The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, emphasized the potential of Africa and its young population and called for global reforms to right the injustices of the past, in remarks delivered to the high-level African Union (AU) summit on Saturday.
The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, emphasized the potential of Africa and its young population and called for global reforms to right the injustices of the past, in remarks delivered to the high-level African Union (AU) summit on Saturday.
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Denmark’s unearmarked contributions to the Multi-Year Appeal (MYA) have helped the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) to swiftly bolster the UN’s response to an increasingly complex and ever-evolving peace and security landscape. This support has been instrumental in enabling and sustaining peacebuilding efforts, mediation and political processes worldwide.
We are living in an age of complex and overlapping crises. Today, one-quarter of the world’s population lives in countries affected by violent armed conflict. For every $1 spent on prevention, between $26 and $103 could be saved on humanitarian aid and post-conflict reconstruction. The benefits to those who are spared the disasters of war are incalculable.
DPPA’s critical work in conflict prevention, mediation, peacemaking, and peacebuilding is backed by some 35 donor Member States each year through its Multi-Year Appeal. All recognize that operational deployments or engagements with the right actors can make a difference on the ground and influence the trajectory of conflicts. Pooled resources enable DPPA to maximize impact by combining earmarked and unearmarked funds operational deployment or engagement with the right actors can make a difference on the ground.
Denmark has long been a long-standing partner. Last year, 73% of Denmark’s total contribution significantly contributed to our swift response to emerging crises and supporting underfunded and forgotten crises. The funds were received in the first quarter of the year, facilitating better planning.
DPPA provides support to over 30 United Nations special political missions, from Afghanistan to Libya, the Horn of Africa, Myanmar, Sudan and Syria, among other contexts. These missions help prevent conflicts, mediate disputes, support peace processes, and assist in post-conflict stabilization.
Here are three contexts where unearmarked funding from Denmark helped DPPA’s response to tackle global crises and conflict:
Throughout 2024, UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen continued years of efforts to try to move the political track and bring the Syrian parties closer towards a negotiated solution. It also played a key role in advancing Security Council resolutions, advocating for detainee issues, supporting women’s participation in the political process, and coordinating with UN agencies on humanitarian access and accountability efforts. Following the fall of the Assad regime on December 8, we were able to respond quickly, forging a UN response, working on Security Council deliberations. Work is currently underway on the Day After and DPPA is providing technical support (on constitutional arrangements, elections). Despite the caretaker authorities' stated commitment to a political transition, ongoing conflicts and unresolved security challenges threaten to derail the UN-facilitated process, necessitating continued strategic engagement and risk mitigation efforts.
DPPA deployed surge capacity to our Office in Jerusalem (UNSCO), which is leading UN efforts related to the Middle East peace process, in the immediate aftermath of the 7 October attacks by Hamas, strengthening UNSCO’s crisis response and planning at a pivotal moment. As the conflict escalated and spread to other parts of the region, including Lebanon, the need for swift surge support to missions and offices on the ground became even more urgent. We continued to facilitate access to conflict-affected areas for fact-finding, while also providing critical political and technical support.
As the war in Ukraine enters its third year, our real-time analysis informs UN leadership on political, diplomatic, and security developments, with daily reports contributing to over 160 briefings to the Security Council delivered by the Secretary-General and senior UN officials. Our Liaison Office in Kyiv is our eyes and ears on the ground, and plays a crucial role in monitoring the situation, engaging with local stakeholders, and supporting inclusive peace processes.
The MYA is our lifeline and makes DPPA more operational. Thanks to the MYA, we can deploy expert staff or senior mediators at short notice in peace negotiations (funding more than 100 deployments a year) and promote concrete action to boost women’s participation in peace processes. On the electoral front, DPPA coordinates electoral assistance to dozens of countries a year. In 2024, we provided technical support to about one-third of the elections conducted globally.
The UN Secretary-General on Friday called on the international community to urgently scale up funding and diplomatic action to ease the suffering of millions of Sudanese facing hunger and displacement as rival militaries continue battling each other for control.
The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Friday condemned the intensifying Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank, warning that nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced already amid an “alarming wave” of violence and destruction.
A dire displacement crisis is escalating in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo as M23 rebels make headway while aid routes are cut off, UN humanitarians warned on Friday.
Ukrainian authorities said on Friday a Russian drone strike with a high explosive warhead struck the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant overnight, damaging a protective shield which was built following the 1986 disaster in order to prevent further radiation leaks.
