Interactive Dialogue I: “Sustainable Financing for Peace”

3:00 p.m. – 4:25 p.m. | Conference Room 4 As the 2018 UN-World Bank Pathways for Peace Report highlights, more resources are spent on addressing the aftermath of conflicts than on preventing them from flaring up and escalating. The study makes a compelling case for prevention by pointing out its economic benefits both nationally and internationally. The amount spent on preventing violent conflict in the first instance is a fraction of that spent on peacekeeping and humanitarian operations. The resolutions on the Review of the UN Peacebuilding Architecture emphasize the importance of “adequate, predictable and sustained financing in order to effectively assist countries to sustain peace and prevent the outbreak, escalation, continuation and recurrence of conflict.” The resolutions also recognize that to share risks and maximize the impact of peacebuilding efforts, strategic partnerships, pooled funding, blended financing among the UN, bilateral and international donors, multilateral financial institutions and the private sector are needed. Therefore, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to provide options on increasing, restructuring and better prioritizing funding to United Nations peacebuilding activities. Released in February, the Secretary-General’s report on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace (A/72/707-S/2018/43) provides Member States with a set of financing options. Interactive Dialogue I will bring together Member States, international and regional financial institutions, development banks, private sector, civil society and the UN system to reflect on the specific proposals contained in the Secretary-General’s report for sustained financing for peacebuilding and on ways to further mobilize resources.

Suggested topics to be addressed

1. How can Member States ensure adequate, predictable and sustained financing for nationally led United Nations peacebuilding activities?
2. How can financing for sustaining peace and financing for the Sustainable Development Goals mutually support and complement each other?
3. How to address the continuing under-resourcing of the Peacebuilding Fund to take advantage of its catalytic nature? How to achieve the Quantum Leap in contributions to the Fund as per the Secretary-General’s report on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace?
4. How to build partnerships with International Financial Institutions and the private sector that reinforce traditional financing mechanisms and lead to innovative ways to finance sustaining peace?

To watch the Interactive Dialogue in English click here, to watch it in original language click here

Interactive Dialogue II: “Strengthening the United Nations Work on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace in the Field”

4:35 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. | Conference Room 4 Referring to the 2016 resolutions, a comprehensive approach to sustaining peace encompasses “the prevention of conflict and addressing its root causes, strengthening the rule of law at the international and national levels, and promoting sustained and sustainable economic growth, poverty eradication, social development, sustainable development, national reconciliation and unity, including through inclusive dialogue and mediation, access to justice and transitional justice, accountability, good governance, democracy, accountable institutions, gender equality and respect for, and protection of, human rights and fundamental freedoms.” The implementation of the broad concept of sustaining peace requires a coherent approach across the United Nations system and strengthened coordination among its principal intergovernmental organs. Building peace is at the core of the work of the United Nations and is an activity that demands a “whole-of-system” approach. While acknowledging the need for changing the Organization’s working culture and methods, the Secretary-General has undertaken efforts to reform the United Nations’ system with a view to improving its effectiveness. His report on the restructuring of the United Nations peace and security pillar (A/72/525) contains specific proposals on how to prioritize prevention and sustaining peace. The Secretary-General’s report on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace (A/72/707-S/2018/43) further develops how to enhance United Nations’ policy and operational coherence to support peacebuilding and sustaining peace. Building on the enhanced flexibility in its working methods over the past two years, the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) plays a key role as an advisory body that fosters better coordination and complementarity among the United Nations’ principal organs, governing bodies of UN entities and other key stakeholders, including international, regional and sub-regional organizations, international financial institutions, civil society organizations, women’s group, youth organizations, and the private sector. Interactive Dialogue II will discuss the United Nations toolbox for sustaining peace, and the recommendations of the Secretary-General contained in the report in support of sustaining peace in the field.  It will cover the PBC and its innovative, new working methods, and its support to country and regional contexts. It will furthermore be an opportunity to hear from a member of the of the Advisory Group of Experts that provided the basis for the resolutions on the Review of the United Nations Peacebuilding Architecture. The Dialogue will further focus on how the three reform streams proposed by the Secretary-General can help strengthen the United Nations’ work on peacebuilding and sustaining peace.

Suggested topics to be addressed

1. How can the United Nations better support Member States in the field comprehensively and strategically?
2. How can the advisory and convening roles of the PBC be further enhanced and results-driven? How to further enhance the role of the PBC?
3. How can the revitalization of PBSO contribute to enhanced coherence in support of the field? What is needed to further revitalize PBSO?

