[Note: table of contents is not planned for the final version and there would not be numbered headings. These are included here to increase the accessibly of the document before it is prior to a designer lay-out…]

1. ‘Highlights’ 2
2. Preamble 3
3. Introduction 4
4. Civil society roles in prevention and peacebuilding 5
4.1. Guiding principles and values 6
5. Making the shift to prevention: priorities for change 7
5.1. Systems, strategies & partnerships for working with conflict effectively 7
5.1.1. Responsibility to protect 8
5.1.2. Mobilizing early response 8
5.1.3. Preventive diplomacy 8
5.1.4. Cross-border and regional conflict formations 9
5.1.5. Multifunctional peace operations. 9
5.1.6. Public participation in peacemaking processes 10
5.1.7. Post-settlement reconstruction and peacebuilding 11
5.1.8. Reconciliation and transitional justice. 11
5.1.9. Cultures of peace and nonviolence 12
5.1.10. National capacities for peaceful conflict management 12
5.2. Promoting Human Security: addressing the root causes of conflict 13
5.2.1. Equitable and sustainable development 13
5.2.2. Natural resources and prevention 13
5.2.3. Promote and protect human rights. 14
5.2.4. Effective participation and equality 14
5.2.5. State effectiveness and democratic governance. 14
5.2.6. Demilitarization, disarmament and arms control. 15
5.3. Goals, policies and funding to prioritize prevention and peacebuilding 16
5.3.1. Millennium Peace and Security Goals 16
5.3.2. Program of action for prevention and peacebuilding 16
5.3.3. Funding prevention and peacebuilding 16
6. Recommendations for building institutional capacities for prevention 17
6.1. Civil society networks and capacity building 17
6.2. Recommendations for governments 17
6.3. Recommendations for regional & sub-regional organizations 18
6.4. Recommendations for the United Nations 19
6.4.1. Member States’ leadership of prevention efforts 19
6.4.2. Strengthening the UN Secretariat’s capacities for prevention 20
6.4.3. UN Country Teams 21
6.4.4. Resources for prevention and peacebuilding 21
7. People Building Peace: The Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict 22


1. ‘Highlights’
Note: text for inside front cover

Address the root causes of conflict and promote the security of people: human security

…Prevention and sustainable peacebuilding are necessary to achieve the Millennium Development Goals; fulfilling these gals can, in turn, address some of the root causes of conflict and promote human security.

…Implement demilitarization and disarmament processes to reduce tensions and the likelihood of inter-state armed conflicts.

…Generate cultures of peace from the grassroots up by mainstreaming peace education, cultivating conflict resolution life skills and promoting reconciliation

Make the shift to prevention the fundamental goal of collective security arrangements

…Develop and implement an internationally agreed programme of action for prevention and peacebuilding, starting with high-level consultations with GPPAC regional networks to explore challenges and ways of implementing regional action agendas.

…Integrate early warning and early response systems to maximise local knowledge and build on local capacities, complemented by regional and international actors.

…Provide more resources, more effectively administered for prevention and peacebuilding that combine coherent framework strategies, reliability of supply and funding that can be quickly administered for flexible rapid response initiatives.

Prevention and peacebuilding requires integrated architecture of effective institutional capacities and partnerships

…Strengthen CSO capacities for prevention and peacebuilding through local, national, regional and global networks to improve accountability and effectiveness through communication, coordination and mutual assistance.

…Increase leadership of prevention and peacebuilding efforts at the UN through a peacebuilding commission and peacebuilding support office that engages effectively with civil society, mobilise resources and enable coherent and sustained peacebuilding through information-sharing, planning and monitoring.

…Enhance the capacities of regional organizations to operationalize prevention and peacebuilding in cooperation with the UN, governments and CSOs.

2. Preamble

We, a global community of civil society, make a solemn commitment to build peace. Our goal is to prevent the scourge of war, the militarization of our communities, and the violent conflict that affects all global citizens, but particularly the weak and marginalized.

We draw our authority – and the legitimacy of this agenda – from thousands of people from every corner of the globe who have come together over the past three years to participate in creating this agenda. We are representative of the vast and growing array of civil society organizations working, in a multitude of ways, to promote peace and prevent conflict.

Our challenge is violent conflict. It is intolerable that millions of civilians die from conflict at a time when the international community has developed so many tools for preventing conflict – legal, political, and technological. It is unacceptable that so many of our children and young people have to grow up in a climate of fear of violence and insecurity, perpetuating cycles of conflict for generations to come.

Our goal in launching this agenda is engage global civil society in a historic mission: to create a culture of peace and a culture of prevention. Our aim is to force a fundamental shift in the way conflict is addressed, through a shift from reaction to prevention to violent conflict.

We act in the spirit of partnership, not confrontation. While governments have primary responsibility to protect their civilians, the complexity, scale and diversity of conflict mean that no single entity, on its own, can ensure peace. A comprehensive network of relationships and actions is needed.

Civil society has a particularly important contribution to make. Many of our members are experts in the field. Many first came together during war, or from threats. We live in communities which grapple with violence and insecurity every day. We have much to offer the international community, and we now demand to be accepted as an equal partner in this historic quest. Civil society has shown that it can turn its networking skills to good purpose in the service of peace, and is determined to take up a permanent position in these processes.
3. Introduction
This Global Action Agenda is an outcome of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), a world-wide civil society-led process to generate a new international consensus on peacebuilding and the prevention of violent conflict. It reflects a civil society organizations’ (CSOs) perspective and makes recommendations to CSOs, governmental and intergovernmental actors for preventing violent conflict and responding to it when it arises.

Promoting peace and security in the 21st century requires a fundamental shift in how we respond to the challenge of violent conflict. Our priority must be to prevent it from occurring and thereby avoid the massive human, environmental, and economic cost of war. The emphasis should be on promoting human security, justice and people-centered development.

Each year, millions of people are affected by violent conflict. It destroys lives and livelihoods, undermines development and creates conditions for further violence. Yet the response of the global community is often inadequate, too late and extremely costly. We believe that there is a better way. We want a fundamental change in dealing with conflict: a shift from reaction to prevention. Ultimately, prevention saves lives and is both more effective and less expensive than reaction. We believe that this is shift not only possible but that it is many times cheaper than not responding.

The goal of prevention is a world where people and governments elect nonviolent means to achieve greater justice, sustainable development, and human security. We are not attempting to prevent all conflicts. We believe in the importance of channeling conflict through peaceful processes capable of delivering constructive change. Nonviolent conflict can be a positive force to foster these changes. Our concern is to minimize violent conflict and its human, economic and environmental impact. We want to prevent warfare within states, between states, regional conflicts, and violence organised on a global scale. We want to prevent the gender-based violence that contributes to and is intensified by these situations. We oppose all organized violence – whether committed by state or non-state actors – that targets civilian non-combatants.

We are committed to promoting the security of people: their physical safety; their socio-economic well-being; respect for their dignity and political and cultural identity as individuals and as members of communities; gender equality; and the protection and promotion of all human rights – including women’s rights - and fundamental freedoms in the home, in the community, in their country and in the wider world.

We believe that the sustainable security of states can only be based on the security of people. This vision of human security can lead to a shift from a security paradigm based on the balance of power and military alliances to one based on mutual interdependence and cooperation. We affirm the UN Secretary-General’s observation that: “The world must advance the causes of security, development and human rights together, otherwise none will succeed. Humanity will not enjoy security without development, it will not enjoy development without security, and it will not enjoy either without respect for human rights.”

