European Peace Institute / News

On November 3rd, IPI welcomed researchers from the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity (AC4) at the Earth Institute-Columbia University to share their findings on the central attributes of peaceful communities. In attendance were representatives from various Permanent Missions to the UN, civil society representatives and UN staff.

The event, held under the Chatham House rule of non-attribution, was opened by Youssef Mahmoud, IPI Senior Adviser, who outlined the main features of IPI’s ongoing work on sustaining peace, which focuses in on modalities and processes for identifying and strengthening the existing resilient capacities of societies under stress, rather than the factors that drive and sustain conflict. To do this, he said, it is important to uncover and measure the factors that are associated with durable peace.

The participants then heard a presentation from lead researcher Peter T. Coleman, Executive Director of AC4, and his team, Douglas P. Fry, Larry S. Liebovitch and Jaclyn Donahue, which showcased the recent findings of their project entitled The Science of Sustaining Peace. They outlined the research being done at AC4, which aims to identify, map and model the factors relating to sustaining peace and the prevention of destructive conflict.

The research utilizes historical and anthropological data, among other sources, to identify the key factors present in peaceful societies throughout history and in the present day. The data shows, firstly, that peaceful societies are possible and war is a relatively new idea in the span of human history.

Secondly, the data reveals some key factors that peaceful societies have in common such as interconnections between subgroups and forms of interdependence, a culture of nonviolence and an overarching social identity. Dr. Coleman also highlighted that though these factors are common throughout peaceful societies, the relationships between them are sometimes unclear in the context of complex societies. Promoting one factor may have unforeseen consequences in relationship to other factors.

To better understand the relationship between these complex factors, the team at AC4 has created both a qualitative and a mathematical model. The models are intended to map data and factors, and foster a better understanding of the relationship between factors. These outputs will be used to assist policymakers in understanding the effects of interventions, and hopefully inform future policies on the road to sustaining peace.

Though the project is still ongoing, Dr. Coleman ended the presentation by offering preliminary policy recommendations on the implementation of sustaining peace. Research has shown that one of the key investments policymakers can make is in peace education. By promoting education at a young age that focuses on topics such as conflict resolution, non-warring values, cooperative learning, and violence prevention, children will learn to think critically and make decisions that will promote peaceful societies throughout their lives.

The floor was then opened to participants for comment. Speakers noted that existing work on the topic contains considerable gaps, such as incomplete research and inadequate consultation with local voices in sustaining peace. It was also noted that existing research often lacks a gender component, which is integral to sustaining peace. Speakers further argued that in-depth research that incorporates inclusive consultation will greatly assist their work as policy makers. Many speakers expressed interest in knowing how the research presented by AC4 and other institutions can be translated into coherent policy recommendations that make the sustaining peace agenda more effective.

Mr. Mahmoud closed the event by reiterating that emphasis must be put on mapping sustainable peace as well as spotting drivers of conflict. He commended the research produced by AC4, and he noted that evidence-based analysis will continue to be important to understanding and implementing sustainable peace.

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Miroslav Lajčák, President of the UN General Assembly, called upon leaders in the MENA region to join the body’s mission of “delivering for the people.”

Mr. Lajčák spoke on November 2, 2017, to an audience of representatives of government, civil society, media, academia, culture, diplomacy, youth, and the private sector at IPI-MENA in Manama.

Referring to issues of priority to the international community, Mr. Lajčák highlighted the importance of multilateralism to address key agenda items of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly; conflict prevention, peacebuilding, migration, youth, water issues, and streamlining the body’s agenda in line with ongoing UN reform.

He urged the governments of Bahrain and the MENA region as well as civil society leaders to provide support to the UN on a range of security, peacebuilding and development issues, with the aim of “providing for the people” in line with, among others, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and women’s empowerment.

Mr. Lajčák concluded by stressing it would be the General Assembly’s priority to implement “credible concepts that can yield meaningful outcomes” for the people.

On his side, Abdulla Bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Undersecretary of Bahrain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of DERASAT, expressed his country’s adherence to the implementation of the SDGs and its support to the General Assembly’s efforts in that regard. He highlighted that his country has invested in “human capital,” which is the “most valuable asset.” He referred to the first Strategic Partnership Framework (SPF) signed recently with the UN Country Team as a vital example of the “Bahraini government’s support to development.”

