In regions as diverse as Latin America, Central Asia, Africa, the Balkans and the Middle East, many countries still struggle to address the root causes of conflict. In addition, stages of conflict vary greatly between countries. Of the 19 JP countries of the MDG-F Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding (CPPB) window, few are experiencing high levels of violent conflict, but conflict exists nonetheless in socio-economic form. Social and economic inequalities and lack of good governance and rule of law still represent the greatest challenges to transitioning to long-lasting peace, enabling democratic participation in decision-making processes, building sustainable development, and achieving the MDGs. Despite some progress to date on achieving the MDGs, vulnerable people are disproportionally excluded from these benefits (source MDG Report 2011).
The 19 JPs in the CPPB window aim to address this gap by establishing effective synergies between UN agencies in each country and their national counterparts. The work carried out in these countries addresses conflict both as a cause and symptom of poverty and hunger. This is meant to complement overall efforts on the MDGs at country level, in particular on eradicating extreme poverty and promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment: the CPPB window is ranked first of the Fund’s windows in terms of mainstreaming a gender dimension in its activities – source UNWOMEN). The CPPB JPs assist people in resuming their livelihoods after a period of conflict and becoming self-reliant, supporting them in returning to their homes, rebuilding local infrastructure and regaining a sense of normalcy. Activities are aimed at generating livelihoods and economic opportunities with a special focus on youth, women’s groups, IDPs, returnees, and ethnic minorities. Furthermore, MDG-F JPs work on reducing the risk of relapse to violent conflict by supporting reconciliation, dialogue and social cohesion; establishing systems for citizen security; and strengthening the justice and security sector.
The objective of the CPPB KM plan is to enhance JP planning and implementation and contribute more widely to knowledge-sharing about effective CPPB programming. To this end, the MDG-F partnered with UNDP’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR), establishing synergies with UNDP Country Offices, Regional Service Centers and teams in BCPR headquarters. The KM plan is aimed at fostering an enabling environment for knowledge creation, in particular by creating a community of practice, enhancing familiarity with KM tools and methodologies, and supporting the institutionalization lessons learned beyond the closure of the Fund.