As one of the three pillars of the United Nations (UN) system, human rights have long been seen as foundational to peace and security. In 2016, the UN Security Council and the General Assembly reinforced these principles by adopting twin resolutions focused on peacebuilding and “sustaining peace”. The resolutions recognized that “development, peace and security, and human rights are interlinked and mutually reinforcing”.
One of the key instruments for supporting cross-pillar activities to advance peacebuilding is the Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund (PBF). To advance understanding of synergies between human rights and peacebuilding, this PBF Thematic Review examined a select sample of PBF programming – 92 projects implemented in 45 countries and territories – that were supported between 2017 and 2022, and had some linkage to human rights tools or strategies. The overall objective was to collect best practices and lessons learned across key areas of peacebuilding work – including transitional justice, advancing gender equality, supporting human rights defenders, and protecting or advancing civic space – while also contributing to a better understanding of how human rights and peacebuilding tools and strategies complement each other in advancing peace and preventing conflict.
The report also includes two country case studies, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and in Colombia, which allow for a more contextualized view of how human rights strategies can advance peacebuilding and conflict prevention (and vice versa), including in periods of transition for peace operations. A third case study, on programming to counter hate speech and disinformation, gathers emerging findings from this nascent field, while also documenting new forms of hybrid peacebuilding that combine virtual or online and traditional tools and methods.
Access "2024 PBF Thematic Review: Synergies between Human Rights and Peacebuilding in PBF-supported Programming" here.
The standalone Executive Summary of the report can be found here.
Standalone case studies are also available for Colombia, the DRC, and countering hate speech.
Suggested citation: Gaston Erica, Day Adam, Bapt Emma, Fiona Mangan, Cristal Downing, Raphael Bodewig and Lauren McGowan. 2024 PBF Thematic Review: Synergies between Human Rights and Peacebuilding in PBF-supported Programming : UNU-CPR, 2024.
