Latest Updates

UN Reforms—A Major Step Forward January 1, but Some Challenges Still to Overcome

Secretary-General António Guterres briefs the General Assembly on his priorities for 2019.

© United Nations Photo

UN Secretary-General António Guterres was appointed in 2016 on an explicit reform platform.  In 2017, we published commentaries on his reform proposals.  Now that those reforms that have been approved are moving into implementation, we publish this simple guide to what has been achieved and the potential potholes still ahead.

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Jan 28, 2019
Sarah Cliffe
Multilateral Reform

A Call to Action: Transforming the Global Refugee System

Launched today by the World Refugee Council (WRC), A Call to Action: Transforming the Global Refugee System is a compendium of evidence and ideas that converge in a series of recommendations, which, taken together, comprise a plan of action for the next decade and can bring about a refugee regime that is fair, properly funded and capable of managing a system in an orderly way. CIC Director Sarah Cliffe has been a councillor on the WRC since 2017.

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Jan 24, 2019
Humanitarian Crises

The UN’s Gender Parity Goals: The Backlash Begins

© United Nations Photo

One year into the United Nations’ new strategy for gender parity among staff members at all levels, a gendered backlash has emerged, even as parity has been achieved at the highest echelons of the world body.
 

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Jan 23, 2019
Paige Arthur
Multilateral Reform, Peace and Security

Innovative Finance to Sustain Peace: Mapping Ideas

bundles of Somali shilling notes are seen at a money exchangers stall on the streets of the Somali capital Mogadishu.

© United Nations Photo

Peacebuilding processes seek to transform the root causes of violence and conflict through social, political, and economic change. In a new article, Riva Kantowitz explores how innovative finance tools like social impact bonds, blended finance, and outcome funds may or may not be well placed to support these processes.

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Jan 08, 2019
Riva Kantowitz

INTERVIEW: The Congo Elections – Where Things Stand

THE CONGO ELECTIONS: WHERE THINGS STAND

© Congo Research Group

The Democratic Republic of the Congo went to the polls on December 30, 2018 to elect a new president, as well as national and provincial parliamentarians. The polls should mark the first democratic handover of executive power in the country’s history and could either cement or undermine its fledging democratic institutions. Jason Stearns, Senior Fellow and Director of the Congo Research Group answers some of the key questions surrounding the election.

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Jan 03, 2019
Jason Stearns
Congo Research Group

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Programs in Focus

  • Afghanistan-Pakistan Regional Project

    China-U.S. Cooperation in Central and South Asia

    This publication examines the main cooperation fields between China and the US in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the post-NATO period. In doing so, this study looks at the initiation of various bilateral joint projects as a distinctive turning point in China-US relations. It argues that existence of such bilateral projects and cooperation in this region does not only produce added value for the countries in question but also have the potential to enhance the mutual relations between China and US. This study also reveals the main common priorities and practices between China and the US and concludes that they have a partial convergence in their attitude towards the infrastructure projects in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

  • Congo Research Group

    All the President's Wealth: The Kabila Family Business

    For the past 20 months, the Congo Research Group has documented the vast and eclectic business portfolio of Joseph Kabila, the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and his family. This report presents our conclusions, based almost entirely on legal documents.

    You can find the whole report and examine the underlying documents here

  • Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies

    The Roadmap for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies: A Call to Action to Change our World

    The roadmap was developed by the Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies, a group of member states, global partnerships, international organizations, and other partners.

    It is available in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. For a summary, see the overview and presentation.

    The Pathfinders group is convened by the governments of Brazil, Sierra Leone, and Switzerland, with support from the Center on International Cooperation.

  • Peace and Security

    Global Peace Operations Review

    The Global Peace Operations Review is a website providing analysis and data on the spectrum of issues surrounding global peace and security, including civilian-led peacemaking and peacebuilding as well as uniformed peacekeeping by the United Nations, regional organizations and ad-hoc coalitions. The site’s objective is to contribute to the effectiveness of all peace operations.

    We seek to provide the most comprehensive overview of multilateral contributions to conflict prevention, peacemaking, peacekeeping, and post-conflict peacebuilding. In doing so, we seek to integrate thematic and cross-cutting issues including, but not limited to, the women, peace and security agenda and countering violent extremism.