He reiterated his country’s support to the General Assembly’s vision for development and peacebuilding in the Middle East, calling on “the international community to support governments, private sector, civil society and individuals who provide the necessary support for the youth to achieve the SDGs.”

Nejib Friji, Director of IPI-MENA, stressed the importance of the General Assembly as crucial “in the development of a global agenda on prevention” and referred to IPI’s milestone Independent Commission on Multilateralism (ICM) report that stressed the centrality of the General Assembly in the development of a “road map for the implementation of a UN peacebuilding architecture on all levels: international, regional, national, and local.”

The General Assembly is the highest body in the UN structure and holds substantial power. This power stems from the fact that it equally represents all the nations across the globe.

The event was held as part of IPI’s Global Leaders Series.

Nejib Friji, Director of IPI-MENA, moderated the conversation.

United Nations Peace Operations Reform Scorecard 2017 (Click for full graphic)

Timeline of Review Processes and Outcomes (Click for full graphic)

UN peace operations are confronting crises from all sides: they face ever more complex operating environments in the field, while in New York they face divisions among member states over the very nature of peace operations, a “peacekeeping fatigue” aggravated by scandals, and cuts to the peacekeeping budget. These are some of the reasons why, two years after the release of the report of the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO), progress on peace operations reform has been slow.

In this challenging context, this report asks whether the reform agenda put forward by Secretary-General Guterres would—or would not—help realize the four strategic shifts called for by HIPPO—recognizing the primacy of politics, viewing peace operations as a continuum, strengthening partnerships, and focusing on the field and on people—and under what circumstances. It also provides preliminary analysis of the five streams of reform presented to date: (1) the renewed focus on prevention and sustaining peace; (2) the creation of a new UN Office of Counter-Terrorism; (3) the reform of the UN development system; (4) the restructuring of the peace and security architecture; and (5) organization-wide management reform.

It concludes that the challenge for the secretary-general will be to translate these parallel tracks of reform into a concrete and coherent approach that will be true to his overarching vision for the organization and have a real impact in headquarters and, most importantly, in the field. While the temptation inevitably will be to focus on short-term structural reorganization, change will also need to come from improvements in working culture, methods, and processes over time.

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On Wednesday, November 8th, IPI is hosting a Distinguished Author Series event featuring Edward Luce, author of “The Retreat of Western Liberalism.” The conversation will be moderated by IPI Senior Adviser for External Relations, Warren Hoge.

Remarks will begin at 6:20pm EST*

In “The Retreat of Western Liberalism,” Edward Luce provides a detailed projection of the consequences of the Trump administration’s actions and attitudes and the rise of populism and nationalism in Europe. He also examines what those who believe in enlightenment values must do to defend against the multiple onslaughts they face. With resources scarce and the future insecure, the West should question whether people will continue to uphold democracy simply as a matter of principle. Luce believes that we are in a menacing trajectory brought about by ignorance of what it took to build the West, arrogance toward society’s economic losers, and complacency about our system’s durability. The West’s crisis, he writes, is “real, structural, and likely to persist,” but, he adds, “Nothing is inevitable. Some of what ails the West is within our power to fix.”

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On Monday, November 6th, IPI together with the Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations are cohosting an evening policy forum event to discuss IPI’s recent publication, “Peace by Pieces? Local Mediation Initiatives and Sustainable Peace in the Central African Republic,” by Marie-Joëlle Zahar and Delphine Mechoulan.

Remarks will begin at 6:30pm EST*

The report “Peace by Pieces? Local Mediation Initiatives and Sustainable Peace in the Central African Republic” focuses on local mediation efforts in CAR. What do these mediation efforts entail? Who is involved? To what extent do these efforts contribute to conflict resolution and sustainable peace? What is the relation between local efforts and regional and international efforts?

By describing and studying many local mediation efforts, their stakeholders, their outcomes, and their impact, Ms. Zahar and Ms. Mechoulan highlight the potential and limits of these initiatives, focusing in particular on the role of the United Nations in supporting local mediation in CAR. Ahead of the renewal of the mandate of the UN mission in CAR (MINUSCA) on November 15th, this policy forum will focus on furthering the understanding of mediation efforts in CAR and will offer recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders involved in building sustainable peace in the country.

