7 October 2019: The UN will conduct a review of its peacebuilding architecture in 2020, as called for in the review conducted in 2016. The scope, modalities and terms of reference for the 2020 review are outlined in a proposal submitted to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and UN Security Council.

In 2016, through their respective resolutions A/RES/70/262 and S/RES/2282, UNGA and the Security Council mandated a comprehensive review of the UN peacebuilding architecture to take place during the UNGA’s 74th session (2019-2020). The chair of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), Guillermo Fernandez de Soto (Colombia), prepared a proposal reflecting an “extensive consultative intergovernmental process” with PBC members, the co-facilitators of the 2016 review, and the countries that have engaged with the PBC.

The proposal suggests that the review process be informed by the report of the UN Secretary-General on peacebuilding and sustaining peace due at UNGA 74. Discussions convened by Member States, experts, and civil society at the UNGA, UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the PBC at regional or country level could also inform the review “as appropriate,” the text notes.

Fernandez de Soto’s document proposes two stages: a formal and an informal process. In the informal process, the PBC will convene meetings open to all UN Member States, relevant parts of the UN system, civil society representatives and independent experts “as agreed by the Peacebuilding Commission members.” These meetings are to: consider progress in the implementation of current resolutions; consider the recommendations contained in the 2018 report of the Secretary-General on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace; consider the implications of ongoing UN reforms on the peacebuilding architecture; and consider the views expressed by civil society, research organizations and other relevant partners with regard to the resolutions on the peacebuilding architecture and the recommendations provided by the Secretary-General in his 2018 and 2019 reports on the matter.

A Chair’s summary is to be circulated after each of these meetings, with the PBC Chair to send the main findings of the informal process to the UN Secretary-General, the UNGA and the Security Council for their consideration in the formal process. Member States are also invited to organize regional and thematic consultations, and two or three “eminent persons” to be selected are to submit a letter containing their views to the Secretary-General and Member States. These inputs will be considered in the formal process as well.

Once the informal process concludes, the UNGA and UNSC Presidents will initiate an intergovernmental process to review the inputs. They could also organize informal interactive dialogues with the PBC.

UNGA and the Security Council are to decide the modalities for the intergovernmental process. [Letter from PBC Chair]