Governments and inter-governmental organizations (IGOs) need to mainstream prevention and constructive conflict management as the fundamental goals of their security institutions and instruments. Historically, the emphasis has been on building the capacity for military responses to security threats. The emphasis now needs to be on strengthening the policy framework, institutional capacity and resources for prevention and sustainable peacebuilding. This must include efforts to address the root causes and enabling factors that give rise to conflict (structural prevention), as well as responding rapidly and effectively when tensions begin to escalate to prevent the emergence, spread or recurrence of violent conflict (operational prevention).

The key to fostering sustainable peace and security over the longer term is to generate a ‘culture of prevention’ and ‘culture of peace’ from the bottom-up as well as from the top-down. Governments have a primary responsibility to protect citizens and prevent violence. Yet experience has taught us that the complexity, scale and diversity of violent conflict means that no single entity, on its own, can hope to adequately address the challenge of ensuring sustainable peace. A complex network of relationships and actions is needed to meet this challenge. We believe that prevention and peacebuilding requires effective engagement and partnerships among civil society organizations (CSOs), governments, the UN, and regional organizations at local, national, regional and international levels.
4. Civil society roles in prevention and peacebuilding
The nature of violent conflict has changed. Wars taking place within states are victimizing civilians on an unprecedented scale. The new locations of conflict have placed civil society in a unique position to assume different roles in conflict prevention, de-escalation, resolution rehabilitation, and reconciliation. Men and women all over the world have responded to this challenge with creativity and dedication.

CSOs have a broad range of roles from relief and development, to community-building and local conflict resolution, to advocacy and civic engagement, to nonviolent accompaniment. They have strong capacities to support the rehabilitation, healing and reconciliation needs of survivors of conflict. Examples of successful civil society involvement in conflict prevention and peacebuilding activities can be found in People Building Peace II: Successful Stories of Civil Society, produced as part of the GPPAC process.

In general, the independence of CSOs gives them the freedom to act swiftly and flexibly. They can often act when, for various reasons, official actors are immobilized. CSOs typically rely on their expertise, integrity, and / or moral authority to pursue innovative, creative and non-coercive strategies to persuade people to engage in peaceful processes based on dialogue and deliberation. They can be effective in creating safe spaces where people from all parts of society can come together and work in meaningful ways toward a better future. CSOs can improve communication and relationships by fostering interaction across conflict divides through informal exchanges, dialogue, joint projects and citizen diplomacy. CSOs initiate forums for ongoing engagement, including through non-official Track II dialogue processes, to channel disputes through peaceful processes. They encourage and support negotiation between hostile parties to prevent escalation to violence and link these to inclusive longer-term processes for addressing underlying challenges.

CSOs can bear witness to violations in powerful ways that undermine the moral authority and legitimacy of abusers. Acting in solidarity, civil peace teams can provide a protective presence and accompaniment to those who may be most vulnerable to violence and help to support their peacebuilding efforts. By mobilizing ‘people power’, CSOs can put pressure on decision-makers to reach a peaceful settlement that addresses public needs.

Women play fundamental roles in prevention and peacebuilding: from activism to address underlying causes and struggle against injustice; to initiatives aimed at preventing violence and mitigating the consequences of war through relief, rehabilitation and reconciliation; to engaging political processes to develop solutions to conflict; to transforming the wider system of relationships that perpetrate conflict, exclusion and inequality; to challenging the systemic factors that generate a continuum of violence from the home to the battlefield.

Many CSO actors are close to the conflicts that they seek to address. This proximity affords them access to information and insights that state actors may not have. In some situations, CSOs are more acceptable to armed and opposition groups than representatives of governments and IGOs, allowing them to play a positive role. Furthermore, civil society plays a significant role in building trust and strengthening networks so that this ‘social capital’ can foster peace and development.

CSOs should not be considered instruments to carry out agendas set by others. Rather they should be seen as complementing partners with valuable contributions to make in providing information and analysis, policy development, strategy design and program implementation. We recognize the importance of ensuring the accountability and effectiveness of CSOs and will work to strengthen it amongst groups working in this sector. We propose to work with governments, the UN and regional organizations towards mainstreaming the involvement of CSOs within each institutional setting for promoting security and responding to conflict. This should include formal mechanisms that involve CSOs – especially those from the global South – in deliberative and consultative processes, as well as in implementing strategies to promote peace and security.
4.1. Guiding principles and values
The individuals and organizations endorsing this document believe that the following principles and values are of central importance for promoting sustainable peace and justice and endeavor to fulfill them in their practice.

1. Achieving just peace by peaceful means. We are committed to preventing violent conflict to the fullest extent by all peaceful means. We need to continue to strengthen our proactive, nonviolent and cooperative methods of peaceful engagement in response to emerging tensions and crises. Prevention and peacebuilding initiatives should contribute to achieving justice in multiple dimensions, including restorative, distributive, gender, social and environmental justice. These values are at the heart of our ethical and political standards of action. We should continually engage in critical examination of how our own policies, practices and programs contribute to fulfilling human rights and dignity.

2. Primacy of local participation and ownership. Sustainable peace can only emerge when people affected by conflict feel that the process is their own and not externally imposed. We believe that strategies and initiatives to address conflict should generally be locally derived and internationally supported. Foreign governments, multilateral institutions, and international NGOs can help by creating spaces, providing resources and supporting inclusive processes that enable people to build their own capacity and to make appropriate decisions. They should build on capacities that exist, not duplicate or displace locally developed initiatives. To fully realize this goal, we need to address disparities in power and resources that affect our relationships and peacebuilding work.

3. Diversity, inclusiveness and equality. We recognize the value inherent in diversity and pluralism and believe that differences can be a source of strength. We recognize that women’s equality is a cornerstone for sustainable peace and justice. We work to create inclusive, diverse and vibrant civil societies – emphasizing the special needs and rights of vulnerable groups – through the promotion of respect and inclusiveness and by taking action to increase equality of opportunity and of resources. We aim for empowerment of all those who experience political, economic and social marginalization by supporting the development of capacities at the individual and organizational level, including through local and regional civic networks. Through capacity building and participation, we aim to strengthen inclusive societal processes for democratization and equality.

4. Multilateralism. Fulfilling an expanded vision of human security can only be achieved on the basis of a truly cooperative endeavor. Major global problems can only be addressed effectively through the coordinated efforts and policies developed collectively through multilateral institutions. We believe that CSOs have an important role to play in an expanded conception of multilateralism and we aim to strengthen the role of CSO in global and regional organizations. In many parts of the world regionalism, as expressed through regional organizations, offers expanded opportunities for strengthening cooperative responses to common concerns.

5. Sustainability. Addressing the causes and consequences of conflict requires sustained efforts. We commit to the long-term goal of transforming the conditions that give rise to conflict and the relationships that have been damaged by it. Our actions should be rooted in strategies that move toward medium- to long-term goals. We are committed to ensuring that the time frames implicit in our planning and actions are appropriate. Our strategies should help to foster social change that addresses structural and relationship challenges generating systemic conflict and move the situation toward a desired future.

6. Dialogue. We promote dialogue as a principle method to respond to conflict and prevent violence at all levels of society – especially when it engages all parties. It can foster participatory processes for common learning and building of capacity to work with conflict constructively. Leadership should emerge out of and operate through dialogue, rather than the capacity to use violence.

7. Accountability. As the power and influence of CSOs grows so does our obligation to be accountable, especially to the communities in which we work. This is reflected in what we do, how and why we do it, and how we manage the resources that are entrusted to us. We recognize the importance of developing norms of accountabity at all levels and within all institutional settings.

8. Transparency. We are committed to working transparently, including in our financial dealings. Unless otherwise disclosed, we act independently of political parties, donors, or commercial companies for the interest of developing peace within and between societies. If we have a specific set of interests or allegiances, we will declare them and acknowledge how they affect our priorities and working methods.

