Sudanese children walk past an armoured vehicle of the United Nations and African Union peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) in Kalma Camp for internally displaced people in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur. The limited presence of practitioners from Africa was conspicuous throughout the week, even though Africa accounts for more than 40% of the world’s conflicts, says the writer.
Emebet Getachew Abate, Sara Tadesse Gebremariam
The week of June 22–26, 2026, set a milestone in the United Nations’ institutional calendar: the first-ever UN Peacebuilding Week, convened in New York alongside the 20th anniversary of the UN peacebuilding architecture.
Under the theme “Partnerships for Innovation, Inclusion, and Impact,” more than 50 parallel sessions and side events were held across five days. At a moment when multilateralism is being tested, this gathering was not only symbolic but a reaffirmation that peace remains a collective interest and that the system built to sustain it still matters.
Four key themes emerged from the week’s thematic discussions:
