Over the past few years, national prevention strategies (NPS) have risen on the United Nations (UN) political agenda.
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres advocated for their universal adoption in his New Agenda for Peace, while member states, through the Pact for the Future, pledged to develop them. In parallel, member states have shown an increased interest in using the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) to discuss NPS.
This report explores how the PBC can provide effective support to member states on NPS in four areas:
- Fostering buy-in for prevention.
- Exchanging good practices.
- Coordinating support.
- Financing.
After considering these four avenues for supporting NPS through the PBC, the report then considers transversal challenges. The first one is the impact of universality. The second transversal challenge is the issue of continuity, as developing an NPS is a complex and long-term endeavor that may require sustained support.
This report is based on close to sixty interviews with members of the Peacebuilding Commission, the UN Peacebuilding Support Office, the World Bank, Regional Development Banks, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), UN Development Coordination Office (DCO), UN Development Programme (UNDP), and civil society organizations.