9. Learning from practice. We must aim to be reflective practitioners: aware of our role, mandate, and contribution at every stage. We need to reflect upon and examine the lessons we are learning from our work and to critically assess how we are learning them. We must work closely with partners to jointly develop participatory, inclusive and just processes for planning, decision-making and evaluating our initiatives. Evaluation and strategic learning are essential for developing accountability. We have a responsibility to pass on knowledge gained to others who may face similar challenges in the future.
5. Making the shift to prevention: priorities for change
[CB query: Is this intro needed?] This Global Action Agenda outlines key priorities for change to achieve a shift to prevention based on human security. It addresses some of the main challenges for responding to conflict that is at risk of – or has already descended into – organised violence, as well as for addressing the consequences of war and building cultures of peace. It proposes measures to address some of the main structural causes of conflict by promoting greater human security. It suggests strategies for better focusing policies and structuring resources to achieve the shift to prevention and sustainable peacebuilding. It concludes by highlighting some of the key reforms and tasks that can be implemented by CSOs, the UN, regional organisations and governments to strengthen their institutional capacities to address the issues identified in this Global Action Agenda.
5.1. Systems, strategies & partnerships for working with conflict effectively
International interventions should be designed to strengthen or complement societal capacities for working with conflict. This includes respect for indigenous leadership structures as well as encouraging the equal participation of marginalised groups. The state-based international system is often poorly equipped to engage effectively with people involved in localized armed violence and self-sustaining conflict dynamics at the community level. Civil society peacemakers are often strategically located in communities and able to engage diverse constituencies in peace initiatives as independent third-parties. We recognize the significance of community-based peace initiatives to create ‘pragmatic peace’ to enable people to co-exist with each other. Outsiders can encourage a supportive environment for these efforts. They resources as needed to support them, while being careful not to overwhelm or displace them.

Inter-governmental and other international actors can play a key role in facilitating and creating space for constructive dialogue and productive engagement between governments and civil society representatives. Their mandates and operational practices should give priority to enabling this dialogue and, consequently, missions should develop the necessary skills and capacities to do so effectively. Governments and IGOs can help to strengthen civil society capacities by providing both practical support and recognition of the legitimacy of CSOs, within a rights-based framework. The participation rights of CSOs in national, regional and international fora must be systematically integrated into prevention activities. Particular efforts are needed to ensure the inclusion of women, minority and youth CSOs. These rights should be based on well-defined concepts and frameworks for partnering.
5.1.1. Responsibility to protect
Governments should embrace the emerging norm of a ‘responsibility to protect’ and adopt an integrated approach, including the responsibilities to prevent, react and rebuild, with the responsibility to prevent as the first responsibility. Protection should be pursued in accordance with international law and in a consistent manner, as articulated by the ICISS Commission and by criteria advocated the Secretary-General in his In Larger Freedom report.
5.1.2. Mobilizing early response
Develop better integrated early warning and early response systems to ensure an effective and timely response to conflict. Systematise collaboration between the UN (including its human rights and development institutions), regional organizations and CSOs at headquarters and in the field to share information, integrate CSOs in monitoring systems, strengthen joint analysis, identify options and opportunities, and ensure support needed to implement strategies. Such integrated mechanisms are especially important in countries and regions at greatest risk, where local actors should further develop systems that draw on local capacities. These should be rooted in the unique knowledge of local groups and complemented by regional and international actors.
a) Further develop an integrated global CSO network that can cooperate to analyze early warning signs, formulate appropriate conflict prevention responses and cooperate to mobilize the political will necessary for timely and effective action.
b) Strengthen the capacity of local, national and regional CSOs–including in the media sector–through training and ongoing support to identify and analyze the causes and dynamics of emerging conflicts, including through training in gender-based indicators and gender-sensitive strategies for prevention and peacebuilding.
c) Facilitate public discussion of conflict issues and dynamics in conflict-affected areas to generate ideas for how to address the situation and mobilize creative and constructive responses.
d) The UN should establish regular and transparent interfaces (‘contact points’) between UN Resident Coordinators / SRSGs and relevant local, regional and international actors to exchange information and develop complementary strategies. Where appropriate, develop formal arrangements for multi-actor data collection, analysis and strategy development.

To respond more effectively to the complex array of conflict dynamics in West Africa, a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate in early warning analysis has been agreed to between the sub-regional organization ECOWAS, OCHA and the civil society-based West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP).
5.1.3. Preventive diplomacy
Greater priority is needed for non-military, non-coercive and cooperative forms of early-stage preventive action, including dialogue and reaching agreements to address sources of conflict. Preventive diplomacy aims to ease tensions before they escalate into a crisis – or to act swiftly to contain crises and resolve underlying causes. Preventive diplomacy may be carried out by the United Nations, regional or sub-regional organizations, as well as by governments and CSOs. Each may have distinctive characteristics that give them comparative advantages and capacities to be accepted in this role by the parties to the conflict.
a) Develop mechanisms, possibly facilitated by the UN, to mobilize multi-dimensional, early-stage preventive diplomacy utilizing the unique strengths and legitimacy of potential third-party mediators. Promote coherence within multi-track approaches through formal or informal information exchange and strategy development, with particular attention to harmonizing the bi-lateral strategies of governments.
b) Ensure that preventive diplomacy efforts effectively engage parties at different levels of the conflict, including at the more localized level, as well as national and regional levels. Recognize and fully utilize the capacities of CSOs, including women’s organizations, to work with localized conflicts in particular and ensure they are integrated into an overall response.
c) Develop databases of experts who can be deployed to advise parties on methods for addressing key substantive issues in conflict situations.
d) Ensure there are sufficient financial resources that can be quickly tapped to implement confidence building measures and other initiatives needed to effectively conduct preventive diplomacy initiatives.
5.1.4. Cross-border and regional conflict formations
In a rapidly globalising world, armed violence and warfare are not contained by state borders. Instruments designed for responding to emerging conflicts within specific countries need to be complemented by global policies and practices for structural prevention. Furthermore, stronger mechanisms are needed to address the cross-border and regional dimension of factors that cause conflicts – such as the aspirations of ethno-national groups separated across state borders and the challenges of mass migration and refugee flows – as well as the factors that enable them to become deadly, such as the trafficking of arms, people and commodities and cross-border military movements.
a) Develop integrated strategies and, where applicable, international norms and regulatory systems to address systematically the factors generating conflict in sub-regional systems.
b) Depending on the existing multilateral arrangements in the region, these can be developed through the auspices of a regional organization, the UN, or as a joint instrument. Where no such organizations exist, the UN can convene relevant actors. Consistent with the subsidiarity principle, the UN should fill in gaps in a complementary and additive manner. There should be effective engagement with national and regional CSOs in information sharing, joint analysis and strategy development. Where existing regional organizations are more closed, the UN can open space for CSO involvement.
c) Encourage the UN Country Teams of neighboring countries, together with regional organizations and regional CSO networks, to work together at the operational level to implement strategies addressing these challenges. In particular, develop joint initiatives to address the local dimensions of conflict-generating problems in close cooperation with communities living along borders.
d) Address existing gaps in funding arrangements, as most donors do not provide budget lines for regional or cross-border initiatives and few agencies have institutional mechanisms to implement them.

