POLICY BRIEF 2016:1 Institution-building as a Bridge Between Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding: Connecting the Security and Peace Nexus

The United Nations (UN) has come to understand that it is no longer possible to separate its different fields of work across i) peace and security, ii) development iii) and rule of law and human rights. These three are inextricably linked, depending on each other for sustainable peace and prosperity. The purpose of this paper is to explore what role UN peacekeeping operations can play in bringing these three very important pillars of the UN’s work together, in what today are rapidly changing global, regional and local contexts. In particular, what is the role of UN peacekeeping in institution-building across all of its mandated areas of responsibility? How does the UN work with its partners—including host governments, other UN actors and donor governments—to ensure that peacekeeping, by definition short-term interventions, contribute effectively to longer-term efforts?

The author of this paper, Ms Leanne Smith, is the Chief of Policy and Best Practices for UN Peacekeeping. She has served with the UN at Headquarters and in field missions in Afghanistan and South Sudan in a range of capacities over the last ten years. Prior to this she was an Australian diplomat working in Southeast Asia and the Balkans, specialising in international organisations, international law and human rights. Ms Smith is a Master in Public Policy (International Relations) graduate of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

The policy brief was originally written as a background paper for the Challenges Annual Forum 2015 on ‘Institution- and Capacitybuilding for Peace: Implications of the UN’s Review Panels’ Recommendations for Future Missions’, hosted by the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), Ministry of Defence, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, 5-6 October.