The Peace and Security Council, acting under Article 7 of its Protocol, expressed grave concern over the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in eastern DRC, emphasizing the need for collective action. It reaffirmed respect for DRC’s sovereignty and territorial integrity while unequivocally condemning the activities of M23, ADF, FDLR, and other armed groups, demanding their immediate withdrawal. The Council endorsed key regional communiqués, called for humanitarian...
Adopted by the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) at its 1261st meeting held on 14 February 2025 on Consideration of the Situation in Sudan:
The Peace and Security Council,
Recalling its previous decisions and pronouncements on the situation in Sudan, particularly, Communiqués [PSC/PR/COMM.1235 (2024)] adopted by the PSC at its 1235th meeting held on 9 October 2024...
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Thursday issued a stark warning over escalating violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where hundreds of civilians have been killed and tens of thousands displaced as M23 rebels continue to attack and seize control of towns and villages.
As M23 rebels continue to gain ground in South Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the country’s top UN humanitarian official has told UN News that increasing “complexity and needs” are fuelling a crisis which had already left more than a million people displaced before the latest surge in fighting.
A lasting peace is still possible in Yemen but requires commitment, courage, and action from all sides, the UN Special Envoy for the country told the Security Council on Thursday.
Lifesaving aid continued to reach Gaza on Thursday while UN humanitarians warned that needs remain enormous after 15 months of constant Israeli bombardment.
The UN Special Envoy for Syria on Wednesday called on the country’s caretaker authorities to make the transition to democratic rule inclusive, warning that transparency, rule of law and fair elections – particularly for women taking part – remain key concerns.
The UN Secretary-General has strongly condemned the killing of a Tunisian peacekeeper serving with the UN Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, MINUSCA.
The repression of mass protests in Bangladesh last year that toppled longtime prime minister Sheikh Hasina left as many as 1,400 people dead in just 46 days – the vast majority shot by security forces, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said on Wednesday.
A return to war in Gaza must be avoided at all costs, UN Secretary-General António Guterres insisted on Tuesday, amid fears that the three-week-old ceasefire agreement between Hamas fighters and Israel is about to end.
Thousands of people affected by the fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are leaving displacement sites in and around Goma for safer areas, the UN humanitarian affairs office OCHA reported on Tuesday.
In January 2025, short-range drones caused more casualties than any other weapon in Ukraine, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) said in a new report released on Tuesday.
As the Israeli military completed its withdrawal at the weekend from a key security corridor in Gaza that had cut the enclave in two, UN humanitarians issued a fresh appeal for an end to all aid restrictions which continue to prevent the delivery of lifesaving relief.
The terrorist group Da’esh, also known as ISIL, remains a serious global security threat despite years of sustained efforts to dismantle its operations, UN counter-terrorism officials warned during a Security Council meeting on Monday.
The Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen (OSESGY) concluded on 19 December 2024 another round of political dialogues in Amman, Jordan, as part of its ongoing efforts to foster an inclusive and sustainable peace process for Yemen. These dialogues - held from 24 October to 19 December 2024 - engaged representatives from key Yemeni political parties and entities, ensuring the representation of women, including...
In a significant move towards eliminating Syria’s chemical weapons programme, the head of the UN-backed international watchdog dedicated to ending the scourge has been visiting Damascus, together with a high-level delegation.
During the turbulent early years of Timor-Leste’s independence, the UN was a constant presence, helping to maintain peace and stability. Twenty-four years on, the country has made the successful transition from a host nation for UN peacekeeping operations, to one that contributes to supporting missions elsewhere.
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UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Friday expressed profound concerns at the ongoing violent escalation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) caused by the ongoing Rwanda-backed M23 offensive. “If nothing is done, the worst may be yet to come, for the people of the eastern DRC, but also beyond the country’s borders,” he told a Special Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
UN peacekeeping must be fit for purpose as the nature of conflict evolves in the 21st century along with new weapons technology, more than 60 nations heard this week at a global forum on the future of peace operations, taking place in Indonesia.
The civilian death toll in Sudan has surged dramatically, with at least 275 people killed between 31 January and 5 February, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, reported on Friday.
More than 12,000 critically ill and injured patients, including at least 5,000 children, urgently need to be evacuated from Gaza, amid the crumbling health system, the UN World Health Organization (WHO)’s top official in the region said on Thursday.
The humanitarian community’s plan to flood Gaza with lifesaving aid passed an important milestone on Thursday with the news that more than 10,000 relief lorries have entered the enclave since the ceasefire began on 19 January.
