UN Reform

CIC's central source for insight and commentary on the UN reform process. Read more>>

 

UN Reform

Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies

The Pathfinders are a group of member states, international organizations, global partnerships, and other partners who are working to foster peacful, just and inclusive societies that are free from fear and violence. The roadmap>>

Pathfinders

Global Peace Operations 2018: Year In Review

This new report adds fresh analysis and insights into recent developments in UN peace operations. Read more>>

 

Global Peace Operations 2018

The Arc of Protection: Toward a New International Refugee Regime

CIC Senior Policy Analyst Leah Zamore co-authors a groundbreaking study of the international refugee crisis, The Arc of Protection. Read the first five chapters of the draft book here>> 

The Arc of Protection

The Art of the Possible

The Congo Research Group argues that the United Nations Security Council should take bold steps to tackle the political crisis at the heart of the current conflict when it renews MONUSCO’s mandate. Read the full report here>>

 

The Art of the Possible

UN Peace and Security Reform: Cautious Steps in the Right Direction

On Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ first day in office, he signaled his intention to reform the peace and security pillar by immediately co-locating staff from the Department of Political Affairs (DPA) and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and establishing an internal review team to work on the bigger proposals for change made by the High Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO), the Advisory Group of Experts (AGE) on the Review of the United Nations Peacebuilding Architecture, and the Global Study on the Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325. CIC supported some of the independent review team’s work through our report Restructuring the UN Secretariat to Strengthen Preventative Diplomacy and Peace Operations. The Secretary-General has now made proposals based on the team’s recommendation.

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Sep 15, 2017
Sarah Cliffe
International Security, Peace Operations, United Nations
Prevention and Peacebuilding

The UN Strategy on Gender Parity

More than 20 years have passed since the United Nations (UN) first committed to achieving gender parity in its managerial and decision-making positions, but the organization still has a long way to go. Karin Landgren, a former senior UN official, provided the data two years ago to show that gender parity at the UN had become a “lost agenda” under the previous Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon. And in spite of a push to have a woman at the top of the UN hierarchy for the first time, the front runners in the Security Council straw polls for a new Secretary-General were largely men. (Perhaps Wonder Woman would have stood a better chance.) Yet the new Secretary-General, António Guterres, seems determined not only to talk about change but to effect it. After ensuring a 50/50 split in his own appointments at the senior level, Guterres has released this week the report of the Gender Parity Task Force: a far-reaching “System-Wide Strategy on Gender Parity,” which does not pull any punches in describing the current situation for women trying to make a career inside the UN bureaucracy.

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Sep 15, 2017
Paige Arthur
Peace Operations, United Nations
Prevention and Peacebuilding

UN Management Reform in the Making: Four Strong Points and Two Challenges

The UN General Assembly meetings in September will no doubt be dominated by the crises of the day: an underlying theme of discussions, however, will be the less sensational topic of UN reform. The most impenetrable of all areas of the UN’s bureaucracy, its processes for financial and human resource management are generally of little interest to those outside New York’s Fifth Committee. The subject is also somewhat “tired”—Ban Ki-Moon too had management reform as a key point of his agenda—and politicized, in particular in the context of US announcements on cuts to UN contributions.

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Sep 15, 2017
Sarah Cliffe
United Nations
Prevention and Peacebuilding

Profile in Prominence: Ambassador Nikki Haley and the Trump administration's UN policy

Nikki Haley, Elsina Wainwright

A new brief produced by the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney looks at the role of UN Ambassador Nikki R. Haley in helping shape President Trump's views on the usefulness of the United Nations and the need for its reform, as well as the implications for Australia before it begins its important new role.

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Aug 02, 2017
Elsina Wainwright
United States
United Nations
Prevention and Peacebuilding

The SG’s report on UN Development System reform – 5 key ideas and 5 questions

by Sarah Cliffe

On 30th June the Secretary-General released his report on UN Development System reform. As a candidate, António Guterres signaled his determination to reform the system: this is the first of a series of ideas expected on development, on peace and security and on management systems. How does it stack up to expectations?

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Jul 10, 2017
Sarah Cliffe
United Nations
Prevention and Peacebuilding

Pages

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.

  • Prevention and Peacebuilding

    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.