Newsroom

Newsroom

Insights into Multilateral Cooperation on Prevention of Armed Conflict: An Overview of Member States’ Prevention Priorities: An analysis by Natalie Dewar and Mathilde Dépéry

31st October 2023

UN71000463__ME28455_

The 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA78) opened with an invitation to the UN Member States to share their perspectives on effective avenues towards Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all. Building on the discussions raised by the UN Secretary General’s New Agenda for Peace and the intergovernmental preparations for the Summit of the Future, this year’s theme encouraged Member States to reflect on their aspirations towards prevention through the interlinkages between sustainable development and global peace. By connecting discussions on peace and development, this year’s theme offers an opportunity for Member States to coordinate efforts towards strong and consolidated prevention action. 

Distilling insights from UNGA78, we reflect on Member States’ prevention priorities and global multilateral action to support nationally-led prevention strategies. 

The global community's action on sustainable development and sustaining peace must be reflective of the ongoing and emerging trends in violence and conflict.

The UN was created to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, with a central role for conflict prevention. Within the UN system, the term prevention can be viewed broadly. In the 2017 Security Council ministerial-level open debate, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, defined prevention as “doing everything we can to help countries to avert the outbreak of crises that take a high toll on human lives and undermine the institutions and capacities needed to achieve peace and development.” But today, the international landscape continues to be afflicted by the outbreak of armed conflict across the globe, alongside new and evolving threats to peace and security such as climate change and social and economic inequalities. In order to prevent the outbreak of armed conflict, the international community must recognise these trends and reshape the global multilateral system to be responsive to these developments.

During UNGA78, Member States made little direct reference to prevention. However, it is clear that by outlining real and potential risks to sustainable development and peace, Member States examine tensions and root causes of armed conflict with the aim of preventing future armed conflict. In their statements, Member States placed a clear emphasis on the need to uphold the rights of women and girls, uplift the voices and perspectives of young people, respond to climate change and threats of future pandemics, legislate on artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, and address nuclear threats. Some Member States also identified several concrete mechanisms to advance prevention, including through strengthening early warning systems and exploring the possibility of adapting national prevention strategies.

Just, equitable and inclusive multilateralism is required for sustainable development and peace.

One key approach to addressing ongoing violence and persistent conflicts is the creation of a more just, equitable and inclusive multilateral global order. This can be achieved through the reforms of the multilateral system and the global financial architecture in a way that is responsive to the development needs and ambitions of all Member States and in the context of contemporary challenges, such as new technologies, climate change, and nuclear threats. Member States, especially from the Global South, strongly and repeatedly emphasised that effective prevention can only be achieved through the decolonisation of global governance and the mitigation of tensions through dialogue based on the principle of equality among all nations. 

Where are we now? Challenges and opportunities of global multilateralism

Despite the agreement among Member States on many risks and challenges to prevention, statements at the opening of UNGA78 did not give any concrete proposal about how to turn the rhetoric of global multilateralism into tangible actions. Three reasons account for why tangible solutions for prevention were not outlined by Member States. These largely stem from current challenges facing multilateralism.

First, Member States are focused on addressing issues within their own countries, rather than thinking about the global community. While there were many calls for pluriversality and recognising diverse views at the global level, there were no concrete proposals on how preventative multilateralism could work in practice. Many Member States seemed to call for a multilateral solution to prevention, but do not know how to practically achieve it. The lack of references to the New Agenda for Peace and the Summit of the Future may indicate that they are not at the forefront of Member States’ plans. Instead, the priorities of prevention appear to revolve around the ability to anticipate domestic risks coming from ongoing colonial aspirations, securitisation, inequality, AI and cyberthreats, and climate change.  

Second, Member States are still (and probably more than ever) focused on achieving peace through increasing security capabilities. A worrisome trend was the strong emphasis on militarisation made by several Member States. Militarisation – through increased spending and focus on securitisation of people’s lives – imperils broader efforts to achieve sustainable peace and prevent conflict. For instance, prioritising military resources diverts funding from humanitarian assistance and other prevention initiatives.

Third, discussions did not reflect on the role of civil society in sustainable development and peace. In contrast to the global commitment to localisation and growing support for civil society's role in peacebuilding and conflict prevention, Member States barely referenced civil society, especially local partners, in their statements.

Based on this analysis, Member States must undertake the following steps to advance the prevention agenda in the next few years:

  • Commit to concrete action: Concrete proposals from the New Agenda for Peace, the consultations for the Summit of the Future, and ongoing civil society discussions must translate into concrete actions on the international, regional and national levels. For this, the UN should create platforms for multi-stakeholder dialogue at all levels to bring together various perspectives that will develop concrete action plans on sustainable development and peace.
  • Work with civil society: Member States’ commitment to prevention and achieving sustainable peace and development must include meaningful and continuous engagement with civil society at all levels. The Civil Society-UN Prevention Platform, co-facilitated by the Quaker UN Office (QUNO) and the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), has demonstrated the value of collaborative efforts to enhance capacity, sharing information and best practice, as well as providing material support to bolster monitoring and early warning indicators. 
  • Articulate a prevention vision: Member States should encourage the UN Secretary-General to articulate a new, more inclusive and concrete global prevention vision, and define mechanisms to support this vision at all levels.

Photo credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elías

Photo caption: Volodymyr Zelenskyy (centre), President of Ukraine, attends the general debate of the General Assembly’s seventy-eighth session.

