European Peace Institute / News

“To be successful, peacekeepers must have appropriate analysis, training, and support,” said François Delattre, France’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

Speaking at a day-long meeting at IPI on peace operations reform, Mr. Delattre noted, “As the face of the UN, effective peacekeeping is essential to UN legitimacy.” Highlighting the importance of peacekeeping, he added, “It is what reinforces the legitimacy and relevance of the multilateral system, which we know is under threat.”  

Mr. Delattre made his remarks at a June 27, 2017 seminar held to discuss and analyze the state of UN peace operations reform two years after the release of the report of the High-Level Independent Panel on UN Peace Operations (HIPPO) and in light of review processes launched by Secretary-General António Guterres on the restructuring of the UN’s peace and security architecture and on management of the UN system.   

On the eve of the presentation of the reforms proposed to the UN peace and security architecture, there is widespread consensus that current institutional arrangements are anachronistic in their structure, procedures, and priorities. Participants from across the Secretariat, UN member-states’ missions, and academia thus joined a closed-door discussion (under the Chatham House rule of non-attribution) on the current state of reforms to the UN, the challenges of ensuring better delivery in the field, and the extent to which these efforts respond to the new paradigm of prevention and sustaining peace.

Arthur Boutellis, Director of IPI’s Center for Peace Operations, noted that the secretary-general had outlined nine priority areas for reform at a meeting of the Security Council in April 2017; the report of the Internal Review Team (IRT) on the UN Secretariat’s Peace and Security Architecture will indicate how the first of these nine will be addressed. He also welcomed Ethiopia’s intention, announced at the same meeting, to host a high-level open debate on the implementation of the recommendations of the HIPPO report.

The three panels of this day-long seminar sought to connect the peace and security architecture reform to the past, present, and future of UN peace operations. The Permanent Representatives of Ethiopia, Norway, and the Republic of Korea, as co-chairs of the Group of “Friends of HIPPO” states, served as moderators for these discussions.

The first panel took stock of progress made on implementing changes recommended in the HIPPO report. It concluded that, even as there has been progress on a number of important technical and managerial issues, these changes do not add up to the fundamental shifts called for in the HIPPO report. The UN today has gone through an exhaustive degree of analysis as to how problems arise and may be resolved; that there are still delays in implementing these solutions indicates their politically challenging nature.

The second panel, which included presentations from Fabrizio Hochschild (Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Coordination, EOSG) and Tamrat Samuel (head of the IRT on the peace and security architecture), discussed Mr. Guterres’ vision of a “more anticipatory and agile” UN, which is able to use not only the full spectrum of peace operations but also the entire range of tools and resources within the UN system to be more responsive and flexible in preventing, managing, and resolving conflict.

The third panel reviewed how peace operations could work for sustaining peace. It acknowledged the growing recognition of synergies between the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the sustaining peace framework adopted in 2015, and emphasized that this will require peace operations to be conceived in a “whole of UN” or “Delivering as One” context, with particular attention to financing and budgetary mechanisms to ensure that funding streams for “security” and “development” are not treated as a zero-sum game.

Across the three panels, there was consensus that peace operations must be seen as only one part of holistic UN engagement with countries and regions, and that their ability to contribute to peace, stability, and development in countries where they are deployed will be contingent on the ability to convene and coordinate a range of actors, including UN system actors such as the country team and humanitarian agencies; local, national, and regional governments; regional and sub-regional organizations; local and international non-governmental and civil society organizations; and other international organizations, notably the international financial institutions and donors.

The seminar was organized with support from the French Ministry of Defense’s Department for International Relations and Strategy (DGRIS), and marks the culmination of the three-year “New Issues Observatory” project. In its third year, the project has focused on field support to UN peace operations; previous themes were Technology in Peacekeeping, and UN Peace Operations in Asymmetric Environments.

On June 29th, the International Peace Institute, in partnership with LINKS (Dialogue, Analysis and Research), held a meeting in Vienna titled “Nagorno-Karabakh: Can confidence-building measures help bring about a peaceful resolution of the conflict?” This is the fourth meeting organized by IPI addressing the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Günther Bächler, Special Representative of the Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE spoke about the importance of confidence-building measures and the need to engage with a wide range of stakeholders. He thanked IPI and LINKS (DAR) for hosting the event. This was also echoed by the representative of the Office of the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Atanas Baltov, who reiterated the support of the EU for the work of the OSCE Minsk Group, and spoke about the work of the European Union in the context of the Karabakh conflict and conflict settlement process, particularly through its work with civil society in the framework of the EPNK program.

