Where is the 2026 Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development taking place?

The forum is scheduled to take place in Stockholm, SWE.

What is the primary focus of this event?

The forum focuses on the intersection of peace and development, bringing together diverse stakeholders to discuss global challenges in these areas.

2026 Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development

Name: 2026 Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development
Start: 2026-11-03T00:00:00Z
End: 2026-11-04T00:00:00Z
Location: Stockholm

Nov 3–4, 2026Stockholm, SwedenIn-person

Registration open

The 2026 Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development is a significant international gathering held in Stockholm, Sweden. This forum serves as a crucial platform for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to convene and discuss pressing issues at the intersection of peace and development. It aims to foster dialogue and collaboration on global challenges, contributing to more effective strategies for building and sustaining peace.

Committees & topics

Topics
Peace and Development: The Indivisible Agenda · The Future of the Global Security Architecture · Conflict Resolution and Mediation in a Fragmented World · Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace · Humanitarian Action under Strain · Contemporary Security Challenges · Climate Change as a Threat Multiplier · Pandemic Preparedness and Response

Why it matters

The forum's emphasis on both peace and development highlights the interconnected nature of these two critical areas. Sustainable development is often unattainable without peace, and conversely, lasting peace requires addressing underlying developmental challenges. By bringing together diverse perspectives from various countries and sectors, the forum facilitates a holistic approach to complex global problems.

This event is particularly relevant for understanding contemporary diplomatic efforts and the evolving landscape of international cooperation. Discussions at the forum can influence policy directions and programmatic interventions aimed at conflict prevention, resolution, and post-conflict recovery. For those engaged in international relations, development work, or peacebuilding, the insights generated here are invaluable for navigating the complexities of global governance and humanitarian action.

How to prepare

To effectively engage with the discussions at the 2026 Stockholm Forum, it is crucial to undertake thorough preparation. Participants should familiarize themselves with the current geopolitical landscape, paying close attention to regions experiencing significant conflict or undergoing complex development transitions. Understanding the nuances of various peacebuilding frameworks and development theories will enhance one's ability to contribute meaningfully.

Consider reviewing materials related to What Is Stakeholder Mapping? and Hidden Stakeholders to better understand the diverse actors involved in peace and development initiatives. Additionally, exploring Dynamic Analysis can provide tools for assessing evolving situations and anticipating potential challenges. Preparing country-specific briefs for key nations involved in peace and development efforts, such as USA, CHN, DEU, and NGA, will also be beneficial. This comprehensive preparation will enable participants to engage in informed dialogue and contribute to actionable outcomes.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 4 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Sweden

As the host nation, SWE is a strong proponent of multilateralism, peacebuilding, and sustainable development.

Role in topic

SWE plays a central role in facilitating international dialogue on peace and development, often contributing significantly to research and policy initiatives in these areas. Its commitment to humanitarian aid and conflict resolution is well-established.

United States

USA generally advocates for democratic governance and economic development as foundations for peace, often through significant foreign aid and diplomatic engagement.

Role in topic

The USA is a major global actor in both peace and development, providing substantial funding and expertise to various international initiatives. Its perspective often emphasizes security sector reform and economic stability.

China

CHN emphasizes non-interference in internal affairs while promoting economic development and infrastructure projects as pathways to stability.

Role in topic

CHN's growing influence in global development, particularly through initiatives like the Belt and Road, positions it as a key player in discussions on how economic ties can impact peace and stability across regions.

Nigeria

NGA is a significant regional power in Africa, actively involved in peacekeeping operations and regional security initiatives.

Role in topic

NGA's experiences with internal conflicts and its leadership in regional peacekeeping efforts provide a crucial African perspective on the challenges and opportunities in peace and development, particularly concerning security and governance.

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

Peace and Development: The Indivisible Agenda

The concept of linking peace and development crystallized in the UN system with Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali's 1992 'Agenda for Peace' and the complementary 1994 'Agenda for Development,' which argued that durable peace requires inclusive economic progress and that development cannot occur amid violent conflict. This linkage was later codified in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly SDG 16 on peace, justice, and strong institutions, and in the twin 2016 'Sustaining Peace' resolutions (A/RES/70/262 and S/RES/2282) adopted by the General Assembly and Security Council. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has tracked a sharp deterioration in this nexus since 2020. Global military expenditure surpassed USD 2.4 trillion in 2023, the highest level ever recorded, while official development assistance has plateaued and developing-country debt servicing has overtaken health and education spending in dozens of states. Active armed conflicts reached their highest count since 1946, concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and parts of South Asia. Today the debate centers on how to reverse the diversion of resources from development to defense, how to integrate conflict prevention into financing frameworks like the Fourth Financing for Development Conference (FfD4) in Sevilla in 2025, and how to deliver on the 'New Agenda for Peace' proposed by the Secretary-General in 2023 as part of Our Common Agenda.

