In this episode, listen to a discussion about the pivotal role women play in peacebuilding, conflict resolution, and mediation from a Beyond Borders Scotland (BBS) panel at the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2025.

Speaking are selected Alumnae from the Women in Conflict 1325 Fellowship, a unique training and networking programme which is run by BBS in partnership with the University of Edinburgh Law School. These are Noor al Naser, a former United Nations diplomat from Iraq who has extensive experience in counter-terrorism, mine action, and programme management and now works for Beyond Borders Scotland; Ameya Kilara, a senior lawyer and award winning peace mediation expert from India who is currently a Senior Projects Director at Inter Mediate; and Dr. Ketty Akello, a lawyer, peacebuilder, and Women, Peace and Security advocate from Uganda who recently obtained her PhD in Law from Durham University. The discussion is hosted by Dr. Roxani Krystalli, a Senior Lecturer and researcher in feminist peace and conflict studies at the University of St Andrews.

Featuring:

Noor al Naser Ameya Kilara Dr. Ketty Akello Dr. Roxani Krystalli

For more information about Beyond Borders Scotland’s work on the Women in Conflict 1325 Fellowship visit our website to read about the Fellowship, the Women for the World Project, and find out more about our incredible Alumnae.

https://www.beyondbordersscotland.com/projects/women-in-conflict/

https://www.beyondbordersscotland.com/women-for-the-world/

https://www.beyondbordersscotland.com/projects/women-in-conflict/past-fellows/

Audio Editor: Aedan Wilson

Former cellmate of Nelson Mandela and PM of the Western Cape, Ebrahim Rassol talks with his co-authors, Dr Houda Abadi and Mark Muller Stuart KC, about their new book, A Guide to Islamic Principles of Peace-Making, and why they are needed more than ever as we confront ever greater cycles of conflict. Swedish diplomat, Eldridge Adolfo, asks the questions.

Contemporary peace-making frameworks deployed by global conflict resolution institutions and experts, have had mixed results in Muslim-majority countries and regions, affected by violent conflict. This new guide aims to address this by paying attention to critical contextual issues around religion and culture. Built on four years research by the International Norms Project (a unique collaboration between LSE, Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) and Uppsala University), it brought together a wide a range of Islamic Scholars, Muslim political transitional leaders and international peace practitioners. What this collaboration has co-created for the first time is a set Islamic peace-making principles that also share many commonalities with contemporary forms of inclusive peace-making and universal norms.

Featuring:

Ebrahim Rassol Dr Houda Abadi Eldridge Adolfo Mark Muller Stuart KC

Beyond Borders Scotland: https://www.beyondbordersscotland.com

Read Guide to Peacemaking Using Islamic Principles Here: https://fba.se/media/u2ylwpoz/guide-to-peacemaking-using-islamic-principles.pdf

https://fba.se/en/news-media/publications/guide-to-peacemaking-using-islamic-principles

Audio Editor: Aedan Wilson

In this week’s podcast veteran peacemaker, Monica McWilliams, author of Stand Up, Speak Out, joins former UN Assistant Secretary-General, Andrew Gilmour, author of The Burning Question: Climate and Conflict - why Does it Matter? and Dr Roxani Krystalli from St Andrews University at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in partnership with Beyond Borders. Where they reflect upon climate, conflict and the state of our troubled world and what we have to do to make more safe, secure and just.

Featuring:

Monica McWilliams Andrew Gilmour Dr Roxani Krystalli

Beyond Borders Scotland: https://www.beyondbordersscotland.com

More From Monica McWilliams: (2021) Stand Up, Speak Out: My Life Working for Women's Rights, Peace and Equality in Northern Ireland and Beyond (Blackstaff Press Ltd) at: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/9781780733227/Stand-Speak-Out-Life-Working-1780733224/plp

More From Andrew Gilmour: (2024) The Burning Question: Climate and Conflict - why Does it Matter? (Berghof Foundation) at: https://berghof-foundation.org/library/the-burning-question

Audio Editor: Aedan Wilson

In this week’s podcast Mark Muller Stuart KC talks to veteran United Nations diplomat Staffan de Mistura at the Edinburgh International Book Festiva who reflects on his remarkable 50-year career in international diplomacy and conflict mediation for the UN in places like Sudan, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

Featuring:

Mark Muller Stuart KC Staffan De Mistura

Beyond Borders Scotland: https://www.beyondbordersscotland.com

Audio Editor: Aedan Wilson

Join veteran BBC broadcaster, Jim Naughtie, as he talks to Steve Crawshaw, former UK head of Human Rights Watch and author of Prosecuting the Powerful, alongside Derek Goldman, director of the Centre for Global Performance and Dialogue at Georgetown University, and the Noor Al-Naser, programme manager of the Scottish Peace Platform, about their work and the state of the world in the era of Trump. New York theatre director, Irina Kruzhilina, introduces students from Peebles High School who bring the festival to close with their rendition of a New Declaration of Human Rights with its own unique young persons and Scottish Borders twist.

Featuring:

Jim Naughtie Steve Crawshaw Derek Goldman Noor Al-Naser Irina Kruzhilina

Beyond Borders Scotland: https://www.beyondbordersscotland.com

Audio Editor: Aedan Wilson

Join Ambassador Nirupama Rao and Ambassador Riffat Masood alongside senior journalists Maya Mirchandani and Nasim Zehra as they discuss Indo-Pak relations after the recent escalation, the role of women in the peace process, and the space for peace in the changing global environment.

Featuring:

Ambassador Nirupama Rao Ambassador Riffat Masood Maya Mirchandani Nasim Zehra Allan Little

Beyond Borders Scotland: https://www.beyondbordersscotland.com

Audio Editor: Aedan Wilson

Listen as former First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon talks to Sigrid Van Aken, CEO the Postcode Lottery Group, about it's remarkable rise to become the world’s third biggest philanthropic funder of good causes and Chris Lockyear, the Médecins Sans Frontières Supremo, as he reveals the truth about the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, Gaza and beyond. Together they consider the impact of recent US and UK aid cuts and what we can all do to help relieve the suffering of civilians as well as to build a more peaceful, vibrant and less afflicted world.

Featuring:

Nicola Sturgeon Sigrid Van Aken Chris Lockyear

Beyond Borders Scotland: https://www.beyondbordersscotland.com

More From Post Code Lottery Group:

https://www.postcodelottery.co.uk/

More From Médecins Sans Frontières:

https://www.msf.org/

Audio Editor: Aedan Wilson

Listen as Former First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, lifts the lid on her remarkable life as one of Scotland’s leading politicians in the 21st century as she recounts her journey from working-class Ayrshire to Bute House, in her candid memoir, Frankly.

Featuring:

Nicola Sturgeon Allan Little

Beyond Borders Scotland: https://www.beyondbordersscotland.com

More From Nicola Sturgeon:

(2025) Frankly (Pan Macmillan) at: https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/nicola-sturgeon/frankly/9781035040216

Audio Editor: Aedan Wilson