International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace

   The Permanent Missions of Denmark, France, Greece, Latvia and the United Kingdom are organizing this Arria meeting to provide an opportunity for Council members to hear powerful testimonies on the acute challenges affecting Palestinians living in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem . It will consider ways to strengthen the protection of civilians in line with international humanitarian and human rights law , ensure accountability for perpetrators of violence and how to halt further displacement of Palestinians and settlement expansion . In addition to measures to tackle the deteriorating economic and humanitarian situation, particularly the economic crisis facing the Palestinian Authority. The Arria-formula meeting presents an opportunity to reflect on how United Nations Member States can support implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions including resolution 2334 (2016), which underlined the Council's firm opposition to annexation of any part of the...

Multilateralism must do more than inspire and make promises. It must deliver results because results build trust. Trust that nations can come together and act with common purpose. And trust we together can make a real difference in the lives of people. Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General.  

  The concept of Water diplomacy   acknowledges that water management is “embedded in societal and political settings that go way beyond the water sector” and that, consequently, policymakers and diplomats assume a critical function in this regard. Water diplomacy can be defined as the deliberative political processes and practices of preventing, mitigating, and resolving disputes over transboundary water resources and developing joint water governance arrangements by applying foreign policy means, embedded in bi- and/ or multilateral relations beyond the water sector and taking place at different tracks and levels”. While alternative definitions of water diplomacy emphasize different dimensions, scholars largely concur on a set of core aspect • Water diplomacy is a political process bringing together the different perspectives of stakeholders, also taking into account their senses of security, sovereignty, and national development priorities. Political processes must ...

Although water is of vital importance for livelihoods and for economic and social development, roughly one quarter of mankind still lacks access to safe water services. Global water resources are under severe stress due to increasing demands and reduced availability and quality. In combination with social, political, and economic factors, water stress may trigger intra- and interstate conflicts . Water diplomacy is a promising concept for addressing the linkages between water and conflict, as it takes an inclusive and cooperative approach, aiming to not only contribute to water-related issues , but rather focussing on wider goals related to stability, peace, development, and equity. Water diplomacy thus has the potential of counteracting the current global trends towards unilateralism, securitization, and water weaponization . This session analyses the benefits of water diplomacy , but also some of the challenges, which hamper its effective implementation. It also explores the inte...

  Many different factors will decide the fate of these scenarios, yet two aspects stand out as key variables. The future of peace operations critically depends on mobilizing resources. The UN also stopped mandating new large multidimensional peace operations because of budget constraints, and political missions have been supported within UN Security Council , because they are much less intrusive, but also much less expensive than sending troops. African peace operations have been heavily financed by the EU and other Western actors. At the end of 2023, an agreement was reached about the UN financing up to 75% of future African peace operations. Non-military instruments have been, on the contrary, less costly [see Figure 6]. The mobilization of ad hoc coalitions further weakens the binding character of regional norms and standards, and is likely to reduce the willingness to further invest in collective security mechanisms and to maintain the idea that international peace is ...

  In many ways, the structural environment for multilateral peacekeeping has thus changed. With a divided UN Security Council and lingering support among UN leadership and within member states, the UN is unlikely to return any time soon to multidimensional peace operations with robust mandates, although a minimum consensus for renewing mandates of existing missions has always been reached so far. Russia and China have become increasingly critical about the related sanctions regimes and arms embargoes against the governments that host these peacekeeping missions. “As a result, there has arguably been a steady reduction in the political space for proactive, unified Security Council responses to new and emerging crises”. Moreover, the UN has also been blocked regarding recent major conflicts outside Africa, such as the wars in Syria, Ukraine and Gaza. In this context, three different scenarios for the future of multilateral peace operations can be distinguished Despite all dramatic ge...