Realising Inclusivity: The role of the United Nations in promoting inclusion at the country level

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted in 2015 by all UN Member States with the intention of guiding all countries in their development, contains at its core a pledge ‘that no one will be left behind’. This section lists a number of important milestones in the development of the 2030 Agenda.

2000
World leaders adopt the UN Millennium Declaration, a commitment to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty. The Declaration also sets out a series of targets – the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – to be met by 2015.

2012
The UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro (Rio 20+) results in a focused political outcome document, ‘The Future We Want’, which contains clear and practical measures for implementing sustainable development. Member States decide to launch a process to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to build on the MDGs and converge with the post-2015 development agenda.

2014
For the first time, the theme of the UN Economic and Social Council’s Youth Forum takes the MDGs and SDGs into consideration.

2015
The UN General Assembly adopts a landmark resolution, ‘Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’, presenting ‘a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity’. The resolution outlines a set of 17 development-related targets – the SDGs – to be met by 2030 and contains the pledge ‘that no one will be left behind’.

2019
In September, Heads of State and Government gather at UN Headquarters in New York for the first SDG Summit–High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development to follow up and comprehensively review progress on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs.

In October, the UN General Assembly endorses a Political Declaration, ‘Gearing up for a decade of action and delivery for sustainable development’. World leaders call for a ‘Decade of Action’ to deliver the SDGs by 2030 and announce actions they are taking to advance the 2030 Agenda. More than 100 acceleration actions have so far been announced.

2020
End of the first cycle of 2030 Agenda implementation and review.

The twin 2016 resolutions passed by the UN Security Council and General Assembly on the review of the UN peacebuilding architecture (commonly referred to as the Sustaining Peace resolutions) emphasise inclusivity as ‘key to advancing national peacebuilding processes’. This section lists a number of important milestones in the development of the Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace Agenda.

2000
The Report of the Panel on UN Peace Operations (commonly known as the Brahimi report), underscoring the importance of the UN establishing more effective strategies for conflict prevention, is presented to the General Assembly and Security Council.

2005
The General Assembly and Security Council adopt twin resolutions (A/RES/60/180 and S/RES/1645) establishing the UN’s peacebuilding architecture, including the Peacebuilding Commission and the Peacebuilding Support Office. The resolutions also contain a request for the Secretary-General to establish a peacebuilding fund.

2006
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan establishes the Peacebuilding Fund, the UN’s financial instrument of first resort to sustain peace in countries or situations at risk or affected by violent conflict.

2015
As part of a review of UN peacebuilding, ‘Challenge of sustaining peace: Report of the Advisory Group of Experts on the Review of the UN’s Peacebuilding Architecture‘ is presented to the General Assembly and Security Council. The concept of sustaining peace is introduced, recognising peacebuilding as a process that is needed before, during and after conflict.

2016
The General Assembly and Security Council adopt twin resolutions (A/RES/70/262 and S/RES/2282) on the review of the UN’s peacebuilding architecture. The resolutions endorse the concept of sustaining peace and underline the importance of inclusivity in advancing sustaining peace and in particular the role of civil society, women and youth in the prevention and resolution of conflict.

2018
In January, the Secretary-General’s 2018 report on peacebuilding and sustaining peace calls for the UN to improve its engagement with civil society at the local level.

In April, the General Assembly and Security Council adopt twin resolutions (A/RES/72/276 and S/RES/2413), calling on the Secretary-General to submit an interim report on peacebuilding, including financing of peacebuilding, and a comprehensive report as part of the 2020 review of the UN’s peacebuilding architecture.

In May, the UN and the World Bank publish a joint study, Pathways for Peace, arguing that the key to preventing crises is investment in inclusive and sustainable development and that inclusive decision making is fundamental to sustainable peace.

2019
The 2019 report of the Secretary-General on peacebuilding and sustaining peace notes that ‘strategic partnerships with regional and sub-regional partners on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace remain a priority for the UN’.

2020
In July, the Secretary-General releases his 2020 report on peacebuilding and sustaining peace, as input into the 2020 Review of the UN Peacebuilding Architecture.

In August, the Peacebuilding Support Office, with support of a joint UN–civil society working group, publishes the UN Community Engagement Guidelines. The guidelines aim to support UN field presences in developing country-specific community engagement strategies on peacebuilding and sustaining peace; and provide operational guidance to UN field presences on how to more effectively engage with civil society actors at the local level in peacebuilding and sustaining peace.