Key players

The Future of the Global Security Architecture

The post-1945 security architecture rests on the UN Charter, the Security Council's primary responsibility for international peace, and a web of regional and arms-control regimes built up during and after the Cold War: NATO, the OSCE, the NPT, the CTBT, and the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty. This order came under sustained strain after 2014 with Russia's annexation of Crimea, accelerated after the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and is now contested by deepening US-China strategic rivalry, the collapse of New START's verification regime, and Russia's 2023 suspension of its participation in the treaty. Parallel frameworks have emerged: China's Global Security Initiative launched in 2022, BRICS expansion in 2024, and renewed calls from the Global South for Security Council reform through the L.69 and African Union 'Ezulwini Consensus' groupings. The Secretary-General's 2023 'New Agenda for Peace' policy brief explicitly acknowledged that the existing architecture is no longer fit for a multipolar world facing transnational risks. The core dispute is whether to repair existing institutions, particularly through UNSC reform and revived arms control, or to accept a more fragmented order of overlapping regional and minilateral arrangements. Debate today focuses on veto restraint, the future of strategic stability dialogues, and the governance of emerging domains such as cyber, space, and AI.

Key players

Conflict Resolution and Mediation in a Fragmented World

UN conflict resolution practice evolved from classical Chapter VI mediation toward complex multidimensional peace operations after the end of the Cold War, with mixed results in Cambodia, the Balkans, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone. The 2000 Brahimi Report and the 2015 HIPPO review tried to professionalize mediation and align mandates with realistic political strategies. The UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, established in 2019, now houses the Mediation Support Unit and Standby Team of senior advisers. The last decade has seen a marked decline in negotiated settlements relative to military victories or frozen conflicts. SIPRI and Uppsala data show that the share of conflicts ending through peace agreements has fallen below 10 percent, while internationalized civil wars, such as those in Syria, Libya, Yemen, Sudan, and Ukraine, have multiplied. Mediation is increasingly crowded with regional actors, the African Union, IGAD, ECOWAS, the GCC, Turkey, and Qatar, often with competing agendas. Current debates center on inclusion, particularly the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda under Resolution 1325, engagement with armed non-state actors and designated terrorist groups, and the use of digital tools and AI in mediation while protecting civic space and confidentiality.

Key players

Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace

Modern UN peacebuilding architecture dates to the 2005 World Summit, which created the Peacebuilding Commission, the Peacebuilding Fund, and the Peacebuilding Support Office in response to repeated failures to consolidate fragile post-conflict transitions. The 2015 Advisory Group of Experts review and the 2016 'Sustaining Peace' resolutions reframed peacebuilding as a continuum spanning prevention, conflict, and recovery, rather than a strictly post-conflict task. Financing remains the chronic weakness. The Peacebuilding Fund has rarely exceeded USD 180 million annually against rising demand, and the 2024 General Assembly decision to provide USD 50 million in assessed contributions, after years of resistance, was a modest but significant breakthrough. Country configurations in places such as Burundi, the Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, and Sierra Leone have produced uneven results, while transitions in the Sahel have been disrupted by coups and the withdrawal of MINUSMA from Mali in 2023. Key current questions involve nationally-led peacebuilding, integration with development finance and climate adaptation, the role of women and youth as required under Resolutions 1325 and 2250, and how peacebuilding adapts when host states withdraw consent or pivot to non-UN security partners.

Key players

Humanitarian Action under Strain

The modern humanitarian system is anchored in the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, the 1991 General Assembly Resolution 46/182 establishing the Emergency Relief Coordinator and what became OCHA, and the cluster system introduced after the 2005 Humanitarian Response Review. The 2016 World Humanitarian Summit produced the Grand Bargain, a commitment to localization, cash programming, and reduced earmarking. Need has outpaced capacity. OCHA's Global Humanitarian Overview for 2024 estimated roughly 300 million people in need and appealed for nearly USD 49 billion, of which less than half was funded, the largest gap on record. Concurrent mega-crises in Sudan, Gaza, Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Myanmar have stretched the system, while attacks on humanitarian workers reached record highs in 2023 and 2024 according to the Aid Worker Security Database. Debates today focus on respect for international humanitarian law and accountability for its violations, humanitarian access in besieged areas, the protection of medical and aid personnel, the politicization of funding, and the implementation of Security Council Resolution 2417 on conflict-induced food insecurity. Localization, anticipatory action, and the humanitarian-development-peace nexus remain contested priorities.