In a short presentation, LINKS (DAR) Executive Director, Dennis Sammut, talked about the role that confidence-building measures (CBMs) can play in the Karabakh context, addressing the questions of when, between who, on what and in what way, the work can be done.

Richard Giragosian, Director of the Regional Studies Centre in Yerevan, Zaur Shiriyev, Associate Academic fellow of Chatham House in Baku, Benyamin Poghosyan, Vice President for Research at the Armenia National Defence University, Yerevan, and Ahmed Allili, Deputy Director, Centre for Economic and Social Development in Baku shared their views on the topic with participants. The representatives of the embassies of Armenia and Azerbaijan also took the floor.

Participants in the meeting emphazised the importance of CBMs for the resolution of the Karabakh conflict, and expressed concern at the lack of progress in the peace negotiations and the deteriorating security situation on the ground. It was highlighted that CBMs are not a substitute for serious peace negotiations, but it was equally argued that CBMs were often an essential ingredient for any peace negotiations. Among the discussants were the ambassadors of Kazakhstan, Iceland, Belgium, and Cyprus; representatives of other diplomatic missions in Austria; international experts from the region and civil society representatives.

On July 13th, IPI is hosting a Global Leaders Series lunchtime presentation featuring H.E. Ms. Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia, who will talk about the challenges and successes of the small European nation.

Remarks will begin at 1:15pm EST.

Estonia, as a small country, has a unique experience to offer when it comes to fostering innovation with limited resources and punching above its weight. The President will talk about the challenges and successes of the small European nation.

From 1999 to 2002, Kersti Kaljulaid was Prime Minister Mart Laar’s Economic Advisor. She was CFO and CEO of the Iru Power Plant for the state-owned energy company Eesti Energia from 2002 to 2004. From 2004 to 2016, Ms. Kaljulaid was a Member of the European Court of Auditors. In this role, she worked on audits of the EU’s research and development funds, structural policies, and Galileo project. She also coordinated and prepared several of the European Court of Auditors’ annual reports, chaired its Administrative Affairs Committee, and chaired the Europol Audit Committee.

The event will be moderated by IPI Vice President Adam Lupel.

Innovative entrepreneurship is a cornerstone to the development of a vibrant local private sector. This, in turn, can make a powerful contribution to the ecosystem of peace. Peace is therefore not the sole preserve of the state: entrepreneurs can also be convincing peace brokers.

This issue brief focuses on how entrepreneurship can contribute to preventing conflict and sustaining peace. It identifies points of convergence between entrepreneurship and peace, recognizing that these are likely to be highly context-specific. It concludes that the economic incentives and peace dividends that can be sparked by entrepreneurship warrant greater attention and offers recommendations for harnessing the positive aspects of entrepreneurship while reining in or mitigating potential harm.

This issue brief is part of the International Peace Institute’s (IPI) attempt to reframe prevention for the purpose of sustaining peace through a series of conversations from October 2016 to June 2017. Other conversations have focused on how to approach the UN’s regional political offices, peace operations, and the SDG on gender equality from the perspective of sustaining peace, as well as on what sustaining peace means in practice.

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An expert group of diplomats, UN officials, and representatives from civil society organizations were convened for the 2017 edition of the annual IPI New York Seminar, held on June 20, 2017. They met to discuss the role of youth leadership for peace and development, in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as the Security Council resolution on “Youth, Peace and Security” adopted in December 2015.

The event was organized in association with the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations. Ambassador David Donoghue, Ireland’s Permanent Representative to the UN, delivered opening remarks.

Mr. Donoghue described the theme for the seminar as very timely and a subject that Ireland considers to be critically important. He noted that young people under the age of 25 make up almost half of the world’s population today. That demographic fact alone means that youth have to be the focus of policy—it will be impossible, for instance, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) without the involvement of young leaders. The process of drafting and adopting the SDGs itself incorporated significant opportunities for consultation with youth, and the enthusiastic response to these consultations reflected the awareness among youth themselves that the 2030 Agenda was a youth agenda.

Dr. Graeme Simpson, Director of Interpeace USA and lead author of the progress study (commissioned under Security Council Resolution 2250) on youth, peace, and security, delivered the keynote speech. He described the methodology adopted by the progress study, which was designed while keeping in mind the imperative of not replicating the very problems it was looking into—what the resolution describes as a “deep and enduring pattern of exclusion of young people.” The progress study has attempted to model a different approach that incorporates youth and their priorities at every stage of design and implementation and has gone to great lengths to hold consultations with various groups of young people globally.

