•  united nations
• Wednesday, June 15, 2011
• Inter Press Service

Reducing the need for costly and risky UN peacekeeping forces through conflict prevention is the key to reducing the UN’s $7.5 billion peacekeeping budget, according to an EastWest Institute report release here.

The study was compiled by 250 officials and experts , in the hope of finding a way to prevent an increase in the 14 UN peacekeeping operations needed in the world today, through early conflict resolution and negotiation.

In December 2010, the experts and officials involved in producing this report shared ideas on the matter in an international conference held by EWI and the European and Belgium Parliaments. The conference was held after a proposal from the EWI’s International Task Force on Prevention Diplomacy to use careful, quiet diplomacy to engage with the sources of international tension before it grows into full scale conflict necessitating a peacekeeping force.

According to EWI’s Matthew King 'Preventative action is cheaper and more effective than expensive peacekeeping efforts, which is particularly relevant in an era of slashed budgets.' He went on to explain another potential benefit, 'by directing their resources toward diplomacy, the emerging powers can get a better return on their investments.' These are the reasons why the report believes that the UN 'should take a leading role and help put prevention action center stage in international politics.'

The report calls for several UN actions to create conditions that will allow conflict prevention to grow. These include Aria Formula meetings between civil society and UN Security Council ambassadors; a new large-scale support programme; a new global network of UN regional centers ;and flexible funding systems to support of UNDPA. These measures will not only help prevent conflicts, but also make the indications of tensions easier to see through more open communication.

The report also states that rising powers such as Brazil, Russia and China need to match their growing diplomatic influence with further support for the UN’s civilian prevention work. According to the report, in 2010 Brazil had only 4 diplomats for civilian preventive work while China only had one.

In comparison, the United States has 78 and the United Kingdom’s 48. The report states that if these emerging powers backed the programme further, the likelihood of success for the initiative would increase.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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