The third annual CSO-UN Dialogue on Peacebuilding, held in December of 2025 in Geneva, brought together civil society actors, UN officials, and member states to strengthen partnerships amid rising geopolitical tensions. The dialogue aimed to connect local peacebuilding efforts with international policymaking.
QUNO and other civil society participants contributed important analysis and lived experience to the discussions. Dialogue participants also offered recommendations as the UN seeks opportunities to both increase its efficiency and impact. At the same time, UN representatives shared some of the political and practical considerations present in UN negotiations at this time. One such diplomat shared, “Dialogue is a way to encourage new thinking – it provides opportunities to find solutions that are less state-centric, to rebuild confidence, and to co-create solutions.”
Those co-created solutions will be sorely needed as the UN moves forward in its efforts to integrate the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agendas into its peace building architecture without direct reference to the words “gender,” “youth-led organizations,” or “sustained financing” for peacebuilding. The UN must also conduct its work without the words “multilateralism,” “climate,” or the “Sustainable Development Goals,” among other, all of which are being removed from UN resolutions, such as the recent Peacebuilding Architecture Review, by the heavy influence of US representatives.