Key players

Contemporary Security Challenges

The concept of security has broadened well beyond interstate war since the 1994 UNDP Human Development Report introduced 'human security,' encompassing economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community, and political dimensions. The 2004 High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change identified six clusters of threats, ranging from interstate conflict to transnational organized crime and biological risks, that remain a useful map of the field. The contemporary picture combines a return of high-intensity interstate war in Europe with persistent intrastate conflict, a sharp rise in coups in the Sahel since 2020, growing maritime insecurity in the Red Sea and Gulf of Guinea, and transnational threats spanning terrorism, organized crime, cyber operations, and the weaponization of critical infrastructure. The UN Open-Ended Working Group on ICT, the 2023 cyber norms reports, and parallel discussions on lethal autonomous weapons in the CCW reflect efforts to extend security governance into new domains. The core dispute is whether to prioritize traditional state-centric collective security or to invest in prevention and human security approaches. Debates today involve the regulation of private military and security companies, sanctions effectiveness, counterterrorism and human rights, and emerging risks from AI and biotechnology.

Key players

Climate Change as a Threat Multiplier

International climate governance crystallized with the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, and the 2015 Paris Agreement, which set the goal of limiting warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and pursuing efforts toward 1.5 degrees. The first Global Stocktake concluded at COP28 in Dubai in 2023 acknowledged that current Nationally Determined Contributions place the world on a trajectory of roughly 2.5 to 2.9 degrees of warming, and called for transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems. The Security Council has debated climate as a peace and security issue since 2007, but a 2021 draft resolution led by Ireland and Niger was vetoed by Russia. Outside the Council, evidence has mounted that climate change acts as a threat multiplier, exacerbating drought-linked tensions in the Sahel and Horn of Africa, flooding in Pakistan, and competition over water in transboundary basins. The Loss and Damage Fund operationalized at COP28 and capitalized further at COP29 in Baku in 2024 marks a partial advance, though scale remains contested. Current debates focus on climate finance, the New Collective Quantified Goal agreed at COP29, just transition for fossil-fuel-dependent economies, the rights of climate-displaced populations, and the integration of climate risk into peacekeeping and peacebuilding mandates.

Key players

Pandemic Preparedness and Response

Global pandemic governance rests on the International Health Regulations, first adopted in 1969 and substantially revised in 2005 after SARS, which require states to detect, report, and respond to public health emergencies of international concern. The COVID-19 pandemic, which the WHO declared a PHEIC from January 2020 to May 2023, exposed deep failures in early warning, equitable access to vaccines and therapeutics, supply chains, and trust in multilateral institutions. In response, WHO member states amended the IHR in June 2024 and, after years of negotiation through the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body, adopted the WHO Pandemic Agreement in May 2025. The agreement creates new commitments on prevention, surveillance, and the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing System, though key operational annexes, including on PABS, remain under negotiation. Disputes persist over technology transfer, intellectual property flexibilities, and sovereignty concerns voiced by several states. Ongoing outbreaks of mpox, including the 2024 PHEIC declaration, H5N1 avian influenza in mammals, and Marburg illustrate persistent risk. Debates today center on financing the Pandemic Fund hosted at the World Bank, strengthening regional manufacturing capacity, addressing antimicrobial resistance under the 2024 UN High-Level Meeting declaration, and rebuilding public trust against a backdrop of health misinformation.

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for 2026 Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development.

Recent reporting to ground your prep

Arming an archipelago: Is time running out for Europe's oldest DMZ? | Euronews

Comprehensive approach to security: Federal Council launches consultation on Switzerland's security policy strategy

Europe's June Heatwave: Infrastructure Crisis

Georgia Considers Position in New South Caucasus Transit Era - Jamestown

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Dynamic Analysis

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Conflict Resolution

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

Sweden November 2026

By committee

Frequently asked questions

2026 Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development

Nov 3–4, 2026Stockholm, SwedenIn-person

Registration open

Committees & topics

Topics
Peace and Development: The Indivisible Agenda · The Future of the Global Security Architecture · Conflict Resolution and Mediation in a Fragmented World · Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace · Humanitarian Action under Strain · Contemporary Security Challenges · Climate Change as a Threat Multiplier · Pandemic Preparedness and Response

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 4 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Sweden

As the host nation, SWE is a strong proponent of multilateralism, peacebuilding, and sustainable development.

Role in topic

United States

USA generally advocates for democratic governance and economic development as foundations for peace, often through significant foreign aid and diplomatic engagement.

Role in topic

China

CHN emphasizes non-interference in internal affairs while promoting economic development and infrastructure projects as pathways to stability.

Role in topic

Nigeria

NGA is a significant regional power in Africa, actively involved in peacekeeping operations and regional security initiatives.

Role in topic