Opening Remarks:
Kai Sauer, Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations, TBC
Marcien Aubin Kpatamango, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Central African Republic to the United Nations

Speakers:
Marie-Joëlle Zahar, Senior Fellow, IPI
Delphine Mechoulan, Policy Analyst, IPI
Asif Khan, Chief of Mediation Support Unit, United Nations Department of Political Affairs

Moderator:
Arthur Boutellis, Director for Peace Operations, IPI

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On Tuesday, November 7th, IPI together with the Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations, and the International Network of Historians without Borders, are cohosting a Global Leader Series lunchtime discussion with H.E. Mr. Erkki Tuomioja, former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland.

Remarks will begin at 1:15pm*

Leveraging historical knowledge is pivotal for countries seeking to implement policies aimed at promoting peaceful and inclusive societies. Indeed, discussing historical narratives can be a useful tool for identifying lessons learned and, more importantly, to recognize elements of peace and resilience within societies. At this event, Mr. Tuomioja will discuss the importance of history and the use of historical knowledge in sustaining peace.

Founded in May 2016, the International Network of Historians without Borders (HWB) brings together historians from across national frontiers to bridge the gap between academia, civil society, and policy making. Through public and expert discussions, participating in general debate, and carrying out research, HWB aims to deepen general knowledge and understanding of history, promote open and free access to historical material, and stimulate interactive dialogue between various perspectives to promote peace.

Mr. Tuomioja was first elected to the Finnish Parliament as a student and peace activist for the Social Democratic Party in 1970. He has been a member of parliament for over 35 years and is the longest serving Minister for Foreign Affairs in Finnish history (2000-2007 and 2011-2015). He has also served as Minister of Trade and Industry, Chair of the Parliament Grand (European Affairs) Committee, and Deputy Mayor of Helsinki. Mr. Tuomioja is the founder and President of the International Network of Historians without Borders.

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Civil society played a pivotal role in the Arab uprisings. By reconfiguring the social contract in a region distinguished by gender inequality, these revolts brought the status of women to the fore, and equal citizenship became a central goal. Social actors were therefore particularly active in contesting the constitution-making processes that were launched.

Based on field research produced by Egyptian and Tunisian civil society activists and academics, this report analyzes the influence of civil society during the constitution-making processes in those two countries through the lens of women’s rights. These processes reflect in particular the struggle between the Islamists, the former regimes, and civil society over the identity and the future of the region.

The 2012 constitution in Egypt, the drafting of which was led by Islamists with little appetite for compromise, was far from satisfactory to civil society, though it did improve on its predecessor in some areas. Egypt’s 2014 constitution represented major progress for women’s rights, but the process itself was exclusive, paving the way for a campaign of repression of basic rights. In Tunisia, on the other hand, the constitution-making exercise has become in many ways a model to follow, demonstrating that Islamism and the Western liberal order are not necessarily incompatible and that the process of drafting a constitution may be more important than the content of the document itself.

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The Central African Republic (CAR) is currently experiencing an increase in violence against civilians and a slide toward instability, while attempts to find a solution through a political process have stalled. Despite efforts to strengthen state authority outside Bangui, the state is not present in most of the country, and Central Africans do not trust their government to represent them or the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in CAR (MINUSCA) to protect them.

In anticipation of the expected renewal of MINUSCA’s mandate in November 2017, the International Peace Institute (IPI), the Stimson Center, and Security Council Report co-organized a workshop on October 3, 2017, to help member states and UN develop a shared understanding and common strategic assessment of the situation on the ground in CAR. This workshop was the sixth 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, when reviewing MINUSCA’s mandate, the Security Council should prioritize the protection of civilians and increase MINUSCA’s troop ceiling. It should also articulate a clearer role for MINUSCA in the political process, strengthen support to local peace capacities, encourage the mission to make more strategic use of its mandate to adopt urgent temporary measures, strengthen the mission’s efforts on security sector reform, and redefine the mission’s role in promoting inclusive and representative state institutions.

This publication is part of a project funded by ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) with resources provided by the German Federal Foreign Office.

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On October 18th, IPI welcomed local peacebuilders from across the globe to examine how community-led peace networks can develop more inclusive and integrated peacebuilding processes.