In December, the General Assembly and Security Council adopt twin resolutions (A/RES/75/201 and S/RES/2558) completing the 2020 review, noting that the lack of adequate financing remains a critical challenge to sustainable peace and calling for a comprehensive review of UN peacebuilding in 2025.

UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) recognises the important role of women in promoting peace. This section lists a number of important milestones in the development of the WPS Agenda.

1979
The United Nations approves the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), guaranteeing women equality in public, private, economic and social life.

1995
The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, including language on women, peace and security, is unanimously adopted by 189 countries at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing.

2000
The UN Security Council adopts landmark Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), addressing the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women and the pivotal role women should and do play in conflict prevention, peacekeeping, conflict resolution and peacebuilding.

2009
UN Security Council Resolution 1889 calls for the development of indicators to measure implementation of Resolution 1325.

2013
The UN Peacebuilding Commission adopts a declaration, entitled ‘Women’s economic empowerment for peacebuilding’, acknowledging the need for women’s direct participation and economic empowerment for sustainable peace.

UN Security Council Resolution 2122 affirms an ‘integrated approach’ to sustainable peace, setting out concrete methods for increasing women’s participation and recognising the need to address root causes of armed conflict and security risks faced by women.

2015
A Global Study on the Implementation of Resolution 1325, commissioned by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon as part of a review of UN peace and security, highlights good practices, gaps, challenges, emerging trends and priorities for action on the WPS Agenda.

UN Security Council Resolution 2242 highlights the importance of collaboration with civil society and calls for increased funding for gender-responsive training, analysis and programmes.

2016
The Peacebuilding Commission adopts a Gender Strategy to ensure a more structural and systematic integration of gender perspectives across its work, including in its country and region-specific engagements, thematic discussions and dialogues with other intergovernmental organisations.

2020
The Women, Peace and Security Agenda turns 20.

UN Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) underscores the need to acknowledge and engage young people as active agents of change. This section lists a number of important milestones in the development of the YPS Agenda.

2015
In August, young people at the Global Forum on Youth, Peace and Security in Amman, Jordan, adopt the Amman Youth Declaration (PDF), highlighting what is needed to partner with youth in preventing conflict and building a lasting peace.

In December, the UN Security Council adopts Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security, which recognises the contributions of young people in preventing and resolving conflicts and building peace.

2018
In March, The Missing Peace, an independent report commissioned by UN Secretary-General António Guterres (and as requested by Resolution 2250) calls on governments and the multilateral system to invest in young people’s capacities, address the structural barriers that limit youth participation in peace and security, and prioritise partnerships and collaborative action with young people themselves.

In June, the UN Security Council adopts S/RES/2419, underscoring the meaningful participation of young people as critical to sustainable peace and advancing the 2030 Agenda and urging stakeholders to facilitate young people’s equal and full participation in peace and decision-making processes at all levels.

In September, the Secretary-General launches Youth 2030: The UN Youth Strategy in an effort to strengthen the UN’s capacity to engage young people.

2020
The UN Security Council adopts S/RES/2535, calling on the protection of young people, the engagement of youth of diverse backgrounds and regular reporting on youth, peace and security.

 
24 March 2021

This roundtable with young peacebuilders focused on the work of the UN at the country level to strengthen youth participation and operationalise the YPS agenda and how these efforts could be further enhanced.

Key takeaways:

• Many young people feel that the UN is not accessible to them and their needs. Some do not understand what the UN really does or how it could be a resource to them in their work. Meaningful communication channels between the UN and youth should be created to allow young people to more easily access UN staff at the country level and provide input to project design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
• Innovative solutions that reach out to youth in their own spaces, including outreach through schools and camps, should be prioritised. Young people should be engaged in designing outreach strategies, as they know how to communicate with youth through their own channels, including those who are most marginalised.
• The UN has a role to play in raising awareness on YPS (and breaking it down into its five pillars) at the national level, particularly among national policymakers. There is also a need to shift traditional power structures by facilitating equal and meaningful conversations between youth, governments and national stakeholders, in which youth voices are at the centre, and connecting informal with formal processes.

 
30 March 2021
 
This interactive roundtable brought together representatives from international civil society organisations, working primarily at the global policy level, to share their reflections on efforts by the UN in supporting inclusivity. Discussions also explored entry points for collectively advocating at the global policy level for greater inclusion in UN peace and development efforts.