The subsequent sessions of the seminar were conducted under the Chatham House rule of non-attribution. Participants reviewed the strategies for youth engagement adopted by various entities within the UN system, identifying the lessons learned from current practices, including where they still fell short or faced challenges achieving the desired level of inclusion. They also heard from young leaders of peacebuilding organizations working in a range of countries, who discussed their experiences with catalyzing change and interacting with national and international policymaking bodies.

In these sessions, participants highlighted the prevailing degree of mistrust and disillusionment among young people, who often see existing systems as flawed and in need of reform. It will be difficult to move past these impressions if local or national authorities and intergovernmental organizations are seen as continuing to patronize youth and minimize their concerns; rather, it will be necessary for political and policy-level actors to recognize the agency of youth not only to participate in or benefit from but also to design and lead the processes of development and peacebuilding.

In order to explore the practical and programmatic implications of these ideas, seminar participants then split into working groups. Each group was assigned a hypothetical scenario in one of three countries and asked to design interventions to respond to those situations while keeping in mind the principles enumerated in the previous discussion. This exercise helped make those insights more concrete, while also leading participants to appreciate the importance of deep local knowledge and analysis. Rapporteurs for each of the working groups then presented their proposals back to the plenary and received feedback on their proposals from a panel including leaders with extensive experience of UN grant-making to civil society organizations.

Finally, the participants expressed their appreciation for the emphasis UN Secretary-General António Guterres has placed on youth in his tenure thus far and their hope that he would take up and sincerely pursue the lessons and recommendations that emerge from the progress study.

On June 20th, IPI together with the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations cohosted the launch of IPI’s forthcoming report: “A Process in Search of Peace: Lessons from Negotiating and Implementing the Inter-Malian Agreement,” by Arthur Boutellis and Marie-Joelle Zahar.

Finalized in two stages in Bamako on May 15th and June 20, 2015, the “Agreement for peace and reconciliation in Mali, resulting from the Algiers process” was intended to usher in a new era of peace and stability. However, two years after the signing, progress in implementing some of the key provisions of the agreement has stalled, and the security situation in the country remains volatile.

The IPI report draws lessons from both the negotiations themselves, as well as from the two years since implementation of the Bamako Agreement. It also analyzes the impact of the mediation process on its implementation and the sustainability of its outcomes. It is the result of research carried out as a part of IPI’s Lessons from Mediation project.

Opening Remarks:
H.E. Mr. Issa Konfourou, Permanent Representative of Mali to the United Nations
Mr. Thomas Schieb, Minister Plenipotentiary, Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations

Speakers:
Dr. Marie-Joelle Zahar, Senior Visiting Fellow, IPI, and Professor at Université de Montréal
Mr. Arthur Boutellis, Director, Brian Urquhart Center for Peace Operations, IPI
Mr. Samuel Gahigi, West Africa Team Leader, UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations

Moderator:
Dr. Youssef Mahmoud, Senior Adviser, IPI

Political map of Mali, 2014-2017 (Click for full graphic)

Timeline of lead-up to and implementation of Bamako Agreement; and Fragmentation and recomposition of “compliant” armed groups
(Click for full graphic)

Implementation and follow-up mechanisms in the Ouagadougou (Click for full graphic)

The 2015 Bamako Agreement was supposed to usher in a new era of peace and stability in Mali. However, not only has there been little progress in implementing the agreement, but the security situation remains volatile. This state of affairs is all the more troubling given the international community’s mobilization in support of the Malian state. Why, in spite of this mobilization, are some warning that the peace agreement is in danger of collapse?

The end of the Bamako Agreement’s two-year interim period on June 20, 2017, provides an opportunity to assess progress on its implementation. This report traces the difficulties of implementing the peace agreement by placing current events in Mali in the context of past peace processes in the country and the 2014–2015 Algeria-led mediation process. It focuses in particular on six key issues that have created challenges during implementation:

• The government’s role in implementation: While the government has recently shown greater will to move ahead, implementation has lagged, and the method of implementation has created tensions with armed groups and contributed to the dysfunction of follow-up mechanisms.
• The fragmentation and recomposition of armed groups: Continuous realignments among armed groups have created challenges for the mediation team, allowed the government to blame the stalled implementation on insecurity, and caused these groups to focus more on community-based and individual perks than on peace dividends.
• The “clanization” of the peace process: Power struggles between and within clans have fed into the cycle of insecurity and contributed to stalling implementation.
• “Unspoken factors” including terrorism and trafficking: While the negotiations did not address terrorism and organized crime, these have become pressing challenges during implementation.
• The lack of peace dividends and societal buy–in: Slow implementation in the area of development has weakened buy-in to the process among northerners, while perceived concessions to armed groups and northerners have weakened buy-in in the south.
• Maintaining unity of action and purpose in the international community: The diversity of actors on the international mediation team has sometimes helped hammer out agreements but has also made it difficult to maintain unity of vision and a constant level of engagement.