To watch the Interactive Dialogue in English click here, to watch it in original language click here

Interactive Dialogue III: “Strategic Partnerships with the United Nations in the Field for Peace”

10:00 a.m. – 11:25 a.m. | Conference Room 4 While the primary responsibility of identifying, driving and directing priorities, strategies and activities for sustaining peace belongs to Governments, the resolutions on the Review of the UN Peacebuilding Architecture acknowledge the fundamental role of relevant stakeholders in assisting national authorities to pursue their peacebuilding objectives. They therefore call for “close strategic and operational partnerships between the United Nations, national Governments and other key stakeholders, including international, regional and sub-regional organizations, international financial institutions, civil society organizations, women’s groups, youth organizations, and the private sector.” The Secretary-General’s report on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace acknowledges that “an ecosystem of partners working in support of governments is critical for sustaining peace”. In this regard, the report underlines the role of the Peacebuilding Commission for enhanced collaboration with relevant stakeholders. As part of the activities outlined in his Roadmap to Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace, the President of the 72^nd session of the General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, convened a multi-stakeholder event, entitled “Sustaining Peace: Partnerships for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding” on 8 December 2017 at Columbia University to discuss the critical role of partnerships in sustaining peace and prevention. The two take-aways of the event were that engaging stakeholders are an important aspect of prevention in itself and that local expertise paired with national, regional and international capabilities are indispensable for the successful implementation of the resolutions on the Review of the UN Peacebuilding Architecture. Interactive Dialogue III intends to build on this discussion to strengthen strategic partnerships with the United Nations for peace. The panel will bring together representatives from the United Nations in the field, civil society, including women’s groups, regional organizations, academia as well as youth organizations. It will be an occasion for relevant stakeholders to reflect on how they can contribute to the current debate on prevention of conflict and to assist national Governments with their sustaining peace priorities.

Suggested topics to be addressed

1.  How to effectively build an “ecosystem of partners” for sustaining peace?
2. How to ensure that partnerships build on the comparative advantages of different actors? How to effectively engage women and young people in peacebuilding efforts?
3. How can partnerships between the United Nations and regional and sub-regional organizations be enhanced?
4. How to effectively develop community-engagement strategies in cooperation with national authorities?

To watch the Interactive Dialogue in English click here, to watch it in original language click here

Interactive Dialogue IV: “UN Comprehensive and Integrated Approach to Peace”

11:30 a.m. – 01:00 p.m. | Conference Room 4 The resolutions on the Review of the UN Peacebuilding Architecture recognize that development, peace and security as well as human rights are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. The Secretary-General report on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace highlights successful examples of cross-pillar cooperation in conflict-affected countries, maximizing impact on the ground and providing for a coherent approach to the United Nations’ engagement in the field. The challenge is how to turn these ad hoc examples of good practices into a coherent and integrated approach to peace. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development also acknowledges the interdependence between development and peace and security. It further recognizes that “there can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development”. According to the recent Secretary-General report on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace, most people in extreme poverty live in countries affected by conflict. The 2030 Agenda is the paramount goal of the United Nations, and it also happens to be the best defence against the risks of violent conflict. In this regard, the Secretary-General proposes concrete measures to strengthen leadership, accountability and capacity in both the headquarters and the field to support peacebuilding and sustaining peace and further builds on the proposed development reform (A/72/492/Add.1). Although sustainable development programmes are a core part of prevention efforts, they should be implemented in tandem with other policies that promote human rights and address root causes of conflict. As the UN-World Bank Pathways for Peace Report underscores, changing the incentives of actors to act violently is a fundamental component of preventing conflict. Interactive Dialogue IV assesses how to further integrate in a comprehensive manner peacebuilding and sustaining peace in the overall work of the United Nations in the field and at headquarters. The panel will bring together representatives from across the United Nations system to discuss ways to further strengthen a system-wide approach to prevention.

Suggested topics to be addressed

1. How can the United Nations system ensure policy and operational coherence, accountable leadership and enhanced capacities for peacebuilding and sustaining peace across its pillars?
2. How to better integrate a youth and a gender perspective to a cross-pillar approach to sustaining peace?
3. How can sustainable development and the promotion of human rights be part of conflict prevention efforts?