Key takeaways:

• International NGOs and civil society are often too reliant on the UN infrastructure, engaging with the UN using the organisation’s own jargon and tokenistic language – and speaking with one voice rather than in nuanced dialogue representative of the diverse experiences and perspectives of civil society. In engaging with the UN, international NGOs and civil society should reflect on their own role in contributing to exclusion and ensure that they practice meaningful inclusion, for example by using more inclusive language in engaging with the UN. There needs to be more focus on accessing innovative inclusion practices at the country level and finding ways to make them influence policy.
• Greater clarity is needed on the purpose of a given normative framework – who it’s for (the UN or more broadly?) and what it’s meant to accomplish – and how the UN at the country level should integrate said framework in programming.
• Beyond the normative – where inclusion is shaped by compliance – there is a need to shift attitudes towards an understanding that inclusion strengthens the UN’s work. There is also a need to prioritise inclusion concretely, including through funding.
• It is important to identify intersectional levels of exclusion and develop strategies and programming that take these intersections into account in a meaningful way (beyond listing out different groups).
• Creative mixed method approaches to monitoring and evaluating how the UN works to support inclusion should be encouraged. Quantitative data can for example be used to expand the discussion on participation and deepen inclusion – including in defining the progress or success of initiatives.

 
20 May 2021
 
This interactive roundtable brought together representatives from Resident Coordinator Offices (RCOs), with a focus on the role of the RCO in coordinating efforts at the country level to strengthen inclusivity, as well as how UN Headquarters can better support RCOs in this work. Through the exchange of best practices and ongoing challenges, the discussions sought to identify ways forward in making inclusive peace and development a reality in their country contexts.

Key takeaways:

• Opportunities for RCOs within and across regions to discuss, learn about and coordinate different regional efforts to strengthen inclusivity are few and far between.
• A plethora of guidance notes from UN Headquarters often leads to confusion among RCOs and UN agencies at the country level on how to promote the international normative frameworks identified in the report. The needs of local communities as well as the needs of UN agencies at the country level need to be taken into account when issuing these guidance notes.
• Adequate, sustained and flexible funding can serve as a catalyst for meaningfully promoting inclusivity throughout the UN’s work at the country level. In particular, engagement with International Financial Institutions (IFIs); local and global pooled funding mechanisms, such as the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF); and Multi-Partner Trust Funds are some best practices for ensuring continued and joint programming to operationalise normative frameworks. Inclusivity markers should be used as criteria for funding allocation.
• RCOs should ensure that inclusivity and the principle of leaving no one behind form the foundation of their work, and the work of all UN agencies, funds and programmes at the country level. In Indonesia, for example, the RC invited experts from OHCHR to educate the RCO on leaving no one behind, and ensured that the principle was mainstreamed in all Terms of Reference documentation within the RCO.
• RCOs should prioritise the involvement of young people, important partners in advancing the work of the UN at the country level. However, the UN must develop innovative solutions to engage with young people on all issues that affect their lives – not just on perceived ‘youth issues’.
• Strengthening contextual analyses and the collection of data, as well as the sharing of this analysis across agencies, are key in ensuring that the UN strategically and systematically reaches those communities left furthest behind. In lieu of this, the UN should utilise experts to ensure that UN colleagues working at the country level are provided with the knowledge necessary to meaningfully engage those communities most marginalised.

 
27 May 2021
 
This webinar, jointly organised by UNDP Sweden and the Foundation, explored how the UN pursues meaningful inclusion in practice, with examples from provided from Colombia and Malawi, and what is needed to further strengthen this work.

Key takeaways:

• The UN has an important convening role to play at the country level: facilitating dialogue between civil society and governments; ensuring that civil society voices are raised with governments and that their demands are translated into concrete action.
• The UN should explore how to engage with different actors, including universities and traditional authorities and religious leaders, to advance inclusion.
• Flexible and accessible funding to local civil society is critical to promoting inclusivity at the country level. This requires donors to find ways around requirements that organisations are registered and hold bank accounts. International NGOs can also play an important role in supporting local civil society organisations to access funds and identify ways to ensure that funding reaches marginalised communities. Donor governments should also require that all project proposals take into account inclusion dimensions.
• Inclusivity should be mainstreamed throughout the UN’s work, including by ensuring that structural barriers to engagement (access to roads, accessibility ramps, language, etc.) are taken into consideration when conducting trainings, consultations, etc. International NGOs and civil society engaging with the UN also have a responsibility to ensure that their own events are accessible to allow include diverse perspectives in discussions on how to strengthen the work of the UN.