The CSO-UN Peacebuilding Dialogue Initiative’s Core Group held an internal strategy retreat from 22 to 23 June 2026 during UN Peacebuilding Week in New York. As the Co-Chair of the CSO-UN Dialogue, ACCORD co-organised the retreat with the United Nations Peacebuilding and Peace Support Office (UN-PBPSO), which brought together core group members of the initiative to reflect on the evolution of the initiative and consider priorities for its next phase.
Since 2023, this process has worked to deepen structured and meaningful engagement between civil society, the United Nations Peacebuilding Architecture and Member States. Reflecting on the initiative’s progress, the core group members highlighted the trust built between the UN and civil society as well as the Dialogue’s co-owned approach as key achievements of the initiative. The ability of civil society to genuinely shape the dialogue from its inception was widely identified as a significant achievement. The Core Group members were also candid about the obstacles, noting shrinking civic space, UN system rationalisation, and leadership transitions, which all pose risks to the continuity of what has been built.
The discussions further reflected on the Global North-centric nature of the CSO-UN Peacebuilding Dialogue process and the importance of decentralising engagement closer to where peacebuilding is taking place. The Group agreed that the process risks sliding toward a traditional consultation format if this distinction is not actively held. A particular concern was the danger of losing the local dimension, the horizontal learning that happens when civil society organisations from post-conflict countries, transitioning democracies, and fragile states are in the same room learning from each other, not only from the UN.
The retreat also provided an opportunity to examine gaps in the current process, with participants noting the underrepresentation of the human rights-humanitarian-development-peace nexus, the insufficient integration of youth, women, gender analysis, PWD, and indigenous perspectives, weak feedback loops to participants, and limited awareness of the initiative among UN Resident Coordinators and country teams.
Closing these gaps will require proactive design and not adjustments. Closing off the retreat, the group reaffirmed its commitment to a dialogue format that serves policy, practice, and scholarship in equal measure and agreed that the gains of the past three years must be protected as the process becomes more structured.
As a member of the Core Group and Co-Chair, ACCORD will continue to support the CSO-UN Peacebuilding Dialogue Initiative as it moves from consolidating its foundations toward deepening its reach and influence across the UN Peacebuilding Architecture.
The next Global Annual Dialogue is planned for Nairobi in December 2026
