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Origin of the concept
In 1975, Johan Galtung ideated the concept of Peacebuilding in his essay "Three Approaches to Peace: Peacekeeping, Peacemaking, and Peacebuilding".
He stated that: “The mechanisms that peace is based on should be built into the structure and be present as a reservoir for the system itself to draw up... More specifically, structures must be found that remove causes of wars and offer alternatives to war in situations where wars might occur." -
First appearance within the United Nations' framework: An Agenda for Peace
UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali's "An Agenda for Peace" linked the concept of Peacebuilding to preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and peacekeeping. It defined it as "an action to identify and support structures which will tend to strengthen and solidify peace in order to avoid a relapse into conflict". -
Supplement to An Agenda for Peace
The document put even more emphasis on creating structures for the institutionalization of peace. It expanded the concept to address all conflict phases. -
The Brahimi Report
The 2000 "Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations"(also known as the Brahimi Report) refined the definition of Peacebuilding as "activities undertaken on the far side of conflict to reassemble the foundations of peace and provide the tools for building on those foundations something that is more than just the absence of war." -
Security Council's Resolutions 1645(2005) and 1646(2005)
These Resolutions respectively establish a Peacebuilding Commission and a Peacebuilding Fund.
The former is designed to develop integrated strategies for post-conflict Peacebuilding, which entails coordination among UN agencies, international donors, national governments and civil society organizations.
The latter has the objective of ensuring the immediate release of resources needed to launch Peacebuilding activities and the availability of appropriate financing for recovery. -
A New Conceptual Basis for Peacebuilding (UN Secretary-General's Policy Committee)
"Peacebuilding involves a range of measures targeted to reduce the risk of lapsing or relapsing into conflict by strengthening national capacities at all levels for conflict management, and to lay the foundations for sustainable peace and development. Peacebuilding strategies must be coherent and tailored to specific needs of the country concerned, based on national ownership, and should comprise a carefully prioritized, sequenced, and therefore relatively narrow set of activities”. -
Report on Peacebuilding in the Aftermath of Conflict
The United Nations Secretary-General highlighted that “a successful Peacebuilding process must be transformative and create space for a wider set of actors – including, but not limited to, representatives of women, young people, victims and marginalized communities; community and religious leaders; civil society actors; and refugees and internally displaced persons – to participate in public decision-making on all aspects of post-conflict governance and recovery". -
UN Security Council Resolution 2250
It affirms the important role youth can play in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, as a key aspect of the sustainability, inclusiveness and success of peacekeeping and Peacebuilding efforts. It also recognizes that youth should actively be engaged in shaping lasting peace and contributing to justice and reconciliation. Youth as workers of peace are empowered through five pillars: participation, protection, prevention, partnerships, and disengagement and reintegration. -
Resolution on “Policies and programmes involving youth" (UN General Assembly)
It called upon Member States to take concrete measures to further assist youth in armed conflict situations and to encourage the involvement of young people, where appropriate, in activities concerning the protection of children and youth affected by armed conflict situations, including in conflict prevention, Peacebuilding and post-conflict processes. -
Youth Promotion Initiative
The UN Peacebuilding Fund started its first Youth Promotion Initiative, which could play a key role to encourage youth leadership in Peacebuilding. -
Progress study on Youth and Peace and Security
Mandated by UN Security Council's Resolution 2250, this study gathers the findings of a 18-months long research conducted worldwide with thousands of young people. It officially acknowledges
the initiatives and commitments to peace and security in which youth is and has been involved in. Thus, the study underlines the role played by young people in the field of Peacebuilding and their dedication to the cause while recognizing them as partners for peace.
