford in 2020, she worked in the Geneva office of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) as a Communications Coordinator. She now manages marketing for the Laidlaw Foundation.
Watch previous Extraordinary Leaders episodes:
- "How to Be a Moral Leader" with Jacqueline Novogratz
- "So, You Want to Be a Successful Academy Trust Leader?" with Sir David Carter
- "A Make-or-Break Moment: Sustainable Development Goals after COVID-19" with Kirsten Brosbøl
- "Black in Business: Level Up at Business School" with Tabria Lenard and Cole Agbede
- "What We Owe Each Other" with Minouche Shafik
- "The Psychology of (Un)Ethical Behaviour" with Daniel Effron
- "Build and Scale: A Founder's Perspective on Leadership" with Alex Packham
- "Why We Choke Under Pressure and How to Avoid It" with Sian Beilock
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