The United Nations
and the Prevention of Violent Conflict
"For the United
Nations, there is no higher goal, no deeper commitment and
no greater ambition than preventing armed conflict.”
-United Nations Secretary
General Kofi Annan
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After
the Cold War, the UN published An Agenda for Peace, which
quickly became a milestone in the UN's peacebuilding
work. In it, the Secretary-General argued for coordination
of efforts along a spectrum: early warning of conflicts;
preventative diplomacy; peacekeeping, peacemaking, and,
as a last resort, enforcement action when preventative
efforts failed; peacekeeping when agreements are reached;
and post-conflict peacebuilding to reconstruct viable
and peaceful societies. The Secretary General called
for more efforts at all levels to integrate and coordinate
approaches within the UN system and called for activities
presently being pursued in isolation and without any
overriding sense of common purpose be better linked together – even
synchronized. Since the publication of An Agenda for
Peace in 1992, the Secretary General has issued numerous
prevention statements and reports, worked to strengthen
early warning capacity, designated the Department of
Political Affairs as the focal point for prevention efforts,
and created a Trust Fund for Preventive Action. In 1999,
the Secretary General released the Prevention of War
and Disaster, calling for more effective prevention strategies.
Since the turn of the century, the UN has increased its
focus on prevention. In 2000, it commissioned a high level
panel on UN Peace Operations. The panel, composed of individuals
experienced in various aspects of conflict prevention,
peacekeeping and peace-building, assessed the shortcomings
of the peace operations system and made recommendations
for change. The Security Council also passed a resolution recognizing
the important role that women play in conflict prevention.
The following year, the Secretary General released a new
report entitled Prevention of Armed Conflict, which reviewed
the progress achieved in developing the conflict prevention
capacity of the UN, and a resolution was passed by the
Security Council recognizing the crucial role that conflict
prevention plays. In 2003, after years of deliberation,
the General Assembly passed Resolution 57/337 on the prevention
of armed conflict, reflecting Member States commitment
to seriously engage the issue. Departments of the UN, such
as UN
Development Program engage prevention in its
activities, and many departments are beginning to view
and plan their work through a “prevention lens”.
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PEACEBUILDING COMMISSION:
Based on an initial recommendation by the Secretary General, the idea of establishing a UN Peacebuilding Commission (PC) was one of the few genuinely popular outcomes of the September 2005 Hi Level Plenary of world leaders. The idea of creating a standing advisory commission to "bring together all relevant actors to marshal resources and advise on and propose comprehensive strategies for peacebuilding and post-conflict recovery" (Outcomes Document) has received strong support from both governments and civil society organizations. Details are being negotiated at the present time with a goal of launching the Commission along with a Peacebuilding Support Office within the Secretary General's office in the Secretariat by December 31, 2005. While the initial mandate of the PC is largely focused on "post-conflict" situations, there is potential for the Commission to eventually address the conflict spectrum in a holistic way - including preventive strategies in the early stages of conflict becoming violent. For current information on the PC, visit the UN site or the WFM site or the UNReform site.
Momentum for prevention is growing within the UN, as reflecting
in a greater proliferation of reports and meetings relating to
the prevention of armed conflict. Member States of the UN General
Assembly are ready to engage the issue, and civil society movements
are building.
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Parent Bodies
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