Arria-formula Meeting on Peacebuilding
On Monday morning (12 January), Somalia will convene an Arria-formula meeting titled “Advancing New Paradigms for Peacebuilding: Fortifying Inclusive and Sustainable Approaches to Peacemaking”.
Ambassador Abukar Dahir Osman (Somalia) and Ambassador Ricklef Johannes Beutin (Germany), the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), are expected to make opening remarks. The anticipated briefers are Bert Koenders, Advisory Group Chair of the Principles for Peace Foundation, and Hiba Qasas, Executive Director of the Principles for Peace Foundation.
The meeting will begin at 10 am EST and take place at the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Chamber. It will be open to representatives of all UN member states and permanent observers.
Somalia has prepared a concept note for Monday’s meeting, which says that the meeting aims to deepen international understanding of experience-centred peacebuilding and highlight practical avenues for embedding inclusion, accountability, and societal engagement into peace processes. Among other things, it also seeks to enhance support for regional initiatives, including reconciliation mechanisms, dialogue processes, and governance reforms.
According to the concept note, the global peace and security landscape is under growing strain as conflicts become more protracted, geopolitical tensions rise, and trust in peace institutions weakens, particularly in regions such as the Horn of Africa, the Great Lakes, and the Sahel.
The concept note argues that traditional peace processes often lack broad societal participation and legitimacy, contributing to fragile political settlements, recurring violence, and reduced confidence in national and multilateral peacemaking efforts. Drawing on lessons from reconciliation initiatives and regional and global research, the concept note further underscores that peace processes rooted in inclusion, legitimacy, accountability, and local ownership are more sustainable.
The concept note poses several questions to help guide the discussion, including:
- What reforms or innovations are needed to enhance the legitimacy, inclusion, and accountability of peacebuilding and reconciliation mechanisms?
- What practical steps can be taken to better support national and regional processes that apply experience-centred approaches to rebuild trust and strengthen political settlements?
- How can emerging peacebuilding paradigms advance broader coherence across peace, governance, and development agendas?
In addressing these questions, speakers may recall Council members’ recent engagement and commitments on peacebuilding and sustaining peace. The last Arria-formula meeting on peacebuilding and sustaining peace, convened by then-Council members Guyana, Japan, and Mozambique in January 2024, stressed the importance of comprehensive, people-centred approaches to peacebuilding.
Monday’s meeting takes place shortly after the conclusion of the 2025 Peacebuilding Architecture Review (PBAR), which resulted in the adoption of twin resolutions aimed at refocusing UN peacebuilding policy commitments to measurable benchmarks at the country level. (For more information, see our 24 November 2025 What’s in Blue story.) In addition, in July 2025, the Council adopted resolution 2788 on conflict prevention and the peaceful resolution of disputes, which called on member states to effectively utilise the UN Charter’s mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of disputes and requested recommendations from the Secretary-General on how to strengthen their use.
Somalia chaired the Ad Hoc Working Group on Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Africa in 2025 and has expressed interest in continuing to play an active role in conflict prevention and peacebuilding in 2026. With the entry of Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Liberia onto the Council this year—countries that, like Somalia, are either currently or had previously been on the Council’s agenda and have engaged with the PBC on their peacebuilding priorities—greater interest is expected in advancing the Council’s conflict prevention and peacebuilding commitments, including through closer cooperation with the PBC.
In the meantime, the US has announced its withdrawal from the PBC and the Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) as part of a broader decision to withdraw from international institutions it considers contrary to US interests. This announcement does not change the formal composition of the PBC since Security Council resolution 1646 of 20 December 2005 guarantees seats on the PBC for the five permanent members of the Security Council. However, since contributions to the PBF are voluntary, the US decision has immediate implications for its financial support to peacebuilding activities.
At Monday’s meeting, several speakers are expected to raise the question of sustainable financing for peacebuilding, particularly in the context of the UN’s ongoing liquidity constraints, and how the lack of predictable and adequate funding affects the ability to translate policy commitments into effective, country-level impact.