The future of peace operations: Peace Operations Review Week 2025 in New York

From 4 to 7 November 2025, New York hosted the first Peace Operations Review Week, bringing together experts, researchers and practitioners in the field of peace operations and crisis management. The aim was to generate ideas for the upcoming review of the future design of peace operations within the framework of the UN Pact for the Future.

The Centre for International Peace Operations (ZIF) initiated Peace Operations Review Week together with the following partners: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), International Peace Institute (IPI), The Challenges Forum International Secretariat, Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) and other partners. The premiere exceeded all expectations: 30 organisations and nine permanent missions of UN member states organised and held 16 events together with their co-hosts. All events were fully booked, and hybrid options, which were available for most events, were used extensively and globally. The two departments leading the review – the Department for Peace Operations and the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs – participated in all events and documented them carefully. 

Challenges and a future scenarios

The ZIF was represented by its Executive Director, Dr. Astrid Irrgang, and the Deputy Head of the Policy, Partnerships & Innovation team, Dr. Annika Hansen. The discussions addressed key challenges and future issues relating to international peace operations: How can mandates be made more flexible? What responsibility do member states bear for political backing and financing? And how can the entire UN system – together with civil society partners and regional organisations – contribute more effectively to peacekeeping?

ZIF: Coordination and content design of the Peace Operations Review Week

In addition to coordinating all events during Peace Operations Review Week, ZIF collaborated with numerous international partners as co-organiser in shaping the week's content, particularly for seven events:

• Sustaining Effective UN Peace Operations in an Era of Geopolitical Turbulence – together with NUPI, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES). Annika Hansen was a panellist here.
• Official opening of Peace Ops Review Week & Launch of the outcomes of the Challenges Annual Forum 2025 – together with The Challenges Forum International Secretariat. Annika Hansen was a panellist here.
• Strengthening UN Peace Operations: Perspectives from the Global Alliance for Peace Operations – Global Alliance event together with the Global Governance Institute, hosted by the Permanent Mission of Germany to the UN with financial support from the Federal Ministry of Defence. Annika Hansen was a panellist here.
• UN Police and the Future of Peace Operations – together with IPI, The Challenges Forum International Secretariat, GCSP and the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the UN.
• Peace Operations and Peacebuilding – Matching potential with implementation – together with NUPI, hosted by the Permanent Mission of Germany to the UN. Annika Hansen moderated this event.
• Haiti and the Future of Peace Operations – together with The Center on International Cooperation at New York University (CIC-NYU), International Crisis Group (ICG), Max Bell School/McGill University. Annika Hansen gave the closing remarks.
• Closing Event: Comprehensive Review of Peace Operations: Status Update and Reflecting on Insights Gained during Review Week – together with NUPI. Annika Hansen was a speaker and moderator at this event.  

A contribution to the further development of peacekeeping missions

‘There is an urgent need to place peace operations on a new, sustainable footing. Populations worldwide depend on a functioning set of instruments,’ Astrid Irrgang and Annika Hansen summarise the debate.

With Peace Operations Review Week, ZIF and its partners made an important contribution to the further development of peace operations and strengthened the professional exchange between political decision-makers, practitioners and research institutions.