Jennifer Welsh (@jennifermwelsh.bsky.social)

McGill’s Max Bell School and the Centre for International Peace and Security Studies Join the Global Alliance for Peace Operations (GAPO) We are excited to announce that the Centre for International Peace and Security Studies and the Max Bell School of Public Policy (McGill University) have joined the Global Alliance for Peace Operations – a collective endeavour of more than 50 leading think tanks, research institutes and civil society organizations working on UN and regional approaches to peace operations (www.peaceoperations.net). Coordinated by the Global Governance Institute (GGI) in Brussels, the Berlin Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF) and Amani Africa Media and Research Services, the Alliance brings together the expertise and brain power of close to 100 peace operations experts from around the globe. For a full list of members, please see here. Jennifer Welsh (Director of the Max Bell School) and Emily Paddon Rhoads (Visiting McConnell Fellow at CIPSS and Max Bell) are contributing their insights on the Protection of Civilians in the Alliance’s collective input for the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial. At this crucial time for peace operations, the Alliance provides comprehensive and direct civil society input to the intergovernmental deliberations at the United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial 2025 in Berlin. The UN Peacekeeping Ministerial takes place at a critical juncture for the future of peace operations and the wider multilateral crisis management system. It is a key moment to mobilize collective thinking for strengthening UN peace operations in the years to come. The Alliance was created in liaison with the German Federal Foreign Office and the German Federal Ministry of Defence. The first round of activities produced eight collaborative policy papers and close to 20 short issue papers which form the basis for concrete policy recommendations on how to strengthen UN peace operations. The recommendations will be discussed at an online workshop on 29 April 2025. On 12 May 2025, immediately ahead of the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial, the Alliance will host an in-person Symposium in Berlin and seven side events on a range of aspects essential to the future of peace operations. The Global Alliance for Peace Operations webpage (www.peaceoperations.net) features information on all events, will publish the policy papers and issue papers, and already facilitates knowledge-sharing, including by gathering prior research and publications by Alliance members. https://mcgill.ca/x/iN3