Areas of work: Connecting Local with International Climate Action | Sustainable & Just Economic Systems | UN Human Rights Council

Explore more

Humanitarian Challenges in Myanmar: Navigating Conflict and Crisis

Humanitarian Challenges in Myanmar: Navigating Conflict and Crisis

On 9 July, the Quaker United Nations Office hosted a private briefing on Myanmar’s humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of the devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck on 28 March 2025. At Quaker House, Gum San Nsang, Secretary of the Kachin Political Interim Coordination Team, briefed UN diplomats. With the monsoon season threatening to worsen the humanitarian crisis, he emphasized the need for the international community to address aid distribution issues, reminding them that “each day later is a day worse than before.”  In his remarks, Gum San noted that the distribution of humanitarian assistance has been exacerbated by the dwindling control of the military junta that seized control during a coup in 2021. He explained that the military has prevented aid from reaching parts of the country not under its control, while diverting aid to its own stockpiles.  Beyond the focus on humanitarian issues, Gum San also addressed the ongoing conflict situation between the military and armed resistance groups. He highlighted that the struggle to control the mining of rare earth minerals represents a major driver of conflict, especially in northern Myanmar.  Currently, the UN’s Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that 20 million people, over one […]

QUNO attends the IPCC Plenary in China

QUNO attends the IPCC Plenary in China

This March, QUNO Representative for the Human Impacts of Climate Change participated in the 62nd Session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This was held from 24 February – 1 March 2025 in Hangzhou China QUNO under FWCC has been an accredited observer of the IPCC since 2017.  We seek to uphold transparency and the integrity of the science, encourage clear messaging on urgent, transformative and rights-based climate action, and ensure clear messaging on risks to some climate options/technologies which fail to transform root causes and/or pose high risks to people and biodiversity.  To date we are the only active independently accredited faith-based organization at the IPCC. We present a report of QUNO work at the IPCC, and interventions given during the intensive meetings in China. Image by: ENB IISD

QUNO and the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn

QUNO and the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn

QUNO Geneva’s Human Impacts of Climate Change (HICC) team, Lindsey Fielder Cook and Johan Cavert, were intensely active at the UN Climate Change meetings in Bonn. These Subsidiary Body meetings (SB62) were held by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from 16-26 June and are in preparation for the upcoming COP in Brazil. This is the 13th year QUNO has offered quiet diplomacy dinners to a group of high level negotiators from a diverse group of countries. In addition to this effort, QUNO was engaged in negotiations, in two preparatory Constituted Bodies, in several inter-faith efforts, in two press conferences, an off-the-record meeting with climate scientists, in human rights advocacy, in Paris Agreement celebrations (see photo), and in the distribution of QUNO publications on climate science findings. Our work at the SB62 Conference began weeks earlier, in Constituted Body meetings on both Loss and Damage and the Katowice Committee of Experts (Response Measures).  Additional preparation included support to the Interfaith Liaison Committee (ILC), which creates spaces for interfaith voices in climate negotiation spaces, and helping draft the Interfaith Call to Action, which was signed by a range of Quaker organizations.   As the SB62 began, we started with an […]

Introducing the G20 Peer Reviews

Introducing the G20 Peer Reviews

On 25 September 2009, the Leaders of the G20, at their annual Summit (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA), issued a joint statement committing themselves to “Rationalize and phase out over the medium term inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption”. Over the next several years, the G20 members themselves conducted an exercise in self reporting of their fossil fuel subsidies and reform commitments. Those efforts achieved limited success, with variable degrees of transparency and levels of ambition. (See the two reports by Doug Koplow from November 2010 and June 2012.) By early 2012, however, the OECD had launched its Inventory of Estimated Budgetary Support and Tax Expenditures for Fossil Fuels, which provided far more details than were available in the G20 Members’ self reports. That the G20 should conduct voluntary peer reviews of their reform efforts was proposed by the OECD during Russia’s presidency of the G20, in 2013. The OECD had long and generally positive experiences with peer reviews, so it was a logical tool to recommend. The proposal was accepted and formally established in paragraph 94 of the G20 Leaders’ Declaration issued during their 2013 Summit (6 September 2013, St Petersburg, Russia): “We reaffirm our commitment to rationalise and phase […]

Quaker Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Quaker Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Every April, the United Nations bustles with activity and energy as Indigenous representatives from around the world convene in New York for the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII). Since its establishment in 2001, the Permanent Forum has offered a crucial opportunity for representatives of Indigenous Peoples to assemble to share best practices and strategize for the advancement of their human rights under international law. Canadian Friends Service Committee holds the mandate from the world body of Friends, through Friends World Committee for Consultation, to lead engagement on Indigenous Issues at the UN. During the Forum, CFSC works in partnership with members of the Coalition for the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the Coalition) to advance Indigenous rights globally. QUNO assists CFSC and the advocacy of Indigenous representatives by offering Quaker House as a welcoming space to gather outside UN meetings. This year, Quaker House hosted caucuses of Indigenous youth; Indigenous representatives; and the Coalition for discussions on the Forum’s theme and on Indigenous peacebuilding.   The 24th UNPFII took place under the theme, “Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples within United Nations Member States and the United Nations system, including identifying good practices […]

Job opportunity: Director, QUNO Geneva

Job opportunity: Director, QUNO Geneva

The Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva is looking for its next leader. If this could be you, please read the job pack and consider applying. You must be a member of the Religious Society of Friends to be eligible for this role. Application deadline: Friday 18 July 2025.