The Finance for Peace Steering Committee met at the end of March and, among other agenda items, welcomed a new member, Hafez Ghanem.  

Hafez Ghanem is a highly experienced development expert with a PhD in Economics from the University of California, Davis. Having served at the World Bank and the FAO, as Vice President and as Assistant Director-General respectively, his experience is very well suited for this Finance for Peace advisory role, complimenting the other members’ backgrounds. Prior to his role at the World Bank, Hafez was a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, focusing on the economic drivers of the Arab Spring. 

Chairperson of the Steering Committee Fiona Reynolds said: “"We are delighted to welcome Dr Hafez Ghanem to the Finance for Peace Steering Committee. Dr Ghanem's remarkable expertise in development economics, honed through distinguished roles at the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization, will be an invaluable asset to our team. His deep understanding of the complex interplay between economic policy and peace, especially evidenced by his insightful work on the economic dimensions of the Arab Spring, aligns perfectly with our mission. We are confident that his contributions will significantly enhance our efforts to use financial strategies and peace-enhancing mechanisms and are excited to collaborate with him on our journey towards establishing a market for Peace Bonds." 

The members of the Finance for Peace Steering Committee are: 

The Finance for Peace Steering Committee is a high-level advisory body of the Finance for Peace initiative responsible for advising Interpeace’s Governing Board, Executive Office and the rest of the team. It is a non-executive and interim body that has been established to provide strategic guidance, advice and support for the effective implementation of the Finance for Peace initiative.  

New role to support development of peace-based investment standards 

Interpeace has announced the appointment of Fiona Reynolds as the inaugural Chair of the Steering Committee for Peace Finance. 

“Fiona Reynolds is a global leader and expert in socially responsible and sustainable investment. She has deep experience of successfully building bridges that bring private finance into alignment with today’s pressing global public needs for mutual benefit. I am delighted to welcome Fiona Reynolds as Chair of the Peace Finance Steering Committee. Her international experience on initiatives addressing climate change is an excellent example of how her rich and relevant experience will translate into success for the Finance for Peace initiative as it works with partners to enable a similar investment framework for peace-enhancing finance”, said Interpeace’s Acting President Simon Gimson. 

Finance for Peace is a multistakeholder initiative by Interpeace. It is establishing a globally recognised framework to guide and incentivise private sector investment approaches that foster peace. Finance for Peace is being incubated in Interpeace for two years before it is envisaged to become an independent global foundation supporting the finance and peace sectors in 2024. 

Former CEO of Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), founding board member of Climate Action 100+ and current Chair of UN Global Compact Australia (UNGCA), Ms Reynolds’ career has spanned across global finance, sustainability and investment. She has extensive ESG, governance and organisational development experience as a board member, director and CEO, and is now focused on advancing sustainability, climate and human rights issues in both business and finance. Fiona was named as one of the 20 most influential people in sustainability globally in 2018 by Barron’s, a prominent investing publication. 

Chair of the Peace Finance Steering Committee Fiona Reynolds said: “The potential in bringing together impact investing and peace is enormous. Conflict-sensitive investment can reduce risk for investors and companies, generating new financing sources for peacebuilding as well as community and social development.” 

“I am thrilled to contribute to this goal as the Chair of the Peace Finance Steering Committee. There is increasing demand from institutional investors for socially responsible investments in emerging markets where peace considerations are key to their risk mitigation and success.” 

“With conflict growing globally and public sources of finance for peace declining, there is a pressing need for innovation and new multistakeholder approaches to attract finance for peacebuilding, which includes aligning existing public and private financing to peace outcomes”, Mr Gimson said. 

Based at Interpeace’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the Finance for Peace initiative works with partners to create the norms, standards, research and knowledge to promote investment approaches aimed at fostering peace. This includes the development of Peace Bond and Equity Standards, impact frameworks, market intelligence and partnerships. Finance for Peace is financially supported by the German Federal Foreign Office and builds on feasibility research supported by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office. 

The Peace Finance Steering Committee will consist of members from the finance and peacebuilding sectors. It advises the Finance for Peace initiative during the transition period before the initiative becomes an independent foundation, foreseen for 2024. The members of the Steering Committee will be selected in due course and the body is expected to start its work in the fourth quarter of 2023.