Prior to the UN General Assembly's Thematic Debate on "Ensuring Peaceful and Stable Societies" on 24-25 April, 2014, the GA solicited input from stakeholders on how peace, security and conflict prevention should be addressed in the post-2015 development agenda.
We submitted our statement, which called for concrete Goals, Targets and Indicators in the new agenda. We believe peace, security and freedom from violence should be incorporated into the post-2015 agenda in two ways:
Firstly, the agenda should contain a standalone goal on peace and security that directly addresses elements and drivers of conflict and violence. This goal should be applicable, not only to violence and conflict-affected countries, but all countries. Violence is universal and therefore should be tackled universally. Instability in one country can cause instability in another. Furthermore, preventing and halting conflict cannot be achieved through a one-size-fits-all process. The post-2015 development agenda should not provide context-specific approaches, but rather a global set of goals, targets and indicators, which are generated by global consensus on what leads to sustainable peace.
Secondly, a standalone goal solely related to peace, with clear, concise and measurable targets on violence and indicators on battle-related deaths, would not be sufficient to foster just and sustainable peace. The ability to achieve a peaceful environment requires other elements of peace and security to be addressed, such as human rights and the rule of law. For this reason, we need a framework that addresses the drivers of conflict within a standalone goal while also addressing elements of the link within other goals. For example, a Gender Equality Goal should outline an indicator, which acknowledges and aims to address insecurity of women.
These two proposals work in cooperation with each other. A standalone goal ensures governments can systematically concentrate actions and focus attention on the reduction of war and insecurity and not avoid targets related to peace and security weaved throughout other Goals. Weaving notions of peace and security in other Goals acknowledges and addresses the mutually reinforcing link between peace, security and development.
Read the full statement here.
