The United Nations 'New Agenda for Peace'

Posted: 4th January 2023

Your voice can help shape the United Nations 
‘New Agenda for Peace’ 

The United Nations has invited civil society organizations to submit their views by January 15, 2023 on the preparation of a new UN Agenda for Peace.

The new Agenda for Peace is being prepared by the UN Secretary-General’s office to follow-up on the call, made by UN Member States in the unanimous UN 75th Anniversary Declaration, for the UN to enhance the ‘diplomatic toolbox of the UN’ in order to ‘prevent the outbreak, escalation and recurrence of hostilities on land, at sea, in space and in cyberspace’ and to ‘resolve ongoing armed conflicts… through peaceful means’.

The UN75 declaration also called for the upholding of ‘International arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament agreements’ and full adherence to ‘international humanitarian law.’

Comments by civil society organizations on how to implement these objectives can be submitted by email to [email protected]. Some suggested points for inclusion in such a submission/email are made below. A video invitation from the United Nations to submit comments for the New Agenda for Peace can be viewed on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Suggested points to include in your comments to the UN

Civil society organizations are encouraged to focus, in their comments to the UN, on aspects of peace and disarmament that are of most interest to them. However, here are a few points that you might consider including:

1. Peaceful resolution of conflicts.
   UN Member States are encouraged to subscribe to the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (73 States currently accept such jurisdiction) and make better use of UN Mediation Services to resolve international disputes peacefully rather than through the threat or use of force;
    
2. Prevention of nuclear war:
   UN Member States that currently rely on nuclear deterrence as part of their security doctrines are encouraged to prevent nuclear war from occurring by adopting no-first-use policies and by affirming the norm that the threat or use of nuclear weapons in armed conflict is unacceptable (This norm was recently affirmed by most of the nuclear armed States in the G20 Bali Leaders Statement);
    
3. Implementing nuclear disarmament obligations
   UN Member States are encouraged to set a time-frame for the global elimination of nuclear weapons (as required by international law) to be achieved no later than 2045, the 100th anniversary of the United Nations. This could be affirmed by UN General Assembly resolution, the 2024 UN Summit of the Future and/or the 2025 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. (See Protect People and the Planet: Appeal for a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World).
    
4. Using Common Security to replace the ‘law of force’ with the ‘force of law’
   UN Member States are encouraged to base their national defence, foreign affairs and security policies on common security. This is a framework which holds that a nation is best secured by using conflict resolution, diplomacy and law to enhance the security of everyone (including oneself and one’s adversaries) rather than by diminishing the security of others through the threat or use of force. A common security approach would entail increased financial and political investment in peace, diplomacy and international law (including in the United Nations), and cuts in the massive and disproportionate global budgets/investments in militaries.
    
5. Protecting the global commons through re-purposing the UN Trusteeship Council
   Nations, and humanity as a whole, face serious threats to security from erosion of the global commons, i.e. ecosystems that are shared by all and not owned by anyone. These include the atmosphere (climate), oceans, outer space, sea-bed, Antarctica and cyberspace. Global commons require global governance in order to protect them from plunder and destruction by national or corporate interest. As proposed by the UN Secretary-General in Our Common Agenda, the UN Trusteeship Council could be re-purposed to provide an appropriate place for UN member States and civil society to build such global governance for the global commons. The 2024 UN Summit of the Future could initiate this process.

Best wishes in submitting your comments to the UN. For further information or questions please contact us at [email protected].

 The International Court of Justice unanimously confirmed in 1996 that there is an international “obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control”The UN75 Declaration and the New Agenda for Peace
 Yours sincerely
UNFOLD ZERO