Campus & Community

Foundation to examine UN peacekeeping efforts

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Last year’s report on United Nations Peace Operations began with a somber statement: “Over the last decade, the United Nations has repeatedly failed to meet the challenge” of protecting people from war. The report, compiled by a panel of experts from all six continents and chaired by Lakhdar Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister, proposes extensive reforms of UN peacekeeping operations.

These are central issues for the World Peace Foundation (WPF) Program on Intrastate Conflict, Conflict Prevention, and Conflict Resolution, which is hosting a meeting of UN officials, peace practitioners, and academics at the Kennedy School of Government on Friday, May 4, through Saturday, May 5. The meeting will explore all aspects of the peacemaking process, particularly the role of the UN in preventing conflict and building peace in the developing world.

Robert I. Rotberg, director of the WPF Program, and J. Brian Atwood, former administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development and a member of the Brahimi Commission, are chairing the meeting. Jean-Marie Guehenno, UN undersecretary for peacekeeping operations, will open the off-the-record discussion. A report, including recommendations, will result from the meeting.