Dr Webster Zambara
Dr Webster Zambara is a Senior Project Leader of Peacebuilding Initiatives at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR), South Africa. He is a peace and development specialist with over 17 years of experience in human rights; non-violent conflict transformation; prevention of armed conflict and post-conflict recovery; mediation; justice and reconciliation; and, systemic peacebuilding with a bias towards building the capacity of key community, national and inter-governmental actors to work for development by constructively transforming conflicts through dialogue. Webster was taught and mentored by Prof. Johan Galtung, one of the principal founders of peace studies.
Working with various institutions, he has been involved in peace and development work in several countries including Zimbabwe, Swaziland, South Africa, Lesotho, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Botswana, Ghana, South Sudan and Cameroon at the invitation of UN Agencies, government institutions, inter-governmental organizations, local & international civil society organizations and development partners. Working in these countries involves training and facilitating workshops as well as conducting high-level political research and analyses, and visits for the purpose of projects monitoring and evaluation. He has written, published and presented papers at international conferences and seminars on these key areas, and participates in media interviews and debates.
Webster taught in the Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies Programme (CRPS) and the School of Politics and Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and at the University of Johannesburg (UJ); and currently is a Guest Lecturer in the School of Politics at Stellenbosch University and University of Cape Town, South Africa. He is an external examiner of Masters/Doctoral candidates at University of Johannesburg, Durban University of Technology and University of South Africa (UNISA).
Webster’s workshops and interventions are renowned for infusing traditional African ethics and values of Ubuntu to creatively find peaceful solutions to conflicts. Recently, he was appointed a member of the Transformation Research Unit at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, and is a member of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Zimbabwe Team of Experts advising the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission. He is also a lead facilitator for Alternative to Violence Project (AVP) workshops.