At the roundtable authors’ workshop, six peacebuilders talked about their upcoming reports on peacebuilding networks in their case study countries. The event marks the conclusion of a two-year project with the Carnegie Foundation to explore local peace networks in eight case studies, examine how local and international peace actors can complement each other, broaden participation in peacebuilding programs, and improve overall peacebuilding outcomes.

Lesley Connolly, Policy Analyst at IPI and Youssef Mahmoud, IPI Senior Adviser, opened the event with a discussion on the relevance of sustaining peace at the local level, noting the shift from peacebuilding to sustaining peace at the United Nations following dual resolutions in the General Assembly and the Security Council on sustaining peace passed in 2015. The speakers underlined that sustaining peace is a long term process, not only for countries which have gone through conflict, but all countries, and requires inclusive participation at the local level.

The first session, chaired by Arthur Boutellis, Director of the Brian Urquhart Center for Peace Operations at IPI, featured presentations from Stephen Kirimi, Regional Programme Manager at the Life and Peace Institute in Ethiopia, Kessy Ekomo-Soignet, Executive Director of URU in Central African Republic and Dr. Webster Zambara, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation in South Africa. Each presenter shined a light on local peace networks in Kenya, Central African Republic, and Zimbabwe respectively.

Sarah Taylor, IPI Research Fellow, chaired the second session, which included presentations from Nicolas Chamat Matallana, Researcher at Centro de Recursos para el Analisis de Conflictos in Colombia, Hasini Haputhanthri, independent consultant on peacebuilding and reconciliation in Sri Lanka and Masana Ndinga, Senior Researcher at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in South Africa.

Two peace networks were showcased per country, each working on initiatives such as civic engagement, policy advocacy, women and youth engagement and conflict mapping and prevention. The commonality between all networks is that they strive to engage local communities in peacebuilding. The participants discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the network structure, as well as complex topics such as peacebuilding in conflict and post-conflict countries, avoiding political capture, and issues related to sustainable funding. Recommendations on how the international community could better support these networks’ work and how knowledge from local voices could be better integrated into the international community’s policies were also presented.

Lesley Connolly closed the event by emphasizing the value of peacebuilding networks in empowering local voices and bringing those perspectives to the United Nations policy community.

“Networks are able to connect to the debates and show the voices of local actors,” she said. “These networks help us understand what is working in society and how we can leverage this to sustain peace.”

She pointed out that we will only understand how to sustain peace in a society if we know what is working and how it is working.

“As the date of the Secretary General’s report on sustaining peace grows closer, the international community needs to identify, in practice, how to connect peace and development in a holistic manner,” she said.

“Building awareness for sustaining peace requires bringing voices from the field to this debate,” she said. “Sustaining peace is ultimately a shared task and should include a broad range of views and voices, especially of those impacted by violent conflict and currently working to prevent it.”

“Without investing in strengthening local peace capacities, even the most aspirational declarations at the UN and in capitals around the world will fail.”

On Tuesday, October 17th, IPI and Peace Direct cohosted a policy forum to better understand the connection between sustaining peace and the work of local peacebuilders. The event focused on some of these connections and hear from four local peacebuilders about their experiences of sustaining peace and how the United Nations and international community can better support their work in the name of sustaining peace.

To understand sustaining peace, there is a need to hear the voices of local peacebuilders working in their communities. In order to learn more from local actors and their views on sustaining peace, the International Peace Institute and Peace Direct shared an informal, qualitative survey with forty respondents from twenty-two countries in four regions to hear their views on sustaining peace and the work of the UN. This survey aims to unpack views of local peacebuilders around the world and connect that to the policy discussions underway in New York.

On April 27, 2016, the UN General Assembly and Security Council passed identical resolutions on sustaining peace, marking a watershed shift in the understanding of peacebuilding and setting in motion many consultations, meetings, and reports that will culminate in a high-level event on sustaining peace in practice (set for April 2018). Over the past year, a number of peacebuilding actors at UN headquarters have been working to unpack what sustaining peace means in practice and highlight why it is vital to ensuring long-term peace, development, and prosperity. For more information on these initiatives and the survey results, please see the concept note.

