Conflict Prevention and Sustaining Peace

Developing and implementing effective, evidence-based policies to prevent violent conflict around the world.

UN Peacekeepers from Senegal

After a period of decline, violent conflict has been increasing over the last decade. Today’s conflicts are proving increasingly difficult to resolve due to the proliferation of actors and forms of violence – such as criminal, local and unconventional warfare – creating complex systems of confrontation resistant to traditional conflict management techniques. The UN needs a strong understanding of these multi-dimensional conflict systems and also of how its tools for addressing violence can be adapted to these contexts to manage, resolve and – centrally – prevent this violence and conflict.

UNU-CPR aims to help the UN and its partners develop and implement effective, evidence-based policies to prevent violent conflict around the world. Our goal is to combine evidence and analysis to influence policy discussions in New York and other policy centres and – equally or even more importantly – inform prevention and conflict resolution initiatives in the field.

UNU-CPR designs and implements its work in collaboration with the UN Secretariat, other UN system entities, Member States, and a global network of research partners as well as UN missions in the field. It builds its projects jointly with UN agencies and other key research and policy partners, ensuring direct engagement with policy processes at multiple levels. UNU-CPR personnel have been invited to brief the Security Council on multiple occasions – for example, on children in armed conflict, transitional justice, sexual violence and sanctions, and Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration.

UNU-CPR’s work has informed a variety of UN reform efforts and guidance reviews, including the revision of the Integrated Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Standards (IDDRS); Paris Principles Steering Group field handbook on prevention of child recruitment, release and reintegration; and the efforts of the Global Coalition for Reintegration. UNU-CPR personnel have also testified in national parliamentary proceedings, been invited to brief UN inter-agency groups and Resident Coordinators, and appeared in a range of media outlets.

Highlights

Report

Peacekeeping responses to transnational organized crime and trafficking: a case study of MINUSMA

Exploring challenges undermining efforts to counter transnational organized crime in Mali.

12 Sep 2024

Brief

Multilateral responses to transnational organized crime and conflict

Exploring global policy responses to transnational organized crime, and future policy directions.

13 Aug 2024

Commentary

Media Coverage

South Korea Wants the World to Wake Up to the Serious Threats of Cybersecurity

In a new PassBlue UNSCripted Podcast episode, Eduardo Albrecht contextualizes South Korea's increasing focus on cybersecurity.

13 Jun 2024

Gaza air strike

Media Coverage

What is the Path to Peace in Gaza?

13 Dec 2023

MONUSCO Conducts Joint Operation with Congolese Forces in Beni

Climate-Security and Peacebuilding

Examining global trends and approaches to sustaining peace through climate-security efforts, and taking stock of climate-security projects funded by the UN's Peacebuilding Fund to understand best practices and identify areas for programming improvement.
Download Thematic Review

Projects

Project

2024 PBF Thematic Review: Synergies between Human Rights and Peacebuilding in PBF-supported Programming

Evaluating the Peacebuilding Fund's role in fostering synergies between human rights and peacebuilding.

30 May 2024

Project

Thematic Review on Youth, Peace and Security

Examining how the Peacebuilding Fund has contributed to realizing the "YPS" agenda over the past five years.

09 Feb 2024

Project

Countering transnational organized crime in conflict-affected states

Exploring past multilateral efforts to counter transnational organized crime in conflict-affected states and fragile states, and identifying more coherent and effective responses.

25 Jul 2023

Project

Stress Testing the UN’s Regional Prevention Approaches

This project was driven by the key question: How can the UN better integrate its regional prevention work to more effectively respond to major crises?

24 Jul 2023

Project

Thematic Review on Climate-Security and Peacebuilding

Identifying entry points and pathways for building peace and mitigating conflict in climate-affected and fragile environments.

24 Jul 2023

Project

Inclusion and Gender Sensitivity for Effective Peace Mediation

This project showed that women’s inclusion and gender sensitivity in peace mediation are inseparable but not interchangeable.

09 Feb 2022

News and Events

Event

The role of the General Assembly in strengthening peace and security

A hybrid side event scheduled during the Action Days leading up to the Summit of the Future

-

Event

Stronger Partnerships, Regional Prevention, and the New Agenda for Peace: A Dialogue Towards the Summit of the Future

Critical considerations for the upcoming Summit of the Future.

-

News

New Policy Brief Helps Financial Sector Address Crisis-Driven Modern Slavery Risks

Identifying the steps financial institutions can take to prepare for and address risks associated with crises and displacements.

06 May 2023

Event

Understanding Climate-Related Mobility in Contexts of Urbanization

This roundtable examined the challenges of climate-related mobility and processes of urbanization in the Global South.

-