The resumption of bus travel across the line of control that divides Jammu and Kashmir in April 2005 reunited divided families, generated popular enthusiasm, improved trust and confidence between India and Pakistan, and opened the possibility of a demilitarized border. A decade of work by the Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy, a coalition of civil society groups, facilitated this breakthrough.
5.1.5. Multifunctional peace operations.
To respond effectively to crisis situations, the UN should work with other relevant actors, including local and international CSOs and regional organizations, to jointly analyze needs, formulate objectives and the strategies to achieve them and develop appropriate operational structures for effective cooperation.
a) Develop clear, coherent and integrated mandates and leadership of all peacebuilding, peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts within a country, whether such efforts are lead by the UN or regional organizations. Establish clear channels of communication and cooperation among national, regional and international organizations working for peace, possibly through the development of regularized multi-track forums.
b) Pre-deployment assessment missions should systematically consult with a range of local actors – including those close to the potential or actual armed parties – with the UN Country Team and with specialised CSOs to ensure that the mandate and concept of operation are appropriate to address needs and that strategies will build on local resources and initiatives.
c) Incorporate gender equality and sensitivity into all peace operations. Include gender specialists amongst mission staff and prioritise strategies and programmes to address the specific needs of women and girls. The UN, regional organisations, and NGOs should take action to achieve gender balance in the personnel deployed at all decision-making levels.
d) Fully utilize the potential of civil peacebuilding missions and the potential of community-based peace monitors and mediators. Designate specific field-level personnel to coordinate community peacebuilding programs with a mandate to liaise and cooperate with local and international civil peace activists and link them with other mission personnel as relevant.
e) Create interlocking systems of peacekeeping capacities so the UN can partner with relevant regional organizations to increase rapid response capacity. Interlink these systems with civil peace services: teams of experts with specialized skills who can be rapidly deployed in emerging crisis situations to support local peaceful actors and, where necessary, provide a protective accompaniment for local people. The UN should work with existing services in order to develop shared rosters of specialists, taking into account the importance of cultural and gender differences as a key resource of such teams. Governments should provide political and financial support for CSOs that place multinational, trained unarmed civilian peacekeepers.
f) Mandates should prioritise the protection of civilian populations and vulnerable groups, including peace workers. A comprehensive system may include the strategic deployment armed peacekeeping forces, international civilian peace monitors, human rights monitoring missions, and support for local community peace monitors.
g) Enhance the overall international system for deploying effective multifunctional peace operations through ongoing joint training, scenario planning, and evaluation.

Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) team accompanied a group of mothers and a local human rights activist seeking the release of children allegedly abducted as child soldiers. Negotiations between the mothers and the insurgency leadership continued over two days, while NP team members provided a supportive international presence. By nightfall of the second day, 26 children were released with their bus fares home.
5.1.6. Public participation in peacemaking processes
The peoples of conflict-affected communities are the main stakeholders of peace. The should not be left out of peace negotiations between governments and armed groups, particularly in negotiations over substantive constitutional and policy matters that shape the future of the country. Peace processes can address the challenges of comprehensive human security by considering issues of good governance and equitable development within a participatory framework.
a) Facilitate processes and forums that involve different elements of the society to identify and debate key issues that should be addressed in the negotiating agenda peace and, as relevant, to deliberate substantive measures to address them.
b) Strengthen the capacity of CSO representatives to engage effectively in peace talks, including negotiation and policy formulation as well as in the substantive issues that will be addressed in the talks and opportunities to learn from peace processes elsewhere.
c) International actors can use their leverage to encourage or sponsor processes that are socially and politically inclusive and that promote transparency and encourage the accountability of those who negotiate it. International mediators and special envoys should participate in or be informed of relevant initiatives and the substantive ideas generated. They should also provide assistance to monitor implementation of formal and informal agreements and support relevant implementation mechanisms.
d) Ensure that women are represented equally at the decision-making level in formal peace negotiations, as well as in the range of informal peacemaking initiatives.
5.1.7. Post-settlement reconstruction and peacebuilding
Half of all countries emerging from conflict fall back into violence within five years. Transitional justice; trauma healing and reconciliation; disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and rehabilitation (DDRR); protection and assistance for IDPs and refugees, as well as assistance to host communities are essential elements for successful transitions. This calls for sustained support for countries emerging from conflict as an investment in long-term prevention. Focus funding on longer-term solutions to conflicts and support peacebuilding, economic recovery, and civil society development.
a) Develop integrated policies and strategies to encourage business investment in conflict-affected countries, by both the domestic private sector and transnational corporations, which are consistent with ‘best practice’ guidelines and international norms.
b) Support a UN-based integrated rule of law coordinating capacity to assess, plan and deploy international police, judges, human rights and legal experts during the transition period to assure basic civilian protection and assist in training and establishing reformed indigenous rule of law institutions. Provide additional resources to field human rights experts to advise reconstruction and rehabilitation programs and ensure they meet the highest standards of international norms.
c) Civil society, governments and IGOs should work with local communities toward comprehensive DDRR. These programmes should be tailored to meet the specific needs of women and men, girls and boys in specific communities and social groups. These programs must be well-planned, adequately funded and sufficiently integrated into the broader reconstruction and rehabilitation process.
d) Youth who missed out on education due to the war should be offered educational opportunities in the post war period to make up for their lost right to education. Create income-generating projects and employment schemes, especially in conflict-affected communities.
e) Promote integrated strategies to meet the humanitarian needs of all displaced people, including refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) and their host communities. Stimulate and support processes for refugees and internally displaced people to better understand and constructively address conflict dynamics in their current situation and to prepare them to engage with other communities on their return. Provide protective accompaniment – fully utilizing the potential of civil peace teams – for those returning to their homes in disputed areas.
5.1.8. Reconciliation and transitional justice.
Fundamental to developing sustainable peace is to face up to the harsh realities of a painful past. Social reconciliation is essential for prevention and peacebuilding, while it is the right of every person to choose when and if she/he will reconcile. The wishes of local people, in particular those who were directly affected, must be central in determining the most appropriate modalities.
a) Foster public dialogue and discussion of these difficult issues to develop appropriate responses. Strengthen channels of communication between the range of actors involved to develop joint policies and strategies to ensure that the demands of justice and peace do not compete.
b) Strengthen the capacity of national justice systems for war crime trials and cooperate fully with international judicial machinery. As appropriate, develop other complementary modalities – such as national reconciliation commissions – to deal with the past.
c) Provide funding for reparations and programs for trauma healing and psycho-social rehabilitation.
d) Undertake research and documentation projects to make an independent record to help those in society to engage constructively in discussions and other activities to deal with the past through truth commissions or other mechanisms. Ensure free access to documentation about the past and undertake initiatives for tracing missing persons and mass graves.
e) Address historic legacies of conflict through initiatives aimed at creating a balanced and insightful understanding of the past. Joint commissions of historians can research the past and develop a common framework of factually-based accounts of disputed histories and contentious issues so as to provide balanced information and analysis for educational material and public debates. Develop education curricula and textbooks that are sensitive to these histories. Where appropriate, educators and historians should collaborate on the development of common regional textbooks and materials.
5.1.9. Cultures of peace and nonviolence
Efforts to generate a sustainable culture of peace must be rooted deeply in the population. Peace education can help change personal ways of thinking and behavior and transform cultural violence. By generating understanding of the causes of conflict and the past, it can help foster trust and reconciliation, promote respect for cultural diversity, and support democratic cultures and processes. Peace education should cultivate culturally-appropriate conflict resolution life skills.
a) Fully implement UN General Assembly Resolution GA/RES/53/243 and the Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace through adequate policies, funding and cooperation.
b) Utilize and resource CSO capacities, tools and curricula to mainstream peace education within multiple institutional and societal settings, including schools, universities, families, communities, media, civil society organizations, public bodies and religious communities.
c) Implement necessary reforms to the formal educational system – including curricula, textbooks and teacher training – drawing on the experience of CSOs and technical support and resources from the international community.
d) Develop media strategies as a part of CSO efforts to promote prevention and peacebuilding. Link journalists to peacebuilding stories and to spokespeople from a range of backgrounds who can articulately convey perspectives and innovative efforts. Monitor the media to assess its conflict sensitivity and work with media organizations on projects and capacity-building initiatives. CSOs can also involve media actors directly in prevention and peacebuilding activities, including – when appropriate – in dialogue initiatives.
5.1.10. National capacities for peaceful conflict management
Sustainable prevention requires effective systems, processes and institutions for managing disputes, addressing grievances, and responding to conflict. Democratic governance and participatory decision-making processes are the foundations for these capacities.
a) Develop the dispute management capacities, based on democratic values, within all state institutions. These can be complemented by procedure to address specific cases and grievance through greater access to justice and systems for culturally-sensitive alternative dispute resolution, including adjudication, mediation services and ombudspersons and elders’ councils.
b) Utilize such instruments as commissions of inquiry, national reconciliation commissions and platforms for national dialogue to develop recommendations for ways of responding to major conflicts and other serious incidents.
c) Provide technical assistance and funding for these systems and draw upon the knowledge, skills and comparative experience of CSOs to make these systems as effective as possible.
d) Learn from the experiences of indigenous knowledge systems for strengthening community organization and peacebuilding and develop local and national systems for conflict management that draw upon or complement these systems, in ways that are consistent with the highest standards of human rights and human dignity.

