On the 11th November QUNO co-organised an event with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). This event was part of on-going collaborative work with FES that aims to link human rights and sustaining peace approaches in the work of the United Nations.  Patricia Justino of the Institute of Development Studies presented her research using econometric data to explore the potential of social, political and economic inequalities as drivers of destructive conflict and Stefania Tripodi of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human rights (OHCHR) discussed research on economic, social and cultural rights and early warning of conflict. A political perspective was provided by Andreas Schieder, Head of the Social Democratic Party in the Austrian parliament.

QUNOs Peace and Disarmament Representative Diane Hendrick, introduced this discussion by explaining the meaning and significance of the term “sustaining peace” that has emerged at the UN out of the review of the Peacebuilding Architecture in 2015. This terminology is important as it recognizes the central role of peacebuilding in all the UN’s work, the fact that peacebuilding needs to take place before during and after destructive conflict and that the emphasis should be on preventative work. Diane underlined the necessity to integrate peacebuilding, human rights and development approaches, making use of relevant targets within the SDGs, in order to sustain peace and promote sustainable development.