This event is part of a project that receives funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Opening Remarks:
Ms. Lesley Connolly, Policy Analyst, International Peace Institute
Ms. Bridget Moix, US Senior Representative, Peace Direct

Speakers:
Ms. Sawssan Abou-Zahr, Journalist and Local Peacebuilding Expert, Lebanon
Mr. Michael Olufemi Sodipo, Coordinator, Peace Initiative Network, Nigeria
Ms. Martine Kessy Ekomo-Soignet, Executive Director, URU, Central Africa Republic
Mr. Webster Zambara, Senior Project Leader, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, South Africa

Respondent:
Ms. Chelsea Payne, Policy Officer, United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office

Moderator:
Ms. Lesley Connolly, Policy Analyst, International Peace Institute

IPI President Terje Rod-Larsen, and Shaban Abdelhamid Osman, CEO of 1958 PMM, sign the MoU in the presence of Nejib Friji, Director of IPI MENA.

Using preventive diplomacy to find sustainable solutions to water-related challenges in the MENA region is the strategic objective of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on October 17, 2017 by IPI President Terje Rod-Larsen, and Shaban Abdelhamid Osman, President & CEO of 1958 Project Management & Marketing S.P.C (1958 PMM).

During the signing ceremony held at IPI’s Middle East and North Africa office (IPI MENA) in Bahrain, both parties stressed that water diplomacy is proving instrumental “now more than ever” in order to prevent fast-escalating water-related divides from developing into threats to peace.

IPI and 1958 PMM will seek to identify ways different actors can address water resources and scarcity within and among countries of the region, and find frameworks to allow sustainable peace-based solutions by embedding them in a comprehensive and collaborative strategy that links solving water-related differences to broader cooperation in the region.

IPI and 1958 PMM will jointly identify and rely on regional and international expertise through studies, convening, and outreach, including with multilateral institutions and other relevant organizations.

About 1958 PMM

1958 PMM offers services like project management, finance, consulting, BPM, business analysis and many others. 1958 has more than 40 years of experience doing business worldwide, but with special expertise in the Middle East. Supporting society and promoting overall prosperity being their core business belief, 1958 promotes and executes responsible entrepreneurship.

The dual “sustaining peace” resolutions adopted by the Security Council and General Assembly in April 2016 did not mention how this concept might be applied to responses to violent extremism. Nonetheless, given the failure of existing responses and the constantly evolving, multi-faceted nature of the problem, there is a clear need to examine the issue from this perspective.

This issue brief examines how the sustaining peace agenda is well-positioned to recalibrate responses to violent extremism. It can help to mobilize political will for meaningful change among actors within the multilateral system while also encouraging civil society, the private sector, women’s and youth groups, and other sectors to be agents for change in their own countries and communities. In order to achieve this change, proponents of sustaining peace will need to:

• Advocate moving away from reactive, security-focused responses to violent extremism in isolation from other approaches;
• Acknowledge that countering and preventing violent extremism (CVE/PVE) are broadly compatible with sustaining peace;
• Increase awareness of the state-centric nature of CVE/PVE and work to make these efforts more inclusive;
• Compel policymakers and practitioners to consider the broader range of causes of instability and conflict beyond just violent extremism; and
• Encourage actors within the UN system and its member states to focus more on factors that contribute to peaceful societies rather than only on those that contribute to conflict.

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On Tuesday October 3rd, representatives from member states, the UN Secretariat, independent experts and members of civil society met at IPI to discuss how to apply the 2015 recommendations of the High-Level Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO) to the context of the Central African Republic.

The event was the sixth in a series of workshops co-organized by IPI, Security Council Report, the Stimson Center, and the Permanent Mission of Germany to the UN to examine how the recommendations related to mandating, planning, and analysis in the 2015 HIPPO report and the follow-up report of the Secretary-General can be applied to country-specific contexts. A similar workshop was held in July on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (main conclusions available here).

The closed door meeting, held under the Chatham House rule of non-attribution, allowed participants to discuss the challenges that face the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Central African Republic (MINUSCA), as well as current national and international responses to these challenges. A political strategy on the prioritization and sequencing of the mandate for MINUSCA was also considered ahead of the mandate’s renewal in November.

The first session, chaired by Youssef Mahmoud, IPI Senior Adviser, began by identifying the realities and challenges that MINUSCA currently faces, as well as challenges confronted by the Central African government and civilians on the ground. Speakers were encouraged to not only identify areas of struggle, but also areas of success upon which sustainable peace can be built.

