Multi-stakeholder Pledge: Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention

Background

In 2023, the world faces a record level of forced displacement, with over 110 million people forced to flee their homes, including over 35 million refugees. In such context, the root causes of forced displacement, including conflict and violence, need to be more proactively addressed. Conflict and violence are the dominant forces behind recent forced displacement and behind protracted refugee situations, also representing critical obstacles to the safe and dignified return and sustainable reintegration of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons. The growing effects of climate change have created additional need for a focus on environmental peacebuilding and preventing the drivers of conflict, as basic resources become scarcer and exacerbate tensions between returnee and host communities. There is growing interest among UN agencies, Member States and wider society to refocus global, regional and national efforts on peacebuilding and conflict prevention action in order to tackle the root causes of forced displacement and unlock solutions. Objective 4 of the GCR calls for increased support for conditions in countries of origin for return in safety and dignity, conditions that, in many contexts, cannot be achieved without peace.

Pledge description

In order to create conducive conditions for safe and dignified return and reintegration and address the root causes of refugee movements and other forced displacement, the Republic of Colombia, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Kingdom of Norway and the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) have come forward with this multi-stakeholder pledge on peacebuilding and conflict prevention. Specific commitments are being developed by stakeholders under three tracks:

1. Inter-UN agency (led by the Peacebuilding Support Office through the UN Peacebuilding Contact Group, a global inter-agency coordination platform);
2. Member States under the leadership of the Republic of Colombia, the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the Kingdom of Norway; and
3. Regional and sub-regional situations (through support platforms, specific refugee situations, or regional and sub-regional bodies and organizations).

Commitments will likely centre on the following sub-themes:

1. Participation and leadership of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in peacebuilding processes;
2. National capacity sharing on peacebuilding and conflict prevention;
3. Climate and environmental peacebuilding;
4. Conflict prevention through addressing root causes including enhancing the resilience of communities and livelihood opportunities; and
5. Global Commitments focusing on elevating forced displacement as a key consideration as part of global peacebuilding policy and programming.

Key outcomes

1. Amplifying the meaningful participation and leadership of refugees and other forcibly displaced, especially women, in specific peacemaking and peacebuilding processes, including through (1) support to the design and implementation of inclusive peace processes and peacebuilding activities, (2) strengthening the participation of women-led CSOs and refugee-led organisations, and (3) advocacy for the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda.
2. Strengthening governance through sub-national, national and regional capacity sharing and institutional strengthening for (1) protection, (2) participation of refugees in civic space, and (3) community conflict resolution.
3. Enhancing climate-sensitive and environmental peacebuilding specifically related to (1) natural resource management, including equitable access to water, (2) conflict sensitivity in climate adaptation, and (3) land rights and restitution.
4. Preventing conflict through addressing local root causes, such as social and economic disempowerment, especially of youth, including through (1) creation of climate-resilient livelihoods opportunities and (2) access to secondary and tertiary education and vocational skills training, including peace education.
5. Support inclusive global peacebuilding and conflict prevention policies targeted at creating conducive conditions for return in countries and or areas of origin, including through (1) elevating issues of refugees and other forcibly displaced in Member States’ capacities as members of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) and/or as members of the peace and security organs of Regional Organizations, (2) raising the peacebuilding needs of refugees or other forcibly displaced and their countries of origin in other global fora, including for example meetings of the G7, G20, OECD, COPs, etc. and (3) facilitating evidence and knowledge generation on the interrelationship of conflict and violence and forced displacement.

Leadership

• Republic of Colombia
• Arab Republic of Egypt
• Kingdom of Norway
• UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs

Contact

Agnès Hurwitz, UNHCR - [email protected]; Fern Tilakamonkul - [email protected]

Calendar

• March: Preparatory meetings with the Mission of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the UN in Geneva
• April: First meeting of the time-bound working group on the GRF under the UN Peacebuilding Contact Group (PCG)
• May: First draft of PCG pledge for peacebuilding
• May: Preparatory meetings with UNHCR Regional Bureaux
• June: First meeting of Member States on peacebuilding pledge for the GRF
• July-September: Continued consultations with stakeholders
• October-December: Drafting and finalisation of pledges