In recent years, conversations around and within the United Nations have reinforced the urgent need to unify the organisation around a long-term vision of peace. A vision that does not follow the common sequential approach to conflict response, which begins with humanitarian action and peacemaking, then shifts to peacekeeping and peacebuilding, and finally transitions to development.
Striving to break this mould, the ‘Sustaining Peace’ resolutions adopted in the UN General Assembly and the Security Council in April 2016 underscore that prevention lies at the heart of the UN’s work on peace and security. They emphasise that sustaining peace is as an inherently political process that spans prevention, mediation, conflict management and resolution, necessitating integrated approaches to peacebuilding.
In 2016–2018, the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, together with the International Peace Institute and the NYU Center on International Cooperation, supported UN Member States and the UN system in better understanding and implementing sustaining peace through an informal workshop series, titled ‘Applying Sustaining Peace’.
The workshops brought together targeted groups of UN system staff, mission experts, and academics and practitioners in an informal setting, with the aim of generating concrete ideas to move sustaining peace forward. The series resulted in a policy paper that analysed how the UN can work more coherently and effectively, applying the vision of sustaining peace and living up to its Charter obligations to save future generations from the scourge of war.
Download the Concept Note (PDF) for the workshop series.
Workshops
December 2016
Sustaining peace and peace operation mandates: The Liberia transition
Workshop report (PDF)
January 2017
Sustaining peace and the financing puzzle: Opportunities, challenges and dilemmas
Workshop report (PDF)
February 2017
Sustaining Peace through Inclusion: Partnerships with Civil Society and Local Actors
Workshop report (PDF)
March 2017
Sustaining Peace and Prevention: Comparing Responses to Crises in Gambia and Burundi
Workshop report (PDF)
July 2017
Applying Sustaining Peace and Human Rights: The links between Sustaining Peace and Human Rights
Workshop report (PDF)
February 2018
The Liberian Transition and Lessons for Sustaining Peace
Workshop report (PDF)