In Jordan, the Bedouin system of reconciliation and alliances serves as a tool to balance power and to contain conflicts in peaceful ways based traditional law. Modern legal authorities in Jordan recognize tribal agreements as more efficient in responding to potential conflicts than long procedures in courts.

5.2. Promoting Human Security: addressing the root causes of conflict
5.2.1. Equitable and sustainable development
Poverty eradication is essential to achieve human security and dignity. Furthermore, poverty and violent conflict are often intrinsically interrelated. Many conflicts are deeply rooted in social, economic and cultural disparities, especially in the context of unequal access to economic and social power and resources. Violent conflict and war seriously erode and impede development prospects. According to the Millennium Project report, of the 34 countries furthest from achieving the goals, 22 are emerging from conflict. Prevention and sustainable peacebuilding are therefore necessary to achieve the Millennium Development Goals; fulfilling the MDGs can, in turn, address some of the root causes of conflict and promote human security. To achieve this, all governments must recommit themselves to the goals of eradicating poverty and sustainable development, including by addressing the feminization of poverty. We support the ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign for trade justice, debt relief and more aid directed at meeting peoples’ needs. Nevertheless, development policies that fail to take into account the specific needs and structural marginalization of some sectors of society may increase the risk of structural violence and armed conflict.
a) Address the structural factors that cause poverty, including through debt relief and more equitable trade, while increasing the quantity and quality of aid – with all donor countries achieving the UN 0.7 per cent gross national product target.
b) Foster prevention through MDG-based poverty reduction strategies, with a particular focus on the needs of marginalized groups, migrants and IDPs and compensatory investment in disadvantaged regions that might otherwise be left out of the benefits of economic growth. Ensure that operational programs enable more equitable and sustainable access to benefits and that they ‘do no harm’ in exacerbating violent conflict. Address the specific development needs of women and girls.
c) Mainstream conflict sensitive approaches into country assistance strategies and all international policy frameworks, including Common Country Assessments, UN Development Assistance Frameworks and Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers.
d) Ensure the effective participation in the policymaking process of those who will be affected by development policies – including women, youth and minorities.
e) Mobilize resources, commit funds, and engage civil society to control and eradicate diseases that threaten human security, such as HIV/AIDS.
5.2.2. Natural resources and prevention
Global scarcity of key commodities (such as oil, diamonds, timber, minerals) that are territorially concentrated in potential conflict zones can become a driving force for armed conflict. Strategies need to address both direct linkages – when the quest to control resources is the primary goal of conflicting parties and their sale provides funds for armies or rebel groups – as well as indirect links, where the management of natural resources causes economic and political instability that could fuel conflict. Furthermore, the short- and long-term consequences of environmental degradation and climate change caused by the unsustainable use of these resources must be addressed as part of overall strategies for prevention and to promote durable human security.
a) Gear development strategies towards diversification in order to reduce the dependency on natural resources. Development agencies and IFIs should rigorously assess the potential for conflict arising out of environmental degradation and resource competition and make prevention key criteria in decision-making and project development.
b) Manage natural resources efficiently and sustainably to benefit populations, especially those affected by conflict. Establish international norms and assistance to increase the transparency and accountability of revenue systems and support mechanisms to manage disputes over the management of resources.
c) Develop certification systems for commodities that contribute to violent conflict and establish regional and global mechanisms to track illicit cross-border activities related to the exploitation of these commodities. Develop and utilise ‘smart’ sanctions against those who exploit and exacerbate war for their own profit. These can be accompanied by public ‘naming and shaming’, with CSOs stimulating consumer action against violators as appropriate.
5.2.3. Promote and protect human rights.
Respect for human rights – including the right to life, the right to peace, the right to development, freedom of association and of speech, freedom of belief, equality and non-discrimination for all, and the promotion and protection of the rights of women, of children, and of all minorities and indigenous peoples – is essential for building sustainable peace. International laws and standards apply to all and should be consistently complied with by all. Governments must ratify all treaties, fulfill their commitments and devote greater attention and resources to promote the practical implementation of all rights.
a) CSOs can engage in policy dialogue with governments and facilitate public discussion on appropriate methods and measures to implement international standards – especially where these standards are controversial and / or not well understood. They can make ‘shadow reports’ for international monitoring bodies on implementation with recommendations to address shortcomings.
b) Provide international assistance to strengthen domestic mechanisms to implement international standards and to promote rule of law generally, including by increasing the operational capacities of the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights.
c) Raise community-level awareness of human rights, including the human rights of women, children and persons belonging to minorities and indigenous populations. Engage with members of security forces – including the police and military – to encourage their respect for human rights, appealing to their professionalism, honor and legal liability.
d) Strengthen the UN human rights system with additional resources and political support. Make the principal multilateral forum more effective, building on the continued active participation of NGOs and independent monitoring procedures. Ensure there are regular scheduled reviews of the human rights accomplishments, shortcomings and capacity-building needs of all countries in respect of all human rights based on an impartial, transparent and objective assessment.
5.2.4. Effective participation and equality
A failure to ensure effective political participation is often one of the root causes of conflict. Those who feel excluded may try to defend their interests through other means, sometimes through violence. Strategies to promote effective participation must be rooted in efforts to end discrimination and actively promote equality.
a) Intensify efforts to comprehensively implement the Beijing Platform of Action to achieve gender equality and UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. Establish mechanisms at the national level to monitor and support implementation of these standards. Governments, international organizations and NGOs should ensure equal representation of women and men at all levels and in all institutions.
b) Ensure the effective participation of minorities and indigenous peoples in decisions that affect them. Governments, IGOs and other bodies should take proactive steps to ensure their access to consultations and decision-making processes at the local, national and global levels. Measures should take into account diversity within groups and the effective participation of women and girls. The principle of free, prior and informed consent should be at the center of decision making processes involving minorities’ and indigenous peoples’ lands, territories and natural resources and their economic, social and cultural development.
c) Foster empowerment of excluded groups and direct attention to legitimate grievances through nonviolent social action. Facilitate public discussion and policy dialogue to clarify perceptions and needs and to develop agreements on ways to address them.
5.2.5. State effectiveness and democratic governance.
CSOs should work with all levels of government to strengthen institutional capacity and practices for good governance as a key facet of conflict prevention and long-term peacebuilding activities. Free and fair elections, accountability, transparency, informed citizen participation, respect for diversity, the impartial application of law, management of tensions through constructive dialogue, and the provision of basic goods and services in an equitable manner are essential elements of sustainable peace.
a) Investigate national electoral processes to develop strategies for enhancing the overall democratic processes. Encourage full participation through civic education campaigns and freedom to form or join independent political parties. Help prevent the potential for elections-related organized violence through comprehensive monitoring during the entire campaign period, including by deploying international civilian monitors to provide protective presence for vulnerable actors.
b) Strengthen domestic rule of law by promoting public awareness and expectations of rule of law and monitoring compliance through the combined efforts of the judicial system, CSOs and international bodies.
c) Enhance public security by reforming the security sector to increase effectiveness. Involve CSOs in security sector governance to facilitate transparency and accountability, inject a wider diversity of perspectives into policy-making process, and prompt greater responsiveness of security institutions to societal needs. CSOs can scrutinize criminal justice policy to promote respect for human rights and safeguard civil liberties.
d) Engage CSOs in legislative processes through procedures to elicit views and ideas on important and sensitive issues that may cause, exacerbate or lead to a resurgence of violent conflict. Provide capacity-building support for CSOs to engage proactively with national policymaking processes and to work with parliamentarians to develop and monitor relevant legislation.
5.2.6. Demilitarization, disarmament and arms control.
Member states should fulfill their commitment under Article 26 of the UN Charter to the least diversion of the world’s resources to weapons and military capacities. Resources should be devoted to development and programs to promote sustainable peace. Taking concrete steps toward disarmament and demilitarization has added value as a confidence-building measure and reduces the likelihood of armed conflict, especially between states.
a) Governments should negotiate and agree a comprehensive arms trade treaty for conventional weapons, fully implement the program of action on small arms and light weapons, and make significant progress in eliminating nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.
b) CSOs can work with governments and IGOs on practical disarmament, including through community-based programs aimed at reducing the number of weapons among the civilian population, especially in violence-prone societies, and promote disarmament education. CSOs can help identify and address the links between illicit weapons trade and the illegal exploitation of natural and other resources and drugs trafficking.
c) CSOs should monitor defense budget allocations / military expenditure and purchase of weapons, with the objective of fostering a shift to priorities that promote human security. CSOs can monitor corporations engaged in arms production and weapons developments and discourage their role in political decision-making.
d) CSOs can also scrutinize defense policy and engage in policy dialogue with governments to encourage adherence to international law and encourage governments, national parliaments and regional organizations to increase state participation in international treaties and disarmament regimes.
e) Governments should, in law and practice, enable the exercise of conscientious objection to military service by citizens of their countries, consistent with UN recommendations.

