Montreal, Canada – CCCPA participated in the annual meeting of the Challenges Forum from 9-12 June 2019. The meeting was organized by the Government of Canada and the International Secretariat of the Challenges Forum, under the theme “Action for Peacekeeping: Improving on Political Strategy, Peacebuilding, Mission Management and Transitioning to Enduring Peace”. 

The meeting built on the recommendations of the previous annual meeting held in Stockholm, and focused on the implementation of the UN Secretary-General’s ‘Action for Peacekeeping’ (A4P) initiative. Specifically, it focused on the “how” and “who” of A4P implementation, from a field perspective, with a particular focus on the implementation of the mission’s political strategy and peacebuilding efforts, as well as improving the coherent and effective mission management and transition of peace operations.

Ambassador Ihab Awad, Deputy Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for UN Affairs, addressed the first panel discussion on “Action for Peacekeeping: One Year On – Where do we stand?” He outlined the priorities of The Cairo Roadmap (presented by the Government of Egypt and CCCPA as an outcome of the “Cairo High-Level Regional Conference on Enhancing the Performance of Peacekeeping Operations: From Mandate to Exit"), which aims to advance ongoing reform efforts by presenting concrete and actionable recommendations for the implementation of the A4P, with the aim of enhancing the performance and, consequently, the effectiveness of UN peacekeeping. 

CCCPA Director General Ashraf Swelam, co-chaired the first working session on “Integrated Approaches as Part of the Mission’s Political Strategy” -- part of the Forum’s Dialogue Strand B on “Peacebuilding – Mission Implementation”.
 
The Challenges Forum is a platform for constructive dialogue between leading political, military, police, research and training institutions from all continents, on key issues and developments in peace operations. The Forum aims to shape the debate by identifying critical challenges facing peace operations, by promoting awareness of emerging issues and generating recommendations for solutions for the consideration of the broader international peace operations community.