The lively discussion explored a variety of issues such as the protection of civilians, economic drivers of the conflict, troop size and the status and return of refugees. The role of MINUSCA was central to these conversations; particularly in restoring state capacity through security sector reform and supporting capacity building for the national military and police force. In this context, participants assessed what a regional presence in CAR should look like for MINUSCA.

The second session, chaired by Ian Martin, Executive Director of Security Council Report, built on the topics identified as being of key importance, and centered on the prioritization and sequencing of these issues in the future mandate. With a robust mandate and limited resources, many felt that the responsibilities of MINUSCA should be decreased, in an effort to increase the efficiency of a few key tasks. This called into question which tasks should be prioritized as central to the mandate, and what resources MINUSCA would need to achieve these tasks.

The meeting was attended by representatives from Egypt, Canada, Italy, Sweden, China, Central African Republic, France, United States, Russia, Bangladesh, South Sudan, Portugal, Ethiopia, as well as UN staff and members of civil society such as Invisible Children, Human Rights Watch, the Center for Civilians in Conflict, Stimson Center, Security Council Report and the United States Institute for Peace.

Current deployment of civilian and military air assets to UN peace operations

Number of helicopters in current UN peacekeeping missions

Aviation assets, which include fixed-wing aircraft, utility and attack helicopters, and unmanned aerial systems, are key enablers that give peace operations the mobility and agility they need to deter and prevail against hostile actors. They are also force multipliers that enhance the effectiveness of multidimensional operations, allowing them to implement their mandates. However, peace operations face a chronic shortage of air assets with the right capabilities, and pressure to cut costs is likely to push missions to further rationalize and reduce the use of air assets.

This report looks at how missions’ air assets are organized, generated, managed, tasked, controlled, and commanded. It also makes a number of recommendations to address persistent shortcomings:

• At the headquarters level, the UN should take a more strategic approach to deploying air assets, facilitate multinational rotation contributions, encourage triangular partnerships, share air assets among missions, and review the policy for command and control.
• At the mission level, the UN should require civilian and military components of aviation units to be better integrated, implement existing policies and procedures, provide training on standard operating procedures, and restrict the use of special flights.

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The global health architecture is increasingly under strain. Pandemics and epidemics are occurring at an unprecedented rate in recent years, and the Ebola crisis in particular revealed serious flaws in the capability of the system to prevent and respond to these crises. As the links between health, development, and security challenges become ever clearer, the multilateral system anchored in the United Nations must address these issues with renewed focus.

This policy paper maps the landscape of public health challenges and provides an overview of current debates. 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:

• Reaffirm the centrality of the World Health Organization (WHO);
• Strengthen normative frameworks for accountability;
• Forge partnerships and reinforce linkages beyond the WHO; and
• Recall the primary responsibility of states to prepare for epidemics and strengthen health systems.

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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Recruitment for position-specific job openings (Click for full graphic)

Recruitment from rosters (Click for full graphic)

Recruitment for a POLNET position-specific job opening (Click for full graphic)

As the UN has grown in terms of size, role, and mandate, restructuring its human resources (HR) system has become a pressing necessity. Staffing missions operating in conflict zones and managing and retaining people in hardship duty stations have proven difficult, leading to multiple attempts at organizational reform. However, past reforms have had limited, counterproductive, or controversial effects, and HR processes remain opaque, lengthy, and largely inefficient.

The report focuses on issues related to recruitment, staffing, and management of personnel in UN peace operations, drawing on the conclusions and recommendations of the HIPPO report, lessons from past efforts at HR reform, and extensive interviews. The study recommends four directions to move in to make human resources fit for the purposes of field operations:

• Get the right people for field missions by putting in place more efficient principles and systems for recruitment of quality staff, making working conditions more flexible and acceptable to better retain staff, and improving performance management systems to make it easier to terminate underperforming staff.
• Reduce bureaucracy by decentralizing decisions on and control over recruitment to field missions and streamlining rules and procedures for the field, including by lifting restrictions, relaxing the principle of competitiveness, and facilitating internal movement and promotion.
• Empower HR teams in the field by ending the culture of hostility between HR staff and hiring managers, reducing the clerical duties of HR teams in the field, moving from a culture of rule-compliance to a culture of service-delivery, and encouraging HR staff to become strategic partners in finding solutions to recruitment and management problems.
• Depoliticize human resources by building confidence between member states and the Secretariat and reducing the Fifth Committee’s micromanagement of human resources.