In some regions of the world, normative-legal commitments play an important role in promoting regional stability and increase confidence. For example, Article 9 of Japanese Constitution renounces war as a means of settling disputes and of maintaining forces for those purposes. It has been a cornerstone for collective security throughout East Asia.

5.3. Goals, policies and funding to prioritize prevention and peacebuilding
5.3.1. Millennium Peace and Security Goals
Member States should develop and commit to a specific and timetabled set of rights-based and gender-sensitive goals to make achievable the Millennium Declaration commitments to peace, security and disarmament and to human rights, democracy and governance in ways that complement and enhance fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals. They should build on the framework of rights, norms and standards previously agreed by governments and focus attention on how to fulfil them, with emphasis on local ownership of their implementation. GPPAC will work with others toward developing a set of goals and will advocate their adoption and fulfilment.
5.3.2. Program of action for prevention and peacebuilding
a) There should be a series of regional consultations around GPPAC regional action agendas involving senior officials from the UN, regional organizations, governments and the CSO networks to explore challenges and ways of implementing these agendas.
b) Develop and implement an internationally agreed program of action for prevention and peacebuilding that draws on this Global Action Agenda.
5.3.3. Funding prevention and peacebuilding
Prioritizing prevention and peacebuilding requires more resources, more effectively administered. We need funding modalities that combine reliability of supply and funding streams that can be quickly administered for flexible rapid response initiatives. Coherent framework strategies are required to achieve long-term conflict transformation and guide the effective allocation of resources to meet that goal.
a) Multilateral and bilateral donors, working together with conflict prevention experts and CSOs, should develop a plan to increase the overall financing for structural and early stage operational prevention, including by redirecting allocations from security budgets for cooperative and non-coercive strategies and programs.
b) Identify and address gaps in current funding arrangements, such as for cross-border and regional initiatives in most parts of the world.
c) Consistent with the Secretary-General’s recommendation, donors should establish a $250 million standing fund for peacebuilding that can be used to finance the recurrent expenditures of a nascent government, as well as critical agency programs in the areas of rehabilitation and reintegration. Local stakeholders should be fully involved in the development and implementation of assistance strategies. As appropriate, access to the reconstruction fund should be linked to the adherence by all parties to the agreements which they have signed.
d) When donor governments organize for conflict prevention and peacebuilding within or across relevant government agencies they should involve CSOs in situation analysis, planning and implementation. They may need to provide adequate funding to support CSO’s roles in these processes.
e) CSOs and donors should jointly examine the medium- to longer-term consequences of the modalities of funding relationships. Review how strategic priorities are defined (e.g., whose priorities and why) and the initiatives to fulfill them are selected. Consider ways of addressing the potential of fostering more integrated and comprehensive strategies based on sustainable development of processes to avoid fragmentation and overly ‘projectized’ and ‘donor-led’ approaches to working with conflict. Develop conflict-sensitive guidelines to increase appropriate levels of transparency about the source of funds, funding priorities and beneficiaries to avoid and counter political opposition to foreign-funded CSOs and activities.
f) NGOs working with conflict should consider developing independent funding streams for their activities. They can develop strategies to generate resources from private donors. They can create membership organizations that derive with independent funding and other support from members. Eliciting support from the general public could parallel the emergence of greater public awareness of the value of conflict prevention and support for CSO roles in promoting it.

