The United Nations Peacebuilding Commission and International Geneva
Small Grant
Summary
In early 2006 the GCSP, with the financial support of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, launched a project entitled "The United Nations Peacebuilding Commission and International Geneva". The main objective of this project was to assess the implications of the new United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) for international Geneva. In particular, it sought to explore how best Geneva-based stakeholders could add value to the work of the PBC, in terms of country-specific operations, norms and standards setting, lessons learned reviews and strategising peacebuilding operations. In parallel to a series of public events and discussions around these questions, the GCSP united a group of like-minded partners. The key partners include PSIS (HEI), BCPR (UNDP), QUNO and DCAF; the broader network of partners includes: DP III/IV, UNOCHA, Initiatives of Change, HAP-I, InterPeace, UNIDIR and UNOG, amongst others.
In late 2006, the Core Group agreed that a more comprehensive approach was necessary to concretise the investments in time and thinking that had been made. Collectively, Core Group members suggested undertaking an analytical mapping of the peacebuilding capacities and expertise of international Geneva, including comments on which structures and informal processes work well in Geneva. A high-quality online survey was produced, that has been completed by over 60 Geneva-based organisations involved in roughly 30 sectors that define peacebuilding.
Today, the project has gathered momentum, and its stakeholders recognise the project's timeliness and added value to international Geneva. The mapping exercise has provided the project with a comprehensive overview of the peacebuilding capacities of international Geneva and also, a unique analytical look at who comprises this oft-used, but ill-defined international Geneva community.
To showcase this investment, the GCSP will host a public launch of the project's findings on 12 September. The day long event will comprise two elements: the morning will be a high-level launch of the mapping exercise, providing an overview of the international Geneva peacebuilding capacity and expertise, broad trends, and proposals on how this knowledge can be 'operationalised' by stakeholders. The afternoon session will consist of closed working sessions that look at specific findings of the mapping, and ask stakeholders to reflect upon and comment these findings. A comprehensive conference report will be published, along with the mapping's findings and potential ways forward for the project.
The audience for the event will include stakeholders from the international Geneva landscape of diplomatic missions, donors, practitioners, policy makers and academics. One of the key goals of the event and the broader project is to close the gap between peacebuilding theory, policy and practice.
In addition to a comprehensive publication on the conference and the findings of the analytical mapping, on 6 November the GCSP will co-host with the United Nations Office in Geneva (UNOG) a high-level event at the Palais des Nations, entitled 'Our Common Peacebuilding Challenge - The Contribution of 'International Geneva'. The event will bring together senior participation from the UNPBC and Peacebuilding Support Office, and from major UN agencies. This event will complement the success of the September conference, in sharing the peacebuilding capacity and contribution of international Geneva to a more global audience.
The grant provided by the GIAN for this project totals SFr 20,000
Project Team
Dr. Fred Tanner , Coordinator, Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP) .
Dr. David Atwood , Principal Member, Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) .
Dr. Peter Batchelor , Principal Member, Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) , United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) .
Prof. Keith Krause , Principal Member, Programme for Strategic and International Security Studies (PSIS) , Graduate Institute of International Studies (GIIS) .
Mr Raj Rana , Principal Member, Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP) .
Mr Andreas Schütz , Principal Member, Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP) .
Related Conferences
UN Peacebuilding Commission and International Geneva - Taking Stock of Peacebuilding Capacity - GCSP, Avenue de la Paix 7bis, 12 September 2007, from 9:30 am to 1:00 pm
This conference will present the initial results of a mapping exercise regarding Geneva-based organisations involved in...
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Our Common Peacebuilding Challenge – The Contribution of "International Geneva" – Palais des Nations, Room XXII, 6 November 2007, 9:30 am to 6:00 pm
On 6 November 2007, the GCSP will co-host with the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) a high-level conference...
> more
Research Output
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A Platform for Peace: Synthesis of the Project 'The United Nations Peacebuilding Commission and International Geneva'
(available in English only) > more |