Promoting dialogue and exchange beyond Geneva’s confines, the GPP reunited representatives from the European Union and the United Nations in a joint reflection exercise regarding their security and development approaches, and the extent to which the corresponding institutional paths contribute to international aid coherence.
The discussion was based on the main findings of two recent reports on the EU-UN relationship in the area of peacebuilding, namely the report Renewing Hope, Rebuilding Lives, produced by the UN Office in Brussels, and the report EU-UN Cooperation in Peacebuilding: Partners in Practice?, produced by UNIDIR with the support of the European Commission.
Focusing on the financial relationship between the two organizations and the ensuing operational dynamics, panellists detailed on policies, tools and operating mechanisms that ensure a common vision and concrete delivery of results, underlining at the same time areas where the EU-UN partnership has yet to be fully explored.
Recommendations included: 1. the strengthening of operational partnerships at country level so as to move the needs assessment, planning, priority setting and resource allocation to the country level; 2. ensuring that assistance is controlled by a partnership of national and international actors; 3. improving assistance for national capacity building through innovative programming and by means of mobilizing civilians, especially women and experts from the region; 4. extending cooperation to regional organizations so as to develop their peacekeeping and conflict prevention capabilities; and 5. providing more predictable funding.
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