This year the United Nations (UN)Peacekeeping Ministerial was hosted by the Federal Republic of Germany in Berlin from 13-14 May 2025. The Ministerial brought together 45 Ministers from various countries to discuss the future of peace operations ahead of the UN Secretary General (UNSG)’s review on all forms of peace operations, as an outcome from the Pact of the Future.
This year’s Ministerial was held in what was consistently described as ‘difficult times for multilateralism’. The conference shed light on a myriad of challenges shaped by funding constraints, political divisions within the UN security council, the decision-making body responsible for mandating peace operations, and a complex and protracted conflict landscape. In addition to this, there are various internal deficiencies within the UN system related to coordination and at times, competition for resources. Several recommendations were made based on the experiences of Member States, scholars, practitioners, troop contributing countries and UN personnel on how to adapt UN peacekeeping to the current peace and security environment. Generally, recommendations were presented as opportunities to strengthen partnerships, focus on efficiency, accountability, responsiveness and global burden sharing.
The conversation also focused on the evolving needs on the ground with an increasing focus on the provision of humanitarian aid rather than peacekeeping with a clear exit strategy. In this context, it was explained that UN peacekeeping cannot replace a state’s responsibility to protect its own civilians during conflict and it should not exist as a long term solution to a political problem. The role of mediation and dialogue was also highlighted as the preferred method of conflict prevention and management and was promoted as being the more ‘cost-effective’ means to achieve peace.
The discussions and recommendations therefore focused on how to leverage this moment of ‘crisis’ for transformation of a system in need. In his keynote address in the opening session of the Ministeral, UNSC, Antionio Gueterres called for peacekeeping operations that were fit for the future and tailored for specific contexts.