Based on these challenges, the report identifies a number of lessons for UN engagement in peace processes.

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The following is the obituary for Robert P. Brown Jr.:

Richard P. Brown Jr., 96, a lawyer and a decorated Naval officer in World War II, died May 29 at his home in Chestnut Hill.

Mr. Brown retired as a partner at Morgan Lewis in 1988 after completing a distinguished 40-year career at the law firm. He held many leadership positions at Morgan Lewis, including serving on the firm’s Long Range Planning Subcommittee in 1962, which oversaw the modern transformation of the firm.

He also headed Morgan Lewis’ litigation practice from 1967 to 1978 and helped develop the firm’s acclaimed product liability practice.

After his retirement, Mr. Brown continued to volunteer as a judge pro tem, appointed to conduct settlement conferences in cases pending in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, and did so until the age of 92.

He served as chairman of the International Law Section of the American Bar Association and as chairman of the Probate and Trust Law Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Raised in the East Falls section of Philadelphia, he graduated as the valedictorian of his class at the William Penn Charter School, with honors from Princeton University, and from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

In World War II, he received six Campaign Stars as a Naval officer, serving first as a junior gunnery officer on the battleship Alabama in the North Atlantic and South Pacific, and later on the staff of the Commander, Amphibious Force Pacific Fleet. He participated in the invasions of the Marianas, Iwo Jima and Okinawa and was awarded the Bronze Star medal in the fall of 1945. At Iwo Jima he observed from shipboard the raising of the American flag on top of Mount Suribachi.

He served on and chaired many nonprofit boards, among them the University of Pennsylvania, the William Penn Charter School, and WHYY, Inc. He also served on the board of Fidelity Bank.

Mr. Brown was a member of numerous international organizations, including the Council on Foreign Relations, the International Peace Institute, the American Foundation for the University of the West Indies, the Foreign Policy Research Institute, the Eisenhower Fellows, International House Center, and the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia.

In 1974, he headed the first group of Americans to tour China after President Nixon persuaded Mao Tse-tung to open relations with the United States.

For more than 20 years, until the age of 94, he volunteered as a driver, transporting cancer patients to and from area hospitals.

He is survived by his friend, companion and confidant, Vivian W. Piasecki; two nieces and a nephew. He was married for 36 years to Virginia H. Curtin who died  in 2001.

A Memorial Meeting for Worship, will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, June 16, at the William Penn Charter School, 3000 West School House Lane, Philadelphia, followed by a reception in the Brown family home that Mr. Brown donated to Penn Charter in the 1970s. – WF

Chestnut Hill Local
June 6, 2017
By Pete Mazzaccaro

Logistics support is both critical to the safety and health of peacekeepers and vital to success at every stage of a peace operation—especially in the high-threat environments where both UN and regional peace operations are increasingly deployed. Contemporary peace operations are based on logistics partnerships, with support provided by a range of actors including states, international organizations, and commercial contractors.

This report focuses on logistics partnerships that support UN operations and regional peace operations in Africa. Drawing on two UN missions and fifteen regional operations in Africa, it describes, compares, and traces the evolution of these two kinds of logistics partnerships and provides recommendations for improving them. For UN operations, it recommends that the UN:

• Adapt its existing administrative and logistics policies and procedures to the realities of high-threat environments and determine whether new policies and procedures are required;
• Leverage logistics partnerships with previous or parallel regional operations;
• Explore ways to improve inter-mission cooperation; and
• Continue to focus on enhancing the logistics self-reliance of missions, including by ensuring that internal partners have adequate logistics personnel and assets and incentives to deploy them.

For regional peace operations in Africa, it recommends that external logistics partners:

• Clarify when regional operations can receive funding for logistics support;
• Explore cooperation arrangements with external partner states;
• Increase coordination to avoid duplication of efforts and identify gaps; and
• Continue to build the AU Commission’s capacity to support missions.

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Recent changes in the situation on the ground present an opportune moment for the international community to shift its political strategy in Darfur. Despite ongoing tensions, the relationship between the Sudanese government and the international community is showing signs of improvement. Moreover, while security has improved in some areas of Darfur, the human rights situation in Sudan has deteriorated. All these factors suggest a need for a shift in the political strategy of the United Nations–African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID).

