7 July 2017 – New York: The Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations, the Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy & Development, and the Stimson Center convened an informal scoping discussion at Columbia University Law School with members of the UN Group of Friends for Sustaining Peace on a series of multi-stakeholder “Regional Dialogues on Sustaining Peace,” proposed to be held this fall.
Intended to engage a wide mix of participants from governments, the UN, regional organizations, civil society, academe, and business, such dialogues will offer a channel for multi-party feedback on the implementation of the 2016 UN General Assembly and Security Council peacebuilding resolutions (A/RES/70/262 and S/RES/ 2282), in the lead up to the UN General Assembly High-Level Event on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace in March or April 2018.
“The informal exchange at Columbia Law School offered an opportunity to consider the linkages between sustaining peace, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and human rights, as well as new tools for preventive action and mitigating risks,” stated H.E. Ambassador Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani, Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations. For the meeting’s discussion note, please click here. The Regional Dialogues on Sustaining Peace will be convened by the Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy & Development and the Stimson Center, in collaboration with local partner organizations in Africa, Asia, Latin America & the Caribbean, and the Middle East.
The dialogues will seek fresh ideas and perspectives on the UN’s broad range of activities and instruments, in close collaboration with regional, national, and local partners, to prevent the outbreak, escalation, continuation, and recurrence of violent conflict, including in the related areas of innovative financing, governance strengthening, and the Sustainable Development Goals (the “SDGs,” which are under review this month through the United Nations’ High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development).
According to Professor Ibrahim Gambari, Founding Chair of the Savannah Centre and former Nigerian Minister of External Affairs and UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, “We hope the regional dialogues can contribute to a growing movement of governments, civil society groups, businesses, and individuals worldwide committed to realizing the goals and aspirations of the United Nations Charter, including the world body’s perennial quest to prevent deadly violence and achieve sustainable peace with justice.” Professor Gambari delivered luncheon remarks during the scoping session at Columbia Law School on the topic of “Lessons from the Field for the United Nations’ Sustaining Peace Agenda”.