Improving the impact of the UN Peacebuilding Commission

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The UN Peacebuilding Commission has struggled to make a meaningful impact. Researchers propose four practical steps to help make it more impactful and relevant in today’s changing world.

According to researchers, one of the main challenges facing the Peacebuilding Architecture is that the Peacebuilding Commission – the body providing advice and support to peace processes – lacks impact and relevance.
(Photo: Heba Naji / UN Photo / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Since
the UN was founded in 1945, its main goal has been to maintain peace and security
in the world. 

To help achieve lasting peace after conflict, the UN established
the Peacebuilding Architecture (PBA) in 2005. Its main goal is to prevent
conflict and help countries emerging from conflict avoid falling back into
violence.

The PBA consists of three components:

• The Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), which provides advice and support for peace processes.
• The Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), which finances peacebuilding initiatives.
• The Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO), which supports the PBC and serves as a knowledge hub for peacebuilding within the UN system.

The Peacebuilding Architecture undergoes a review every five years, with the upcoming 20-year review scheduled for 2025. 

A team of researchers from NUPI have contributed recommendations for this review in their report.

Lacks impact and relevance

Cedric
de Coning, senior researcher at NUPI, presented the findings of the report at a recent expert meeting in New York, where proposals for enhancing the effectiveness of the UN
Peacebuilding Commission were discussed. 

According
to the NUPI researchers, one of the main challenges facing the Peacebuilding
Architecture is that the Peacebuilding Commission – the body providing advice
and support to peace processes – lacks impact and relevance.

“The
work of the UN Peacebuilding Commission is not visible and tangible enough. The
advice it provides to the United Nations Security Council and other parts of
the UN system does not contain new information or analysis that adds value to
the work of these bodies or agencies,” says de Coning.

He explains that they have therefore proposed four specific
measures to enhance the effectiveness of the commission.

Measures
for a more effective commission

De Coning emphasises that the commission should adopt a clearer and more strategic role amid increasing conflicts and geopolitical tensions.

He says that the Peacebuilding Commission should help establish a common understanding of what
peacebuilding is and how countries can work together to support peace efforts in different places. 

The
NUPI researchers propose four measures to strengthen the Peacebuilding
Commission:

1. Maintain a strategic focus on conflict prevention and lasting peace by
   addressing underlying causes of conflicts.
2. Improve the quality of information and analysis produced by the Peacebuilding
   Architecture.
3. Strengthen collaboration between the UN and other key actors, such as the
   African Union and organisations working on peace and development.
4. Promote learning and adaptation within the UN system, actively utilising
   experiences from different countries to improve efforts.

“If
the commission succeeds in these efforts, it can clearly emerge as a focal
point in international peacebuilding,” says de Coning.

Increasing
relevance

Jenny
Lorentzen, senior researcher at NUPI, notes that the current security
policy climate makes it difficult for the UN to respond to many global
conflicts.

“The
UN Security Council has been unable to act in several situations, especially
where major powers disagree or exercise vetoes – as seen in Gaza and Ukraine,” she says. 

Lorentzen
highlights the growing importance of other UN bodies capable of responding
when the Security Council is deadlocked.

“The
Peacebuilding Commission can play a more significant role, particularly in
conflict prevention and follow-up in countries overlooked by the Security
Council,” says Lorentzen.

She
highlights Mali as an example. After a decade of UN presence, the UN withdrew
its forces from the country in 2023 at the request of the government
that came to power through a coup in 2021 and wished to manage security
independently.

Lorentzen notes that after the UN withdrew from Mali, the country has mostly been ignored by the Security Council, making it especially important to have ways to keep track of the situation. 

She also highlights the unique qualities of the commission: 

“It’s less politicised
and less stigmatising, while simultaneously capable of providing more sustained
support and stabilisation to fragile states,” she says.

Reference:

de Coning et al. Improving the impact of the UN Peacebuilding Commission and enhancing the synergy of the Peacebuilding Architecture. Input Paper for the 2025 (Twenty-year) Review of the UN Peacebuilding Architecture, Report 10 / 2024, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, 2024.

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