In advance of the renewal of UNAMID’s mandate in June 2017, the International Peace Institute (IPI), the Stimson Center, and Security Council Report co-organized a workshop on May 3, 2017, to help member states and UN actors develop a shared understanding of the situation faced by UNAMID in Darfur. This workshop was the fourth in a series analyzing how UN policies and the June 2015 recommendations of the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO) can be applied to country-specific contexts.

Participants identified ways to amend UNAMID’s three priority areas to take into account the changing context. First, the mandate should allow for different types of activities for the protection of civilians in different parts of Darfur. Second, the mission should cooperate with the AU High-Level Implementation Panel, with the panel taking the lead at the national level and the mission shifting its focus to democratic transformation at the state and local levels. Finally, where violence has receded, the mission should shift toward addressing the core drivers of violence.

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The security situation in Mali remains volatile, and violence has spread from the north to the center and south of the country. This persistent instability and spread of violence has undermined the implementation of the peace agreement, which has also suffered from low levels of trust between the signatories and a lack of ownership by the parties. These developments have implications for the political strategy of the UN Multidimensional Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

In light of the expected renewal of MINUSMA’s mandate in June 2017, the International Peace Institute (IPI), the Stimson Center, and Security Council Report co-organized a workshop on May 2, 2017, to give member states and UN actors the opportunity to develop a shared understanding of the situation faced by the UN in Mali. This workshop was the third in a series analyzing how UN policies and the June 2015 recommendations of the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO) can be applied to country-specific contexts.

Participants suggested that MINUSMA’s renewed mandate should prioritize the restoration of state authority, local-level reconciliation, the security situation in central Mali, a flexible approach to the protection of civilians, and analysis of organized crime. They also suggested that relevant member states and stakeholders address the mismatch between MINUSMA’s mandate and capacity, exercise leverage over the signatories of the peace agreement, and coordinate among various international and national security forces.

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On June 12th, IPI together with the United Nations Development Programme are cohosting a policy forum discussion and reception on how the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is promoting accountability, tackling impunity, and contributing to sustaining peace around the world.

Remarks will begin at 5:30pm EST.

Strengthening the capacity of rule of law institutions to promote political accountability and tackle impunity is essential to achieving lasting, positive peace and sustainable, nationally-owned development. In recent years, national authorities—with assistance from the international community—have put forward considerable efforts toward embedding the rule of law throughout the world. These efforts have resulted in improvements such as strengthened national prosecutorial capacities to fight impunity, promoting political accountability and democratic governance through inclusive and consultative processes to open space for airing and addressing grievances, and expanding the provision of support and free legal aid to victims and other marginalized populations. These measures are also critical components of development efforts to achieve peaceful, just and inclusive societies as put forward by the aspiration of Sustainable Development Goal 16.

This event, which will open the UNDP 2017 Annual Meeting on Strengthening the Rule of Law and Human Rights for Sustainable Peace and Fostering Development, aims to explore how the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development can promote accountability, tackle impunity, and contribute to sustaining peace. This discussion will be grounded in the personal experience of the featured panelists, all of whom play critical roles in championing the rule of law in the respective countries. The event will feature select excerpts from the film “The Burden of Peace”, which tells the story of Ms. Claudia Paz y Paz, the first woman to lead the Public Prosecutors Office of Guatemala.

Speakers:
Mr. Patrick Keuleers, Director, Governance and Peacebuilding Cluster, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP
Mr. Adama Dieng, Under Secretary-General and Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide
Ms. Claudia Paz y Paz, Secretary for Multidimensional Security for the Organization of American States and former Attorney General for Guatemala
Mr. Toussaint Muntazini Mukimapa, Special Prosecutor for the Special Criminal Court, Central African Republic
Ms. Gordana Tadić, Acting State Prosecutor, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mr. Alejandro Alvarez, Director of the Rule of Law Unit, Executive Office of the Secretary-General

Moderator:
Ms. Jimena Leiva-Roesch, Research Fellow, IPI

Since 2002, the United Nations has created three regional political offices—in West Africa, Central Africa, and Central Asia—to harmonize efforts to identify cross-border threats and defuse tensions. But while their mandates contain many elements related to prevention and sustaining peace, these offices remain focused on addressing the proximate causes of conflict rather than on reinforcing capacities for peace.

This issue brief focuses on how the mandates or these regional political offices could be strengthened from the perspective of sustaining peace. It suggests that these offices should work with regional partners and other UN entities to identify capacities for peace, including as part of implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Moreover, the secretary-general should empower the heads of regional political offices to implement his “surge of diplomacy for peace” from a sustaining peace perspective, and the relationship between these offices and the Peacebuilding Commission should be strengthened.

