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CCDP

Communicating about Peace: United Nations Peace Missions and their Mandates

Sara Hellmuller CCDP
Sara HELLMÜLLER
Research Professor International Relations and Political Science
Faculty Associate, Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP)
Margaux P
Margaux PINAUD
Academic Coordinator of the Conflict & Fragility Management Programme
Postdoctoral Researcher
Centre on Conflict, Development & Peacebuilding
MG New Profile
Maëlys GLÜCK
Operations and Knowledge Manager, Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding
chiara picture
Chiara Eva LANFRANCHI
Etudiant chercheur
Projet FNS Communicating about Peace: United Nations Peace Missions and their Mandates

Funding organisation: SNSF and Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs 

Duration: 2023-2025

Associated project: A Child of Its time: The Impact of World Politics on Peacebuilding

Project description 

“Communicating about peace” was a two-year project (2023-2024) funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Agora grant, with additional support from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. It aims to make data and scientific literature on UN peace missions accessible to a non-scientific public and to foster inclusive discussions about the UN’s role in promoting peace and Switzerland’s contribution to it as an elected member on the UN Security Council for the period 2023-2024. In particular, the project created the UN Peace Mission Mandates dataset (UNPMM), a comprehensive dataset on UN peace missions and their mandate tasks that was developed in the framework of an SNSF Prima grant (“A Child of Its Time: The Impact of World Politics on United Nations Peace Missions”), more widely accessible.

The project consisted of two parts. First, it made the UNPMM available on a user-friendly website and by creating the UN Peace Missions App  Second, the team created a pop-up exhibition on UN peace missions that was shown in Geneva (Geneva Graduate Institute, Geneva Centre for Security Policy, and UN Palais des Nations), Basel (Basel Peace Forum), ETH (main building, twice), St. Gallen (University of St. Gallen and Olma), Stockholm (SIPRI), and in New York (UN Headquarters). 

The feedback among scholars, policy-makers, and citizens shows the relevance of the project’s outputs and more broadly, of efforts to make scientific knowledge accessible to non-scientific audiences. 

UN Peace Missions App: App Store / Google Play and UN Peace Missions Website: www.peacemissions.info.

Key Publications:

Lanfranchi, Chiara; Sara Hellmüller; Margaux Pinaud, 2024, “The Cases of MONUSCO and MINUSMA: A Moment of Reflection on UN Peace Missions”, The Conversation, Link. 

Lanfranchi, Chiara; Sara Hellmüller; Margaux Pinaud, 2024, “Tirer les enseignements des retraits des missions de paix de l’ONU au Mali et en RDC”, The Conversation France, Link.

Lanfranchi, Chiara; Sara Hellmüller; Margaux Pinaud, 2024, “From Research to Practice: Understanding UN Peace Missions in a Changing World”, Geneva Graduate Institute Newsletter, Link.

Glück, Maëlys; Margaux Pinaud; Sara Hellmüller, 2024, “UN Peace Missions since 1948: What Have We Learned?”, UN Today, Link.

 

Picture of exhibition

image of people looking at exhibition

Picture of exhibition

Picture of exhibition

 

 

Key Links 

 

Exhibition schedule 

  • 21 - 25 October 2024: The Fab / La Fabrique de la Paix at the Geneva Graduate Institute (Maison de la Paix, 4th floor, petal 2). Event link. A launch over breakfast will take place on 22 October, 10:00-11:00. 
  • 4-8 November 2024: The UN will host the exhibition at the Palais des Nations in Geneva (Building E). The exhibition is organized with the support of the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN in Geneva and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. A launch event will take place on 4 November at the Palais, 12:30-13:30, featuring representatives of the UN Office in Geneva, the Mission of Switzerland to the UN, and the Geneva Graduate Institute.

 

Key events of the project 

2024

  • January: the team presents the exhibition to a group of 90 global development practitioners enrolled in the executive programmes in development policies and practices  at the Geneva Graduate Institute (15-19 January).
  • January: the team presents the exhibition at the Basel Peace Forum (25 January). Event link.
  • April: the team releases v2.1 of the UNPMM dataset, including coverage of 2023 developments and a new mandate task (ocat02: climate security). At the same time, new analysis features are added to the project's website. 
  • May: The team presents the exhibition at the SIPRI Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development in Sweden over 6-8 May. 
  • May: The Mission of Switzerland to the UN in New York hosts the exhibition at the UN Headquarters.
  • May-June: ETH Zurich hosts the exhibition in partnership with the Center for Security Studies, in the context of the executive programmes in mediation. Event link
  • July: Maëlys Glück, Margaux Pinaud and Sara Hellmüller's article 'UN peace missions since 1948: what have we learned?' features in the UN Today magazine. 
  • August: The Swiss Armed Forces International Command (SWISSINT) hosts the exhibition for several weeks at its headquarters in Stans and launches it in the context of a peacebuilding course co-organized with the GCSP.
  • September-October: The University of St. Gallen hosts the exhibition at The Square (30 September - 11 October). Event link. A panel discussion on 'UN peacekeeping and its future' organized by Prof. Hannah Smidt and featuring Dr. Sara Hellmüller launches the exhibition on 30 September.
  • October: SWISSINT hosts the exhibition at OLMA Messen in St. Gallen (14-20 October). Event link.

2023

  • October: the team launched the new UNPMM website and the UN Peace Missions App (App Store / Google Play)
  • October: the Geneva Centre for Security Policy hosts the project’s first exhibition during Geneva Peace Week (30 October - 3 November). Event link. 
  • November: the Geneva Graduate Institute hosts the exhibition for a week (21-29 November). 
  • December: ETH Zurich hosts the exhibition for a week, in partnership with the Center for Security Studies (4-11 December). Event link.

 

Principal Investigator
Sara Hellmuller CCDP
Sara HELLMÜLLER
Research Professor International Relations and Political Science
Faculty Associate, Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP)
Project Coordinator
Margaux P
Margaux PINAUD
Academic Coordinator of the Conflict & Fragility Management Programme
Postdoctoral Researcher
Centre on Conflict, Development & Peacebuilding
Outreach Coordinator
MG New Profile
Maëlys GLÜCK
Operations and Knowledge Manager, Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding
Research Assistant
chiara picture
Chiara Eva LANFRANCHI
Etudiant chercheur
Projet FNS Communicating about Peace: United Nations Peace Missions and their Mandates