Peace Finance Forum: Building the Ecosystem for Sustainable Impact

Wednesday, April 22, 2026
11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. (ET)

Join us for the side event during the 2026 ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development.

The inaugural Peace Finance Forum is taking place from April 22-23 in the margins of FFD 2026. The Forum features a high-level event titled “From Fragility to Investability: Financing Peace Economies” and a series of technical-level workshops on various topics related to peace finance.

Building the Case for Prevention and Peacebuilding—Multilateral Development Banks’ Role in Fragile Settings

The global landscape is defined by “protracted poly-crises.” Violent conflict is no longer just a political disruption; it is a primary driver of extreme poverty, with nearly 72% of the world’s extreme poor now living in fragile and conflict-affected settings (FCS). Despite this statistic, the landscape of peacebuilding financing is currently defined by a “funding paradox”: while the economic case for prevention is proven (every $1 spent on prevention saves $16 in later response), actual investment remains chronically low. Expenditure on peacebuilding and peacekeeping has dropped to approximately 0.52% of total global military spending, down from 0.83% a decade ago, driven by a combination of Official Development Assistance (ODA) cuts and increase in military spending.

Inadequate resources to address root causes of conflict and violence have resulted in countries going through vicious cycles of instability and poverty thus compromising their ability to break away from poverty and achieve sustainable development. Prevention of violence and conflict and peacebuilding is a long game, requiring many years, sometimes decades to realize transformation and impact. For this to work, financing not only needs to be adequate, but patient, flexible, timely, predictable, and sustained.

While ODA has been shrinking, funding in Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) has remained steady and increasing. MDB funding creates opportunities for contributing to economic growth, sustainable development, peace and stability. Partnerships, e.g. with The United Nations, are crucial in this regard and leverage the respective comparative advantages. Pathways for Peace identified IFIs as agents for peace, noting that even though their mandate prohibits them from engaging in politics, inclusive approaches to development can mitigate risks of violence and conflict by resolving sources of grievances and tension. On the other hand, the UN plays a critical role in undertaking analysis and promoting dialogue that goes to the root of these grievances.

This session will seek to discuss how building the case for prevention provides a valuable framework for practically unpacking how partnership between the UN and MDBs can help countries avoid getting trapped in cycles of conflict and poverty and build sustainable pathways towards development.

Session Objectives

The session will seek to discuss three key messages:

1. Prevention is not an add-on, it should be the way we do development. A systematic approach to prevention, one that is broad and ‘upstreamed,’ of the sort that is articulated in the ‘framework approach’ to prevention, can help MDBs understand how prevention is transmitted through sectoral investments that address the drivers of conflict and violence. The framework provides a foundation on which contextual analyses can then be undertaken.
2. Whilst prevention is not new to MDBs, it is a learning process, and there is still a lot to learn. MDBs have learned the lesson that financing for prevention is not only about the volume of money even though volume of money is important, but it is about doing things differently. It is about coming in early enough to arrest the situation before it escalates, being flexible, remaining engaged even when crisis escalates and anticipating better amongst other lessons. MDBs have found that customizing tools for different contexts could go a long way in remaining responsive and relevant.
3. The partnership between the UN and MDBs has been taking place, with some promising results, but still more needs to be done. 

Run of Show

Opening Remarks (2 minutes)

Andreas Løvold, Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations

Scene Setting (2 minutes)

• Betty Wainaina, Program Director, Multilateral Reform Program, NYU Center on International Cooperation (CIC)

Using the framework approach to prevention to guide development (5–7 minutes)

• Pablo de Greiff, Senior Fellow and Director, Prevention Project, and Director, Transitional Justice Program, NYU Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ)

Multilateral Banks as Agents of Peace

The World Bank and the FCV Refresh (5-7 minutes)

• Thomas Djurhuus, Head of Partnerships, Fragility, Conflict and Violence Group, World Bank

The African Development Bank (5-7 minutes)

• Frederik Teufel, Lead Coordinator, Partnerships, Innovation, Private Sector Development, AfDB

Lessons from UN-MDB Partnerships (5-7 minutes) 

• Gillian Sheehan, Chief, Strategy and Partnerships, UN PBPSO 

Moderated Q&A (25 minutes)

Closing Remarks (2 minutes) 

• TBD, Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations

This side event aims to ignite strategic dialogue, unlock innovative partnerships, and catalyze capital flows that strengthen the resilience of communities and markets alike. It positions peace not as a cost center, but as a strategic investment essential to long-term stability, sustainable growth, and shared prosperity.

This session is organized by the NYU Center on International Cooperation (CIC) and The Prevention Project at The Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU School of Law.

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Hosted by the German Federal Foreign Office in partnership with the UN Peacebuilding and Peace Support Office (PBPSO), co-sponsored by the Permanent Missions of Japan and Norway to the UN, the gathering—held on the margins of the 2026 ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development—aims to ignite strategic dialogue, unlock innovative partnerships, and catalyze capital flows that strengthen the resilience of communities and markets alike. It positions peace not as a cost center, but as a strategic investment essential to long-term stability, sustainable growth, and shared prosperity.

All sessions are Chatham House, with in-person attendance preferred. All sessions will take place in the vicinity of the UN Headquarters in New York. Confirmed invitees will receive the exact location. If requests exceed the venue’s capacity, interested participants may receive a link to participate via a hybrid format. RSVP is NOT confirmed until you receive confirmation from the forum organizers.