This issue brief is part of the International Peace Institute’s (IPI) attempt to reframe prevention for the purpose of sustaining peace through a series of conversations from October 2016 to June 2017. Other conversations have focused on how to approach peace operations and the SDG on gender equality from the perspective of sustaining peace, as well as on what sustaining peace means in practice.

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Commemorating International Peacekeeping Day at IPI on May 24th, Harjit Singh Sajjan, Canada’s Minister of National Defence, said, “We must understand the reality of conflict today.”

The minister, a former peacekeeper in Afghanistan and Bosnia-Herzegovina, said, “It is Canada’s belief that addressing the root causes of conflict is a precondition of success.”

In recent years, defense ministerials led by the United States in 2015 and United Kingdom and 2016 were key forums for countries to make pledges to UN Peacekeeping. IPI’s Providing for Peacekeeping project maintains a database tracking such pledges.

Canada will host this year’s Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting in Vancouver in November, and Mr. Sajjan said it would focus on “the three P’s”—pledging, planning and performance—but would also spotlight the need for partnerships.

“We need partnerships with governments, civil society and private actors, particularly in the areas where the United Nations faces gaps,” he said. “We will explore ways to protect vulnerable populations.”

He cited in particular the value of involving local business communities because they have a “knowledge base of their communities” and because they can increase security through job creation.

In that connection, he remembered that when he first went to Afghanistan, he was “naïve” about the value of employment and thought instead “it was all about ideology and the Taliban.”

“But it wasn’t,” he continued. “It was about money and power. If you offer a job to a youth in Afghanistan, he’ll take it. If you give them a gun and power, they’ll take that too, why wouldn’t they?” He said the Taliban enjoyed success because “they offered jobs.”

As for Canada’s own peace operations, Mr. Sajjan said he wanted to adopt what he called “the integrated approach.”

“This is essential,” he said. “We’re not just talking about sending troops, we’re talking about political engagement, capacity building, development, disease prevention, and we need to integrate all this into one because, as we know, conflict impacts populations, the disparity between the rich and the poor, and radical groups. We need to understand the environment that we’re getting into, making sure that we contribute properly so we have the impact on the ground.”

Adam Lupel, IPI Vice President, noted that the number of peacekeepers who had died in the line of duty had now passed 3,500, and shows no sign of decreasing, and that this year’s Peacekeeping Day was dedicated to their memory.

In answer to a question about how to protect peacekeepers at a time when fatalities among them are on the rise, Mr. Sajjan said, “certain troops might get targeted because they don’t have the right equipment.” He also noted, “some nations may not have the same level of training.”

Canada has established gender parity in the cabinet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Mr. Sajjan said that experience would inform the country’s attitude about peacekeeping. “This is not about tokenism,” he said. “We are not tapping into the entire population if we don’t do this, we are shooting ourselves in the foot if we don’t do this.”

The event was held as part of the IPI Speaker Series.

IPI’s Adam Lupel moderated the conversation.

On May 19th, IPI together with the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs (NUPI) cohosted a policy forum event to launch the report “Plug and Play: Multinational Rotation Contributions for UN Peacekeeping Operations,” which was recently published by NUPI and IPI with funding from the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Defence.

In 2016, Norway spearheaded the multinational rotation contribution (MRC) of a C-130 transport plane to MINUSMA, together with Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, and Sweden. This innovative partnership seeks to complement traditional force generation by enabling a predictable and cost-effective supply of capabilities to UN peace operations.

With a keynote address by Norway’s Minister of Defence, H.E. Ms. Ine Eriksen Søreide, speakers discussed the concept of MRCs, outlining early lessons from Norway’s rotation, which concluded in November 2016, and providing key recommendations on the broader applicability of MRCs in the context of UN peacekeeping reform. How can smaller nations better cooperate and coordinate joint peace efforts? How can the MRC model lower the threshold and increase the incentives for member states to contribute? What are some key features that make MRCs work?

Keynote Address:
Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide, Minister of Defence, Norway

Speakers:
Arthur Boutellis, Director, Brian Urquhart Center for Peace Operations, International Peace Institute
Jean-Paul Deconinck, Force Commander, United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA)
Jorge Torres, Military Adviser, Permanent Mission of Portugal to the United Nations
Adrian Foster, Deputy Military Adviser, United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations

Moderator:
Youssef Mahmoud, Senior Adviser, International Peace Institute

Read the report>>

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Emphasizing the link between humanitarian efforts and preserving world heritage, Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO, congratulated IPI on its “Women in Art for Peace” exhibition, which she visited, May 18, 2017.