6. Recommendations for building institutional capacities for prevention
6.1. Civil society networks and capacity building
Building on the experience of GPPAC and other related networks, we aim to strengthen CSO capacities for prevention and peacebuilding through global, regional and national networks. We need to create more effective mechanisms – and possibly institutions – to improve communication, coordination and mutual assistance. These should enable transversal links between local, national, regional and global levels. We aim to strengthen our own capacities to develop shared and complementary strategies amongst groups working in the same geographic area and amongst groups working on similar substantive areas in prevention and peacebuilding. We recognize the special potential and significance of networks linking key civil society actors – such as women, youth, and faith-based organizations, among others – who can further develop their specific capacities and concerns by working together. We aim to foster interfaces between these types of networks with networks and coalitions addressing specific conflict situations and / or specific substantive areas.
a) Strengthen local capacities for peace and culturally appropriate strategies for working with conflict through autonomous and self-directed local, national and sub-regional networks that provide practitioners, both men and women, with a platform to freely discuss their experiences and concerns and to articulate common frameworks and strategies developed out of a body of shared knowledge.
b) As appropriate, create CSO-initiated regional conflict prevention centers or platforms to monitor potential conflict and respond in timely and innovative ways through preventive diplomacy and initiatives to address cross-border factors that cause and exacerbate conflict.
c) Strengthen links between IGOs and CSO prevention and peacebuilding networks, including through formal consultation mechanisms. This will also allow greater integration of southern perspectives in international fora.
d) Platforms of CSOs dedicated to prevention and peacebuilding should establish links with other CSOs, such as faith-based structures, human rights organizations, business associations, unions, and universities. Active steps should be taken to cooperate with networks focused on related matters, such as human rights, development and environmental issues.
e) Direct greater resources and attention toward gender perspectives and women’s equality in prevention and peacebuilding initiatives. Build the capacity of CSOs, especially women’s organizations, to advocate and lobby for women’s involvement in conflict prevention, peacemaking and peacebuilding processes. All organizations must increase the level of knowledge of gender perspectives within their own structures and on substantive prevention and peacebuilding issues and develop strategies for implementing gender perspectives
f) Build on youth capacities for prevention and peacebuilding by providing increased and sustained support for youth training and youth activist initiatives, including through networking to share experiences and develop innovative initiatives for responding to conflict. In consultation with youth, governments and international organizations and agencies should develop youth policies with minimum standards to ensure the inclusion of youth in their activities and to address their needs. Such policies should include a focus on the recognition and development of skills for conflict prevention, management and resolution.
6.2. Recommendations for governments
Governments and CSOs can work together with IGOs to develop effective systems for civilian conflict management, while ensuring that governments live up to their responsibilities and CSOs maintain their independence. They can cooperate to promote human security through coordinated action, critical dialogue and ongoing monitoring. CSOs should be involved at all stages of the development, design, and implementation of prevention policies and programs.
&Mac183; Adopt human security as a guiding principle in the government’s domestic and foreign policy and practice, through an integrated 'whole of government' approach. As members of IGOs, governments should support the emerging norm of ‘responsibility to protect’ within a wider framework of collective security that places prevention at the center. Participate in developing and agreeing a set of Millennium Peace and Security Goals that complement and enhance the MDGs and will focus policy and practice towards comprehensive implementation of the Millennium Declaration.
&Mac183; Strengthen operational prevention, by cooperating with IGOs and CSOs to make more effective early warning and early response systems. They should support and participate in strengthening such non-coercive measures as early stage preventive diplomacy and resources for confidence-building, as well as more effective and targeted punitive measures such as sanctions.
&Mac183; Increase the amount and quality of support for international peace operations, enabling the Secretary-General’s request for interlocking peacekeeping capacities. Provide increased resources and personnel for civilian operations and, in particular, civil peace services through greater operational and political support and increased funding. Governments should further commit to providing sustained financial and political support for countries emerging from armed conflict as an investment in post-conflict prevention.
&Mac183; Develop and implement strategies to address systematically the cross-border and global factors that can drive and enable armed conflicts. These include the trade in ‘conflict commodities’, arms, drugs, and illicit trafficking more widely.
&Mac183; Take active steps to support the development of a culture of peace within society by fully implementing the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, including through reform of the education system and through policies and resources to mainstream peace and conflict resolution education in multiple societal institutions.
&Mac183; Address recent and historic legacies of conflict by initiating public dialogue on how best to deal with the past, underpinned by full investigations of what happened and resources for fostering restorative justice and, as relevant, ending impunity.
&Mac183; Enhance national capacities and systems for peaceful conflict management by strengthening state institutions and systems for alternative dispute resolution, including by drawing upon and complementing indigenous systems for conflict management.
&Mac183; Increase state effectiveness in providing goods and services to meet the basic human needs of the entire population, including for security, and strengthen democratic governance and rule of law at all levels.
&Mac183; Foster prevention through greater resources and priority to fulfill the MDGs, especially for MDG-based poverty reduction strategies, ensuring that operational programs enable more equitable and sustainable access to benefits and that they ‘do no harm’ in exacerbating violent conflict including through participatory methods of involving communities in developing priorities and implementing programs.
&Mac183; Promote and protect all human rights by incorporating international standards into domestic law, taking measures and providing resources needed to fulfill them – especially for effective participation and equality – and promoting their consistent application in domestic and international rule of law, including international humanitarian law.
&Mac183; Develop a timetabled plan to reduce budgets and resources for weapons and military capacities, directing resources to address the causes of conflict and to promote human security. Negotiate and agree a comprehensive arms trade treaty for conventional weapons, fully implement the program of action on small arms and light weapons, and – where relevant – make significant progress in eliminating nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.

Each year, the Canadian government hosts a conference to deliberate foreign policy with Canadian civil society. This acts as a consultative mechanism for developing the government’s response to both thematic issues and specific situations.
6.3. Recommendations for regional & sub-regional organizations
Regional and sub-regional organizations should increase their capacities to engage effectively with the range of issues related to prevention and peacebuilding, in cooperation with the UN, governments and CSOs. They should develop or strengthen their operational prevention capacities, possibly managed through specialized offices or agencies. Regional organizations should recognize the legitimate role of CSOs in inter-governmental structures and mechanisms for prevention and peacebuilding. Efforts are needed to institutionalize engagement, including by providing CSOs consultative status within these structures.
&Mac183; Conduct a consultation meeting with the GPPAC regional network – involving senior officials from the UN, regional organizations, governments and the CSO networks – to explore challenges and ways of implementing the regional action agendas.
&Mac183; Establish or strengthen regional mechanisms that interlink with international and local systems for early warning and early response, with civil society involvement in monitoring, analysis and implementation.
&Mac183; Conduct preventive diplomacy and early-stage dispute resolution and support confidence and security building measures through regional instruments and mechanism that fully utilize the prevention and peacebuilding capacities of CSOs. Measures could include regional conflict prevention centers, special advisors, councils of wise people and other permanent instruments.
&Mac183; Develop and implement integrated strategies to address the complex of cross-border and regional factors that cause or enable conflicts. Strengthen regional standards and monitoring systems, consistent with the highest international norms and standards, to better regulate these threats to regional peace and security.
&Mac183; Strengthen multifunctional peace operations through integrated mandates that build on local capacities and peacebuilding efforts, with operational structures for effective cooperation between different missions and local actors. Agree arrangements for interlocking peacekeeping capacities that interlink with civil peace services and enhance the overall system through joint training, scenario planning and evaluation.
&Mac183; Where regional organizations or states take a lead in mediating peace negotiations, ensure that processes enable public participation on the substantive constitutional and policy matters that shape the future of the country.
&Mac183; Provide sustained support and encouragement for long-term peacebuilding and reconciliation. Help to ensure that strategies address the wider regional causes and consequences of conflicts to reduce the risk of recurrence or spread to neighboring countries.
&Mac183; Catalyze efforts to build cultures of peace by raising awareness, promoting regional exchanges, and implementing initiatives that help to fulfill the international Programme of Action – including through joint reviews of educational curricula and textbooks to develop common frameworks for teaching about the past and about countries and peoples of the region.
&Mac183; Promote human security through regional programs and agreements to address the structural causes of conflict; sustainable development and poverty eradication; support for the practical implementation of human rights and monitor implementation of regional standards; and insistence on compliance of member states with the highest standards of good governance.
&Mac183; Facilitate agreements and undertake confidence building measures to de-escalate regional arms races through demilitarization, address illicit arms trafficking and promote practical disarmament of small arms and light weapons.