Beyond these technical recommendations, it urges placing people before processes in order to humanize the UN’s HR system.

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On October 5th, IPI hosted a policy forum event to launch the publication of the IPI policy paper, “People before Process: Humanizing the HR System for UN Peace Operations.”

As it evolved from an organization dedicated to conference services to a complex machine deploying multidimensional peace operations, the UN has had to tackle essential human resources challenges. Staffing missions operating in conflict zones—within timeframes and conditions adapted to changing needs on the ground—as well as managing and retaining people in hardship duty stations, have proven particularly difficult.

Despite multiple attempts at organizational reform, HR processes remain opaque, lengthy, and largely inefficient. Reforms related to the management of personnel have failed to create the HR system needed to support field missions, especially because they created cumbersome procedures for recruitment, performance management, and mobility. Policies in place have contributed to disheartening both hiring managers and candidates trying to navigate burdensome processes and restrictions. The new staffing system, which started to be implemented in 2016, has appeared to be a missed opportunity to simplify procedures and has further centralized recruitment decisions.

The new report, “People before Process: Humanizing the HR System for UN Peace Operations” analyzes the HR system of the UN and the various human resources challenges for peace operations. It explores the directions to move in and recommends political, organizational and cultural changes to make the HR system better fit for field purposes. This event provided the opportunity to discuss these challenges and recommendations, and to inform the management reform efforts of the UN Secretariat.

Speakers:
Dr. Namie Di Razza, Post-doctoral Fellow, International Peace Institute
Mr. Fabrizio Hochschild, Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic coordination, Executive Office of the Secretary-General
Mrs. Chhaya Kapilashrami, Director, Field Personnel Division, Department of Field Support
Mrs. Cherith Norman, Minister Counselor for UN Management and Reform, Permanent Mission of the US to the United Nations

Moderator:
Mr. Arthur Boutellis, Director, Brian Urquhart Center for Peace Operations, International Peace Institute

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“This is a ‘sigh of relief’ party which we do on an annual basis to celebrate the liberation of Turtle Bay because every year there is an invasion here,” IPI President Terje Rød-Larsen told guests who thronged the Trgyve Lie Center on Tuesday night, September 26, 2017.

“They arrive by plane, all the peacocks, all 193 come in motorcades, with blue lights, and they make life miserable for permanent representatives and ambassadors who are normally the kings of the hill here but are now demoted to servants,” he continued.

“But, of course, when they leave, there is a sigh of relief, and so we’ve invited you here tonight to celebrate the liberation of Turtle Bay.”

Among those who joined in the light-hearted festivities was the guest of honor, Miroslav Lajčák, the Foreign Minister of Slovakia, who is the new President of the General Assembly.

“Relax,” he told the party goers, “but not for too long. We have already started the next stage, with the first high level today and the second tomorrow so I hate to disappoint you.”

He reported that this year there had been 196 General Debate statements delivered from the General Assembly podium, the most ever in a High Level Week.

He also participated in IPI’s Sustaining Peace Stories collaborative project, answering the three questions:

“What does peace mean to you?”
“What are the obstacles to achieving peace?” and

“What would overcome these obstacles?”

His answers, in order, were:

“Peace to me means that you feel safe and secure, that you know that your dignity is protected and your rights are respected. Peace also means that you can blend your personal future and your professional future, and you don’t have to make any compromises.”

“There are many but basically the main obstacle is bad politics and a bad economy, which is also the result of bad politics, but it could also be climate change that results in a shortage of food and water.”

“We need more political will. We need more political commitment to peace. We need for peace to become really the number one priority. When we speak about peace, we have to mean peace being the most important thing and then we can achieve peace.”

Three experts including IPI Visiting Fellow Alexandra Novosseloff discussed UN Security Council reform in this TRT World segment, touching on the divisive issues the world body faces such as nationalism and a lack of political will.

Ms. Novosseloff noted that, “the Security Council is a reflection of the divisions of the world,” but still believes that we should remain optimistic of the Security Council’s ability to adapt. Though the possibility of reform was discussed by all three experts—Ms. Novosseloff was joined by Mona Khalil of Independent Diplomat and Salman Shaikh of the Shaikh Group— she argued that expanding the Security Council would mean more voices which could complicate the process further.

