April, 2022: UN Secretary-General António Guterres visits Irpin in Ukraine's Kyiv Oblast. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
In A New Agenda for Peace, UN Secretary-General António Guterres offered a vision of a more peaceful, secure world, one where a revitalized multilateralism supports better lives for everyone.
Launched in 2023, the New Agenda responds to mounting geopolitical tensions, skepticism about global cooperation and open violations of international law. It recommends concrete, clear ideas for how governments, regional and international organizations, and other partners such as civil society, industry experts and even the private sector can come together to more effectively tackle threats to peace and security.
The New Agenda calls for fundamental changes to international cooperation to restore trust and build solidarity, among and within countries, and develop more universal, inclusive responses to increasingly interconnected crises.
This page explores three overarching issues: the need for collective global response that is holistic and promotes peace in all dimensions and the improved resolve to meet new challenges threatening human security today.
Peace in a fragmented world
Conflicts, violence, humanitarian needs and displacement have reached record levels. lives in areas struck by conflict, including. 2023 saw the highest number of conflict-related deaths in almost three decades. The Secretary-General has decried increasing fragmentation as global power dynamics shift and new poles of influence emerge.
The New Agenda calls for reinvigorating diplomacy to negotiate peace and find common ground. This includes monitoring and addressing risks, such as political or economic instability and territorial disputes, that can lead to conflict. It builds on strengthening and reinforcing the role of multilateral organizations, including the United Nations, in preventive diplomacy and mediation, and the use of international norms and standards to settle disputes.
The UN Charter remains the cornerstone for international cooperation, reminding the world that ending “the scourge of war” depends on peaceful resolutions to conflicts and collective efforts to maintain international peace and security.
Peace in all its dimensions
Nelson Mandela once said: “Peace is not just the absence of conflict.” Achieving peace in all its dimensions and making it last requires addressing injustice, inequality and other sources of tension that may otherwise spark a conflagration.
Preventing conflict and sustaining peace are at the heart of the New Agenda. They entail upholding all dimensions of peace and acting to avert the outbreak, continuation, escalation and recurrence of hostilities. Protecting human rights and deepening social justice underpin prevention and durable peace. Climate action and sustainable development are critical elements as well.
Prevention saves countless lives and mitigates the devastation of war. It also makes economic sense. For each $1 invested in prevention, about $16 is saved down the road, according to . Investment in strong and inclusive societies, where women and young people, among others, actively participate in shaping decisions, helps build resilience to crises and reduces risks, now and in the future.
Peace in the 21st century
Security concerns today go far beyond traditional armed conflicts. New and emerging threats are rapidly transforming the nature of conflicts. They extend into cyberspace and outer space. Advances in technology, such as AI-based autonomous weapons systems, raise ethical, legal and security concerns.
The cost of cybercrime alone has skyrocketed to as much as $6 trillion, a sum vast enough to ensure universal Internet connectivity by 2030 and achieve education, economic and other development gains.
The New Agenda points out that new and emerging technologies offer many benefits but should not compromise global security. Better-equipped international and national governance frameworks could minimize harms and counter cross-cutting risks, such as intersections between new technologies and nuclear weapons.
Governments, tech companies, the scientific community and others need to work together to develop more robust international regulations and universal ethical standards for technology. Such safeguards should put broad human benefits and security first in steering responsible innovation.
In this video, UN Director for Policy and Mediation Asif Khan explains A New Agenda for Peace – what it is and why it matters.
A New Agenda for Peace is part of a series of policy briefs that the Secretary-General issued at the request of UN in the lead-up to the Summit of the Future. It will take place from 22 to 23 September during the UN General Assembly high-level week in New York. The policy briefs detail proposals in Our Common Agenda, the Secretary-General’s overall vision for the future of global cooperation. UN Member States continue to negotiate a “Pact for the Future” as a summit outcome document. Visit the Summit website for more information on what to expect.