The Council of Ministers of the Andean Community of Nations agreed in 2004 to establish an Andean Security Network. It will involve CSOs, academics, political groups and entrepreneurs with governments and IGOs in the design, implementation and evaluation of security policy, early warning analysis and crisis management.
6.4. Recommendations for the United Nations
6.4.1. Member States’ leadership of prevention efforts
Strengthen the capacities of the UN’s deliberative organs for leadership of prevention and peacebuilding and effective engagement with civil society on peace and security matters.
a) The General Assembly’s substantive agenda should give prominence to developing and agreeing a program of action for prevention, including through the development of Millennium Peace and Security Goals. It should establish mechanisms to engage fully and systematically with civil society.
b) The Security Council should implement the recommendations of the Cardoso Panel to strengthen the Council’s engagement with civil society. It should deepen and improve the planning and effectiveness of the Arria formula meetings by lengthening lead times and covering travel costs to increase the participation of actors from the field. UN country staff should assist in identifying civil society interlocutors. The Security Council’s field missions should meet regularly with appropriate local civil society leaders, international NGOs and perhaps others, such as business leaders. Security Council should continue thematic seminars to discuss issues of emerging importance to the Council that include presentations by civil society and other constituencies as well as UN specialists, such as special rapporteurs. The Security Council should convene independent commissions of inquiry after Council-mandated operations.
c) Strengthen the Economic and Social Council’s leading role in development and economic cooperation, linking the normative and operational work of the UN. It should give prominence to promoting structural prevention and human security, as outlined in this Global Action Agenda, as well as post-settlement peacebuilding. ECOSOC can engage more proactively with international financial institution on prevention-oriented policies and practices. It should cooperate closely with civil society in developing both thematic and situation-specific responses.
d) We support the creation of UN peacebuilding commission and believe its effectiveness will be enhanced though cooperation with CSOs with peacebuilding expertise. It should address both key thematic issues, such as the management of natural resources and promoting rule of law, as well as country- and region-specific situations. The UN Peacebuilding Commission should engage proactively with CSOs from the countries concerned and develop partnership agreements where relevant. The Commission should proactively encourage Member States and others to request its advice and assistance at any stage, including the pre-crisis stage. The proposed peacebuilding support office should have highly qualified staff with extensive practical experience in working with conflict, including facilitating dialogue and mediation. Implement the UN Secretary-General’s recommendation for a dedicated rule of law assistance unit in the peacebuilding support office and develop ways to proactively offer assistance to countries potentially vulnerable to armed conflict.
6.4.2. Strengthening the UN Secretariat’s capacities for prevention
Better mainstream and integrate strategies for long-term / ‘deep’ structural prevention into the work of all UN departments, agencies, and programmes and strengthen mechanisms to integrate strategies across the system. Efforts to strengthen structural prevention need to be combined with reinforced mechanisms to lead responses to emerging crises.
a) Create a high-level and action-oriented specialised instrument or body to serve as the principle catalyst mobilising the international community for early-stage operational prevention. It should proactively offer assistance in specific at-risk situations when disputes first emerge and tensions begin to escalate but before they have escalated to wide-scale violence, at which point existing mechanisms for crisis management take the lead. It should support, expand and systemise the ‘good offices’ role of the Secretary-General and should fully integrate with existing coordination mechanisms, such as the Framework Team and the ECPS. Such a mechanism should enhance existing structures by contributing additional skills and capacities rather than replacing or paralleling them. While serving as a catalyst for prevention within the overall UN system, the main role would be to backstop and provide added value to in-country and in-region efforts, in close cooperation with other regional actors.
a) Measures to promote the peaceful settlement of disputes under Chapter VI of UN Charter should be strengthened, with greater emphasis on preventive diplomacy as specified in Article 34. This should include situations involving non-state actors. Parties should be proactively encouraged to seek conciliation, arbitration or adjudication on key issues, including through the International Court of Justice if applicable.
b) UN Secretary-General’s good offices role and capacities for preventive mediation and early stage dispute resolution should be strengthened by providing additional resources. Staff experienced in conflict analysis and resolution can offer assistance by: (a) conducting analysis and developing proposals; and (b) mediating / facilitating dialogue at early stages of prevention, including through the use of shuttle diplomacy and other formal and informal meetings with leaders of government and opposition factions / militant groups.
c) Support innovative initiatives like the Joint UN Development Programme / Department of Political Affairs Programme on Building National Capacity for Conflict Prevention to provide timely assistance in at-risk situations.
d) Efforts and resources are needed to implement Action Plan for the Prevention of Genocide. In particular, the new Special Advisor for the Prevention of Genocide should be supported with the necessary staffing and resources to be effective in fulfilling his important role.
6.4.3. UN Country Teams
Strengthen UN in-country capacities for prevention and peacebuilding through engagement with civil society. Member States and the Secretary-General should collectively affirm the importance and expectation of UN engagement with the diverse elements of civil society within a country as a part of its ongoing work in human development and preventing armed conflict and fostering sustainable peace. UN officials should prioritize maintaining the space needed for CSO activities and work to promote their safety.
a) Create a focal point for prevention and peacebuilding within the UN Country Team (UNCT) to channel effective information flows and to be a catalyst to help coordinate appropriate responses, possibly by building on the role of UNDP peace and development advisors. S/he should foster a framework for engagement with local civil society and serve as a link between governments, regional organizations, and local and international CSOs working on prevention and peacebuilding.
b) The Resident Coordinator / SRSG can establish advisory councils. Such bodies – comprised of women and men from different social groups and possibly representatives of government, local authorities and regional organizations – could work toward the development of joint strategies to promote social cohesion and human security and help to ensure that the overall strategy adopted by international actors is sensitive to local needs. Ideally, these councils would model multi-stakeholder dialogue-based approaches for working with tensions. In larger countries, councils could be established in different regions, especially conflict zones, to more effectively engage people outside the capital. In countries at-risk of escalating conflict, these councils should funnel early warning information, analysis and ideas, as well as strategies emerging from local processes, into national deliberations. Where relevant, such councils could serve as part of the architecture to promote implementation of the terms of peace agreements through independent monitoring and mediation, as well as providing advice on peacebuilding strategies.
6.4.4. Resources for prevention and peacebuilding
The UN should initiate fundraising for prevention and peacebuilding activities modeled on similar systems for humanitarian response. This includes the development of joint appeals to donors for support of integrated conflict prevention / management programs of CSOs and IGOs. CSOs from conflict-affected communities should actively participate in developing funding priorities and plans: CAPs, Post-Conflict Needs Assessments and Transitional Frameworks. Consolidated Appeals (CAP’s) should include in their structure a thematic sector for initiatives promoting ‘social cohesion’ and peacebuilding’. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs should be encouraged to use flexible modalities, such as regional CAPS so as to be proactive in responding to emerging situations.


7. People Building Peace: The Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict
Note: text for box on back cover of GAA?

The Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) is a world-wide civil society-led process to generate and build a new international consensus on peacebuilding and the prevention of violent conflict. While governments have primary responsibility to protect civilians and prevent violence, the complexity, scale and diversity of conflict mean that no single entity, on its own, can ensure peace: a comprehensive network of relationships and actions is needed. GPPAC works on strengthening civil society networks for peace and security by linking local, national, regional and global levels of action and effective engagement with governments, the UN system and regional organizations. This, in turn, supports the potential for solidarity work and global mobilization to strengthen capacities for peace and justice.

GPPAC aims to support a shift from reaction to prevention through the following goals:
1. To create a sustainable network of individuals and groups efficiently and effectively trained in prevention and peacebuilding at global, regional, national and local levels. This network will include multi-stakeholder partnerships involving diverse civil society organizations, governments, regional organizations and the United Nations to enable effective engagement.
2. To develop and work towards the implementation of a policy change agenda, as articulated in this Global Action Agenda and Regional Action Agendas, that will strengthen the long-term effectiveness of conflict prevention and peacebuilding through new formal and informal mechanisms of interaction between CSOs, governments, regional organizations and the UN.
3. To raise public awareness around the world and generate constituencies who actively support human security as an alternative to militaristic approaches that privilege state security over the human rights and safety of individuals and their communities and are informed about prevention and peacebuilding and the important role of civil society in achieving it.

GPPAC was initiated in 2002 in response to the UN Secretary-General’s call to civil society in his Report on the Prevention of Armed Conflict (2001) to organise an international conference on the role of non-governmental organizations and their interaction with the UN in conflict prevention. This process builds on decades of prevention, resolution and peacebuilding initiatives, processes and successes throughout the world. GPPAC is organised through fifteen regional processes, each of which have developed action agendas to reflect principles and priorities for their region. In many countries, there have also been consultations organised by national focal points. To date, thousands of people and organisations have been involved in these processes, especially civil society actors from peacebuilding, unarmed peacekeeping, disarmament, development, humanitarian, human rights, women’s, faith-based and academic / research organisations. The regional processes have been facilitated by regional initiators, who collectively govern the direction of GPPAC through an International Steering Group (ISG). The global process is served by an International Secretariat, currently hosted by the European Centre for Conflict Prevention (ECCP).

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