While the PEP does not support any one solution to the problems afflicting international peacekeeping and stability operations, and does not generally engage directly in public policy advocacy, the PEP does exist to support policies that will improve national and international peacekeeping and peacebuilding infrastructure. Thus, the PEP seeks to facilitate the efforts of other interested organizations, building synergies and helping leverage the limited resources of the community through coordination and assistance to ad-hoc working groups.

Recent Major Strategy Sessions & Other Meetings

Note: Some events were PEP sponsored or co-sponsored, others were examples of the PEP providing expert relevant input.

• March 2006 - Conference on US stabilization and reconstruction capabilities March 2006 - Meeting of UN Reform Legislative Working Group
• April 2006 - Conference on peacebuilding April 2006 - Conference on US stabilization and reconstruction capabilities
• May 2006 - Strategy Meeting on UN Reform
• May 2006 - Meeting on SFRC Bolton hearing
• June 2006 - Strategy Meeting on UN Reform
• June 2006 - Meeting with State Department Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization (S/CRS).
• July 2006 - Strategy Session on US civilian stabilization and reconstruction capabilities.
• October 2006 - Strategy Session on Peacekeeping in Darfur
• October 2006 - Balanced Security Strategy Meeting
• October & November 2006 - Invite-only High Level Discussions on Using Military Options to Address the Darfur Situation

U.S. Support for UN Peacekeeping

The PEP tracks the U.S. administration request for, and Congressional funding of, the Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities (CIPA). The PEP facilitates efforts to build support within Congress and the administration for UN peacekeeping and related funding requirements. In early 2006 the PEP produced analysis of the costs of UN peacekeeping and the U.S. request that advocates used to bolster requests for more peacekeeping funding in the FY2006 Supplemental. Congress in fact increased funding for peacekeeping as a result.

U.S. Government Capacity for Peacebuilding

Under the auspices of the PEP, humanitarian organizations and think tanks have met numerous times since late 2003 to discuss policy proposals regarding U.S. capacity to conduct post-conflict peacebuilding operations. With facilitation from the PEP, these organizations have worked with staff members from the Senate and the House to help shape policy proposals that would improve U.S. capacities for stabilization and reconstruction (S&R) missions. With the creation of the State Department Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization (S/CRS), the PEP facilitated group has moved to building support for S/CRS in general and funding in particular. These efforts have continued in 2006 despite continued Congressional failure to fund U.S. S&R capabilities and concerns with S/CRS. The alternative is complete military control of S&R missions, including the civilian element, which even the military does not want to see happen.

United Nations Reforms

The PEP has facilitated public policy advocacy concerning UN reform in several ways. The current ad-hoc working group on UN reform, led by the Open Society Institute - Washington office, Citizens for Global Solutions, and the United Nations Foundation, got its start at PEP policy forums early in 2005. The initial draft alternative UN Reform bill language came from a sub-group of the PEP. The PEP continued to highlight this issue through public events featuring Robert Orr, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Strategic Planning, and Shashi Tharoor, UN Under-Secretary-General for Public Information. In 2006 PEP expertise has been applied to the issue of UN reform as needed.

UN Peacebuilding Commission and Peacebuilding Support Office

The PEP will track the progress of the Peacebuilding Commission and its Support Office, which Member States agreed to in principle in the September 2005 World Summit Outcome Document, and which was finalized in early 2006. Already concerned with the initial setup of the Commission, and anxious that the Commission not become a lukewarm attempt at enhancing UN capacity to help countries transition from war to peace, the PEP will closely watch whether these new offices receive the support they will require in the form of staff and resources.

The Global Peace Operations Initiative

The PEP is also facilitating strategy sessions on the administration’s Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), which is meant to train and equip foreign troops to better perform peacekeeping duties. The sessions are designed to identify and explore ways to advance the GPOI initiative, and ensure that GPOI and related activities are actually contributing to greater global peacekeeping capacity.

Standing Police Capacity at UN DPKO

A Standing Police Capacity has been created at the UN, intended to allow rapid deployment of senior civilian police to UN peace operations. Though this topic is receiving less attention than other UN reform initiatives, the PEP will continue to monitor the Standing Police Capacity as a means to counteract the difficulties the UN now faces in deploying effective police missions in a timely manner.

Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by UN Peacekeepers

Through its support for the advocacy efforts of individual PEP participants, as well as through its own publications, the PEP has continually urged the UN to take strong action towards combating sexual misconduct by those working in its peacekeeping missions. The PEP sees the UN’s commitment to fighting sexual misconduct among its ranks as inextricably linked to its overall efforts to increase accountability, decrease impunity and improve credibility throughout the UN system.

Defense Department Stability Initiatives

The PEP has been tracking DoD’s efforts to increase its capacity for undertaking stability operations in countries transitioning from conflict. The PEP will be particularly interested in watching how DoD reacts to and implements a recent directive elevating peacekeeping and stability operations to the same level as combat operations across the entire Department.

Responsibility/Capacity to Protect

The PEP has long been supportive of education and advocacy related to the responsibility and capacity of states to protect their civilians, including through co-sponsorship of a conference on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), held at the Woodrow Wilson Center. Furthermore, Refugees International, a co-founder of the PEP, continues to be active on the issue of capacity to protect, including the release of several reports. Other PEP participants are also focused on the need to implement R2P.