IV. The peace being sustained: operationalizing prevention

Chapter:

6. Sustaining peace and sustainable development in dangerous places

Source:

SIPRI Yearbook 2017

Author(s):

Marina Caparini, Gary Milante

The call for a greater focus on preventing conflict has resonated across international forums over the past year (see section II). Former United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, acknowledged that ‘preventing and ending conflicts are recognized in the Charter of the United Nations as our first and foremost responsibility to humanity. Yet, that effort is not where our political leadership or resources are currently focused’.¹ The three major reviews of 2015 on peacebuilding, peace operations and UN Security Council Resolution 1325 each called for greater prevention efforts, and for increasing strategic capacities for prevention at the highest levels of the UN, within peace operations, and through resident coordinators and country teams. First, the Report of the Advisory Group of Experts (AGE) on the UN’s Peacebuilding Architecture held that peacebuilding occurs not only in post-conflict situations, but also before, during and after conflict, and that more attention needs to be paid to conflict prevention: a wider understanding of peacebuilding that was termed ‘sustaining peace’ (see section II). Second, the Report of the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO) called for conflict prevention and mediation to be ‘brought back to the fore’, with more attention on root causes of conflict and through inclusive and equitable development work.² It specifically recommended investing in and building the UN’s own capacities for conflict prevention, developing a more integrated UN approach to conflict prevention, the creation of a broad-based, high-level international forum on prevention, and the creation of new regional offices that could engage in preventive diplomacy in fragile regions.³ Third, the Global Study on women, peace and security emphasized that ‘prevention of conflict must be the priority, not the use of force’ and the need to implement both short-term, operational strategies and long-term strategies addressing root causes and structural drivers of violence.⁴