Context

• As the United Nations marks its eightieth anniversary, the gap between its founding ideals and its institutional reality has become stark.
• Created to prevent catastrophic conflict and safeguard global peace, the UN now struggles to fulfil these aspirations.
• Diplomacy has become reactive and episodic, fading after crises pass.
• To address this, a bold yet realistic innovation has been proposed: the creation of a Board of Peace and Sustainable Security (BPSS) to ensure continuous political engagement throughout the peace process.

The Structural Deficit in UN Peace Architecture

• The UN’s peace system suffers from a mismatch between mandate and mechanism. The UN Security Council (UNSC) is designed for crisis response but is episodic and reactive.
• Peacekeeping missions stabilise but rarely operate with a comprehensive political strategy.
• Meanwhile, the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) lacks authority to shape transitions during critical post-conflict phases.
• The result is weak follow-through, loss of momentum, and institutional amnesia, undermining peace agreements and leaving fragile states vulnerable to relapse.

Functional Reform Before Structural Reform

• While UNSC structural reform is long overdue, waiting for it has stalled innovation.
• Under Article 22 of the UN Charter, the General Assembly can establish subsidiary bodies, a pathway for functional reform without altering global power structures.
• The BPSS represents a practical and urgent reform, strengthening the UN’s ability to act within existing legal authority.

A Dedicated Space for Sustaining Peace

• The BPSS would occupy a clearly defined institutional space: supporting political transitions during and after conflict.
• It would not challenge UNSC authority or state sovereignty, nor act as an early-warning or intervention tool.
• Instead, it would:
  • Reinforce nationally-led political dialogue
  • Support peace agreement implementation
  • Coordinate regional diplomatic efforts
  • Align peacekeeping operations with political goals
  • Ensure continuity of engagement over time
• By absorbing and strengthening the Peacebuilding Commission, it would transform diplomacy into a sustained, structured process.

Representation, Credibility, and Mandate

• The BPSS requires legitimacy through representation without becoming unwieldy.
• A rotating body of around two dozen elected states, with guaranteed regional balance, would avoid elite clubs and veto systems.
• Regional organisations (e.g., AU, ASEAN) would serve as active participants, reflecting the reality that peace is shaped beyond New York.
• Civil society would participate consultatively, ensuring local insight without procedural gridlock.

Embedding the Concept of Sustainable Security

• Central to the proposal is sustainable security, the idea that lasting peace requires governance, inclusion, and legitimacy, not just ceasefires.
• Sustainable peace emerges through:
  • Gradually implemented political settlements
  • Inclusive and responsible governance
  • Strengthened public trust
  • Nationally owned processes
• The BPSS would ensure the UN remains engaged long after crises fade, providing continuity, memory, and discipline in peace efforts.

A Realistic Path Toward Meaningful Reform

• The UN faces a false choice: accept stagnation or pursue radical, unattainable reform.
• The BPSS demonstrates that institutions can evolve responsibly.
• It would not redistribute geopolitical power, but would correct a critical weakness, the absence of political continuity between war and stable peace.
• This reform revives core principles: diplomacy must be disciplined, peace must be sustained, and institutions must evolve to endure.

Conclusion

• The BPSS is not a miracle solution, but a pragmatic and principled innovation.
• By ensuring continuous political engagement, it strengthens the UN where failures are most costly.
• As the UN enters its ninth decade, meaningful renewal begins not with rewriting the system but with innovating where authority already exists.
• With the BPSS, the UN can reclaim its founding purpose: to ensure that peace is not just achieved, but sustained.