UN chief unveils new policy brief to boost peace, security

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday in New York launched a new policy brief outlining his vision of a more robust multilateral framework to boost peace and security for a world in flux.

“The post-Cold War period is over, and we are moving towards a new global order and a multipolar world,” Guterres said.

He highlighted geopolitical tensions, grave human rights violations, distrust in public institutions, new conflicts, terrorism and the weaponisation of emerging technologies.

“Insecurity is being stoked by a rising threat of nuclear war and growing scepticism towards multilateralism,” he added.

The brief, known as “The New Agenda for Peace”, outlines an extensive and ambitious set of recommendations that recognised the inter-linked nature of many of these challenges.

The brief is framed around the core principles of trust, solidarity, and universality that provide the foundation of the UN Charter and of a stable world, Guterres said.

The New Agenda for Peace presents 12 concrete sets of proposals for action, in five priority areas.

The secretary-general called for strong measures to prevent conflicts at the global level and address geopolitical divisions, prioritising diplomacy and investments in regional security architectures.

Second, he highlighted a paradigm for prevention that addresses all forms of violence.

He said the paradigm focused on mediation and social cohesion; ensuring respect for human rights and meaningful participation of women in decision-making; and prioritising links between sustainable development, climate action and peace.

“We must accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, recognising that prevention and sustainable development are interdependent and mutually reinforcing,” Guterres said.

The third area calls for updating peacekeeping operations to adapt to today’s conflicts, many of which remain unresolved for decades, driven by complex domestic, geopolitical and transnational factors.

“Peacekeeping operations cannot succeed when there is no peace to keep, nor can they achieve their goals without clear, prioritised and realistic mandates from the Security Council, centred on political solutions,” Guterres said.

Preventing weaponisation of emerging domains and technologies and promoting responsible innovation, is highlighted as the fourth key area, noting the need for global governance to address threats posed by new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and autonomous weapons systems.

The fifth priority area calls for urgent reforms to the Security Council, General Assembly, the UN’s disarmament machinery, and the Peacebuilding Commission to enhance collective security.

“The Security Council in particular should more systematically seek the advice of the Commission on the peace building dimensions of the mandates of peace operations,” Guterres said.

The secretary-general also introduced other policy briefs on Transforming Education and UN 2.0, aimed at improving education systems and modernising the UN to support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In addition, he said that all the Policy Briefs in the series aimed at supporting Member States’ deliberations in preparation for the Summit of the Future in 2024.

The Summit, Guterres said, would be an occasion to address the serious risks and significant opportunities we face and to deliver on unmet commitments.

He stressed it was vital to “restore trust in each other and in multilateral action, through a Pact for the Future (outcome document of the Summit) that updates global systems and frameworks to make them fit for the challenges of today and tomorrow”.