Now is the time to end the crisis in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UN Secretary-General said on Thursday in a briefing to journalists in New York.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged the international community to continue pushing for a full ceasefire and the release of all hostages in Gaza, and “to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing” in the enclave, in a speech in New York on Wednesday.
Rwanda-backed M23 rebels continued to consolidate their hold over North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Wednesday, despite declaring a ceasefire two days earlier and pledging not to continue south, according to the UN’s Deputy Special Representative for Protection and Operations in the country.
As South Sudan enters a so-called “extended transitional period” this month, the UN’s top envoy to the country has warned that the clock is ticking to accomplish the commitments under a key 2018 peace accord, ahead of a new deadline set for February 2027.
To better prevent and address increasing geopolitical polarization and multi-layered conflicts, the Secretary-General stresses the need for national and cross-border peacebuilding strategies, coupled with increased financing for peace.
The Secretary-General’s latest report on peacebuilding and sustaining peace outlines the measures to be taken to support peacebuilding efforts against the current global surge in conflict, geopolitical polarization and militarization.
With two billion people living in places affected by conflict, the report calls for reinforced investment in fostering a culture of peace, with peacebuilding programmes at both national and international level, in line with the Secretary-General’s policy brief A New Agenda for Peace.
“National prevention strategies could help rally different national stakeholders — governments as well as civil society — around common priorities,” explained Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support Elizabeth Spehar. “This would help promote social cohesion and strengthen national infrastructures for peace,” she added.
Alongside national frameworks, the report stresses the need for strategies with cross-border dimensions to address threats going beyond state borders. This is increasingly the case, for instance, for climate-related risks.
“National-level action alone is often insufficient to address the drivers of conflict and violence. We need regional frameworks and organizations that promote trust-building, transparency and détente,” the report reads.
“To be successful, these strategies should be genuinely inclusive and empower marginalized groups, youth and forcibly displaced people,” the report adds, stressing the importance of engaging civil society and boost women’s participation in peace and political processes.
To be effective, peacebuilding strategies also require appropriate resources. “Funding peacebuilding is what translates commitment and strategies into impact on the ground,” ASG Spehar said.
Yet, investments remain scarce. Underfunding also affects UN tools for peacebuilding support. For instance, in recent years, voluntary contributions to the Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) have been declining.
The Fund is the leading instrument to invest in prevention and peacebuilding projects across the UN system and in partnership with national and regional authorities, civil society and multilateral banks. One of its initiatives, the Women for Water and Peace (W4WP) project, recently trained 200 young women and 45 women leaders to manage water kiosks equipped with solar powered purification systems in Freetown.
Overall, as highlighted in the PBF annual report published in March last year, the Fund continues to receive more demand than it can support.
In recent years, UN mission drawdowns have also affected the UN capacity and funding for peacebuilding, while budget constraints have impacted the deployment of Peace and Development Advisors in UN Country Teams.
According to the report, increased investments as well as partnerships with International Financial Institutions (IFIs), Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and the private sector could help address the financing gap and allow the UN to carry on supporting Member States at their request.
To better measure the impact of peacebuilding efforts, the report also stresses the need for impartial and credible data sources, calling on Member States to strengthen the capacity of the Peacebuilding Impact Hub, a platform bringing together UN entities, governments, civil society, and other actors.
The Hub gathers data and evidence on peacebuilding and can support national efforts through operational, political, and strategic insights.
In the report, the Secretary-General also calls for more resources to support the work of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), the entity supporting Member States’ prevention and peacebuilding strategies, and suggests increasing its advisory role to the Security Council.
“The United Nations, with its unique tools, expertise and networks can play a pivotal role in supporting prevention and peacebuilding efforts globally,” Spehar said. “Amidst increasing polarization, strengthening those tools is critical to achieving this mission.”
Some 30,000 residents from Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank have fled their homes after large swathes of it were destroyed in a series of controlled detonations by the Israeli security forces (ISF), the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.
Regional conflicts, murderous militias, the exploitation of natural resources, innocent civilians forced to flee their homes; these recent developments in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are just the latest in the central African nation’s troubled history.
The UN’s top humanitarian official in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Tuesday called for Goma airport to be urgently reopened, warning its continued closure is paralyzing relief operations.
The United Nations on Tuesday condemned a deadly car bomb attack in the Syrian city of Manbij that killed 20 people, mostly women, and left many others critically injured.
