Conflict Prevention, Peacekeeping, and Peacebuilding

Exploring strategies and mechanisms to help prevent or mitigate sources of conflict has been one of the core research and practice areas within UNU-CPR since its founding. This includes following current dynamics and evolving practice within UN-led peacekeeping and peacebuilding, as well as how diplomatic engagement, foreign assistance, and peacebuilding interventions by other multilateral or regional bodies or by individual Member States, can help mitigate and prevent conflict. 

Recent publications and policy collaborations in this area have explored the future of peace operations in a changing landscape, examined how peace operations have promoted human rights protection strategies, and stress-tested the regional architecture for prevention. UNU-CPR's work in this area also intersects with other key thematic areas. For example, how climate-security dynamics can both help and hinder conflict prevention and peacebuilding strategies, how inclusion of youth and women might enhance and extend peacebuilding work, and the implications of non-state armed groups and actors for peace operations.