Addressing the press, Ms. Bokova said, “I am delighted to be here and to see women painters being encouraged about art for peace.”

The exhibition, which features peace-themed works by seventeen international female artists, “resonates very deeply with UNESCO’s mandate,” she said. “We are working to empower women to be full partners in this quest for peace.”

Addressing world heritage and humanitarian challenges in the region and beyond, the UNESCO Chief turned to Security Council Resolution 2347. The resolution, she said, is important and historic because it makes the connection between humanitarian concerns and the protection of heritage. “The protection of heritage is not just a cultural concern. It is a security imperative,” she said. Speaking in Manama, she also noted, “Bahrain is known for protection of heritage.”

On the education of refugees, Ms. Bokova said, “the issue has been there for a long time. UNESCO published in 2011 the Global Monitoring Report on Education, and this was dedicated to the education in emergencies.” However, at the time, “it wasn’t very high on the agenda of the international community. Then of course came the Syrian crisis. Millions are displaced within the country or outside.”

Bokova pleaded for more efforts on refugee education. With mass displacement spurred by crises like the Syrian conflict, “Education is the best way for building the future for the refugees and host communities,” she said.

Education is also one of the strongest “barriers to stop extremism,” she said. “When this generation is lost in the making, they are very easy prey for extremist ideologies.”

Ms. Soha Elfar, Ambassador of Egypt to Bahrain, also visited the “Women in Art for Peace” exhibition. She appreciated “the idea of getting painters from countries affected by crises” to illustrate a call for peace. Hailing the “expression used in artwork,” she said “women have a lot to say and a lot to contribute to peace.”

The exhibition is organized by IPI-MENA in collaboration with Europe’s Art Gallery and Art.

Diplomats, government officials, members of civil society, media professionals and artists were present during the visit.

The current wave of technological change has created new opportunities for multilateral cooperation across a wide range of areas, including sustainable development, conflict prevention, humanitarian responses, peace operations, and state-society relations. At the same time, however, it has created an enduring “digital divide,” raised questions about Internet governance and privacy, and led to new forms of warfare that challenge existing international human rights and humanitarian laws.

The UN has at times struggled to keep up with the pace of change, in part because private sector and civil society actors are often in the lead when it comes to technological innovation. This policy paper explores where the UN can play a useful role and where existing mechanisms and other actors are better placed. Based on extensive consultations with representatives of states, various UN entities, and civil society, as well as subject-matter experts, this paper details recommendations laid out in the ICM’s final report, published in September 2016. These include to:

• Consolidate a multilateral space for innovation and new technology; and
• Recognize the Internet and big data as global public goods.

To stand with those who are committed to working multilaterally and reforming the international community, we are asking people to use the hashtag #MultilateralismMatters. For more, including sample tweets and graphics, read IPI’s Social Media Toolkit here.

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On May 23rd, IPI together with the Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations, and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre are cohosting a policy forum event on internal displacement.

Remarks will begin at 1:15pm EST.

IDMC’s Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID) provides decision-makers and others actors working on displacement-related issues with the latest data and trends of internal displacement caused by conflict and disasters. The 2017 edition of the report also explores the connections between internal displacement and cross-border movement, including factors that force internally displaced persons (IDPs) across borders, and the impact of refugee returns to countries with high numbers of internal displacement. It suggests a better understanding of these connections is necessary for global agenda setting and policy-making, as well as for national preparedness and planning, to prevent and address the consequences of internal displacement.

The findings and data in the 2017 GRID are particularly relevant in light of ongoing debates at the UN, other multilateral fora and within states, with regard to human mobility. The 2016 New York Declaration on Refugees and Migrations has set in motion a process aimed at addressing large flows of refugees and migrants. At the same time, however, it is also necessary to refocus attention on the plight of internally displaced persons (IDPs). The protracted and increasingly repetitive nature of internal displacement crises also makes it a relevant topic to discuss challenges and opportunities for increased coordination and strategic cooperation between humanitarian and development sectors.

Based on the data and findings of the Global Report on Internal Displacement, which will be published the day before, this event will seek to identify lessons learned, best practices, and operational and policy recommendations on how to move forward concretely to prevent internal displacement, address the long-and short term needs and challenges it spurs, and address the connections between internal and cross-border displacement.

