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Annual Reports

Challenges Forum Report 2008

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Partnerships - The United Nations, the European Union and Regional Dimensions of Peace Operations: Examples of Cooperation within the Framework of Chapter VIII of the UN Charter

The world of planning and conducting multidimensional peace operations are as challenging as ever. The partner organizations of the Challenges Project (1997-2006) decided in 2007 to step up their efforts. The International Forum for the Challenges of Peace Operations also called the Challenges Forum was established to further enhance the effectiveness of multidimensional peace operations, and to widen and strengthen the international network of actors involved in complex peace operations.

In 2008, France hosted the first Challenges Forum as part of the EU Presidency Agenda. It focused on Partnerships – the UN, the EU and the Regional Dimensions of Peace Operations: Examples of Cooperation within the Framework of Chapter VIII of the UN Charter. It addressed the developments, challenges and potentials of relations between the UN and regional organisations primarily through the example of UN-EU cooperation; assessing military and humanitarian aspects, requirements for security sector reform and peace-building. Some 300 representatives from the UN, EU, AU, NATO, permanent representatives, bilateral ambassadors, and academics from every continent participated in the event.

This report contains presentations, discussions and an analysis of the results of the Paris Forum. It also includes presentations at a Challenges Meeting held in New York three months later, which discussed the outcome of the Paris deliberations and its relevance for the UN context