Despite these shortcomings of the Security Council to act in situations such as Syria and Myanmar, the three experts remained optimistic that the change was possible, with Ms. Novosseloff arguing that the “UN has been reforming itself for decades.”

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IPI and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) of Switzerland co-sponsored a policy forum on September 22, 2017 to share and discuss the conclusions and recommendations of the second regional conversation on “Investing in Peace and Prevention in the Sahel-Sahara” held in N’Djamena, Chad four months ago.

That meeting, which addressed the nature of violent extremism in the region as perceived by those directly affected by it (main conclusions here), had followed the first one, in Dakar in June, 2016, and a precursor seminar in Tunis in November, 2015.

This latest discussion featured a panel of participants from the N’Djamena talks, one of whom, Jean-Daniel Biéler, Special Adviser for Central Africa, Human Security Division of the FDFA, acknowledged that violent extremism in the Sahel had not diminished since the Dakar meeting 15 months ago but asserted that he now saw “a lot of advances that are important for our understanding of what could be a preventative approach.”

“We have seen that there is no specific profile for a violent person,” he said, “but there is a profile of the groups who use violence to get to their goals, and they will use all cracks and gaps in our social structure to get through.”

To forestall that, he said, “we need to re-anchor our own political values where we are practicing them–from representative elections, to access to political expression, to environmental preservation. Communities, NGOs, and states have to take our responsibilities and open the door for dialogue wherever it is.”

Olivier Zehnder, Switzerland’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said the N’Djamena talks had shown that “there are more and more voices that want to gain in preventing violence. The main thing that comes out of these conversations is that we have to speak, and to speak, we have to meet.”

Steven Siqueira, Deputy Director of the UN Office of Counterterrorism, said that while it had become clear that “harsh crackdowns and heavy handed approaches can be counterproductive,” more emphasis needed to be put on developing alternative approaches. “We’ll only succeed in addressing the increasingly transnational threat of terrorism if we develop a new and comprehensive agenda for multilateral cooperation with a focus on prevention,” he said.

Specifically, he said, “the international community must do more to address the roots of radicalization including real and perceived injustices, high levels of unemployment, and grievances among young people.”

Involving women directly in negotiating for peace and preventing violence was the fervently uttered demand of Madeleine Memb, journalist and representative of MediaWomen4Peace in Cameroon. The fact that women in the region are burdened by living with debilitating personal loss and in real distress does not inhibit their ability to make a meaningful contribution, but quite the opposite, she argued.

By way of example, she said, “We questioned a woman who saw her child beheaded in front of her, and she said, ‘What I am looking for is that women need to be supported.’”

“Can women play a role in investment policy?” she asked. “I say, ‘Yes.’ At the high level, understand feminist existence, women participating actively in decision-making levels, to orient policy to take into account what they are seeing, what they are living.”

Asserting that when women go into politics, policies become more effective, she contended, “It’s time now that we give women the means, which, contrary to what you might think, is not a question of material means, but it’s psychological solutions, answers, words to reflect on their suffering, to try to understand what’s happening to them, to try to understand why their child is being radicalized.”

Aliyu Gebi, Senior Special Adviser of the Nigerian Ministry of Interior, said that though his region suffered from “weaponized poverty, layered with weaponized religion and weaponized politics,” he believed peace was still possible if organized society adjusted itself to the “reality on the ground.”

He defined peace as “the ability to allow my children to go outside and play, to go to the mosque, park, market, movies, to come back home without my worrying about where they are. Peace means mothers allowed to be mothers, fathers to be fathers, and children to be children,” he said. But he warned, “At any point in time that this balance is disturbed, there will be problems in society.”

An optimistic note was sounded by Gali Ngothé Gatta, parliament member from Chad. “The Lake Chad region is being rebuilt even though a few Boko Haram fighters are sowing death and destruction,” he said. “The first sign of progress I observed in Chad was the actors associating themselves together to help communities reorient themselves.”

Among them, he identified agricultural workers, religious leaders, women’s organizations, local politicians, members of civil society, and the international community including NGOs, the European Union and the UN.

He concluded: “The state had a monopoly on the debate, but now it’s an open debate, discussing what is going on, why they are mobilizing young children in violence.”

Youssef Mahmoud, IPI Senior Adviser, moderated the discussion.