Opening remarks:
H.E. Mr. Geir O. Pedersen,Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations

Speakers:
Ms. Alexandra Bilak,Director, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
Mr. Jan Egeland, Secretary-General, Norwegian Refugee Council
Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, Senior Vice-President, World Bank Group

Moderator:
Dr. Els Debuf, Head of Humanitarian Affairs, International Peace Institute

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“Art is love and love is peace—art is the international language to convey a message,” Syrian painter Rehab Bitar told an IPI-MENA audience at the May 15th opening of an exhibition of artwork conveying messages of peace. Ms. Bitar, the Head of Peace and Culture Bridges Organization in the United States, was one of seventeen participating female artists in the “Women in Art for Peace” exhibition in Manama.

Other featured international artists included Marwa Rashid Al Khalifa (Bahrain), Karima Ben Otman (Libya), Miranda Rumina (Slovenia), Cezara Kolesnik (Belgium), Fatma Abdullah Lootah (UAE), Alexandra Nechita (USA), Alham Ali (Yemen), Unni Askeland (Norway), Cassandra J. Wainhouse (France), Hripsime Margaryan (Armenia), Eleonora Romanescu (Republic of Moldova), Mona Chouk (Tunisia), and Wedad Al-Bakr (Saudi Arabia).

The “Women in Art for Peace” exhibition adds to IPI-MENA’s cultural outreach activities to raise awareness about the importance of women’s participation in peacebuilding and peacekeeping. The initiative aims to encourage female artists to participate actively in the culture of peace.

“These inspiring women are the real ambassadors of peace—capable of conveying the message and the culture of peace through their artistic creation,” Nejib Friji, IPI-MENA Director, said in his opening remarks. “We are encouraged by their gathering in Bahrain.”

A large audience of diplomats, government officials, artists, private sector representatives, members of civil society and media attended the event.

Ms. Al-Bakr, a Saudi painter, peace advocate and co-founder of “Women in Art for Peace,” said, “Art is the strongest force in bringing people together. Let us celebrate it. Art serves to unite rather than divide.”

A reception gala followed the event and was attended by Sheikh Rashid Al-Khalifa, Honorary President of the Bahrain Fine Arts Association. Touring the exhibition with Mr. Friji, Shaikh Rashed, also a painter, interacted with the participating female artists. “There is nothing worse than families suffering from catastrophes and conflicts,” he said. “Eradicating such inhumane actions is the main goal.”

Sheikh Rashid added that the “Women In Art For Peace” exhibition should spread peace awareness. “It is very noble,” he said.

Shaikha Hind bint Salman Al Khalifa, Chairperson of the Mother and Children Care Association, praised the exhibition’s laudable goal, saying, “I am very impressed that there is a lot of movement towards the culture of peace. Women who are participating have the potential to be leaders.”

The main event was concluded with Mr. Friji expressing his sincere gratitude to the female artists and his aspiration to see this initiative create momentum whereby women play a more meaningful role in conflict prevention, resolution and in post-war peacebuilding. “In that regard, women are social, cultural and political leaders,” he said.

The exhibition was hosted in collaboration with Europe’s Art Gallery and Art, and will be open to the public from 9 am-5 pm on May 16-18, and May 21-22, 2017 at the IPI-MENA offices.

On May 17th, IPI is hosting a Distinguished Author Series event featuring Steven A. Cook, author of False Dawn: Protest, Democracy, and Violence in the New Middle East. The conversation will be moderated by IPI Senior Adviser for External Relations, Warren Hoge.

Remarks will begin at 6:20pm EST.

Half a decade after Arabs across the Middle East poured into streets to demand dignity, representative government and economic empowerment, hopes for democratic change have evanesced. Despite appearances, there were no true revolutions in the Middle East five years ago; none of the affected societies underwent social revolution, and the old structures of power were never eliminated.

Egypt remains a repressive state, Syria and Yemen are in the midst of devastating civil wars, Libya has descended into anarchy, Turkey has abandoned an earlier shift toward openness and now more closely resembles an autocracy, and even supposed successes like Tunisia face significant barriers to progress because of the continued strength of old regime players. And the self-declared Islamic State, though embattled, still rules a large swath of territory.

After taking stock of how and why the Arab Spring uprisings failed to produce lasting change, Cook, a noted analyst of the Middle East, considers the diminished role of the US there and reasons that the Trump Administration and Western policy makers may have to adjust to thinking small and waiting for the world to turn again.

IPI’s Distinguished Author Series brings critically acclaimed writers to IPI to present on international issues and to engage in a lively discussion with experts from the permanent missions to the UN and other members of the foreign affairs community in New York.