Where is the conference taking place?

The conference is scheduled to be held in Brussels, BEL.

What is the format of this event?

This is an international conference, suggesting a multi-day event with various sessions and presentations in a physical format in Brussels.

International Conference on Peacebuilding, Justice, and Human Security (ICPJHS-2026)

Name: International Conference on Peacebuilding, Justice, and Human Security (ICPJHS-2026)
Start: 2026-09-28T00:00:00Z
End: 2026-09-29T00:00:00Z
Location: Jerusalem

Sep 28–29, 2026Jerusalem, IsraelIn-person

Registration open

The International Conference on Peacebuilding, Justice, and Human Security (ICPJHS) convenes in Brussels, BEL, bringing together scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. This event serves as a critical forum for examining the interconnected challenges of fostering peace, ensuring justice, and upholding human security in a complex global landscape. Participants will engage in discussions that aim to advance theoretical understanding and practical approaches to these pressing issues.

Committees & topics

Topics
Peacebuilding in Post-Conflict Societies · International Justice and Accountability · Human Security · Gender Equality (SDG 5) · Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10) · Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11) · Innovative Approaches to Peacebuilding · Transitional Justice Mechanisms

Why it matters

The pursuit of peace, justice, and human security remains a cornerstone of international relations and domestic stability. This conference addresses the multifaceted nature of these challenges, acknowledging that they are often intertwined and require integrated solutions. From post-conflict reconstruction to addressing systemic inequalities, the discussions will highlight innovative strategies and best practices.

The event's focus on these themes is particularly salient given ongoing global conflicts and humanitarian crises. Understanding how to build sustainable peace, establish equitable justice systems, and protect human rights is essential for fostering resilient societies. The insights generated from this gathering can inform policy development and programmatic interventions aimed at creating a more secure and just world.

How to prepare

Delegates preparing for the ICPJHS should consider a multi-faceted approach to their engagement. Reviewing the core tenets of peacebuilding, justice, and human security will provide a strong foundation. Participants should also familiarize themselves with contemporary case studies and theoretical frameworks that address these interconnected fields.

Effective participation will benefit from an understanding of various stakeholder perspectives. Lessons such as "what-is-stakeholder-mapping" and "engagement-strategies" can be particularly useful in preparing to contribute meaningfully to discussions. Additionally, considering the "dynamic-analysis" of conflict and post-conflict environments will enhance one's ability to engage with the complex issues presented at the conference.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 1 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Belgium

As the host nation, BEL provides a neutral and central European location for international dialogue on peace and justice.

Role in topic

BEL, as the host country, offers a significant platform for international discourse on peacebuilding, justice, and human security. Its capital, Brussels, is a hub for international organizations and diplomatic efforts, making it an ideal location for such a conference to foster collaboration and policy discussions among diverse stakeholders.

Topics & background

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

Peacebuilding in Post-Conflict Societies

Modern peacebuilding emerged as a distinct field following the end of the Cold War, when the UN found itself managing complex internal conflicts in places such as Cambodia, El Salvador, Bosnia, and Rwanda. Boutros Boutros-Ghali's 1992 'An Agenda for Peace' formally introduced 'post-conflict peacebuilding' as a category of UN action, distinguishing it from peacekeeping and peacemaking. The subsequent Brahimi Report (2000) and the 2005 World Summit created the UN Peacebuilding Architecture, comprising the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), and Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO). The core dispute lies in whether peacebuilding should be a primarily liberal project — emphasizing elections, market reforms, and rule-of-law institutions — or whether it must be locally led and sensitive to political economies of conflict. Critics, including scholars of the 'local turn,' argue that externally imposed templates have failed in Afghanistan, South Sudan, Libya, Mali, and Haiti, while proponents point to relative successes in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Funding remains chronically inadequate: the PBF relies on voluntary contributions, and the Secretary-General's 'New Agenda for Peace' (2023) called for assessed contributions, which several major powers resist. Today, peacebuilding is being reshaped by overlapping crises — renewed great-power competition, climate stress, jihadist insurgencies in the Sahel, and the collapse of UN missions in Mali (MINUSMA, 2023) and the DRC drawdown. The 2025 Peacebuilding Architecture Review and discussions linked to the Pact for the Future are the central forums for debating financing, prevention, and the integration of peacebuilding with development and human rights.

Key players

International Justice and Accountability

International justice as a coherent project dates to the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals after World War II, which established that individuals — not only states — can be held criminally responsible for the gravest international crimes. The framework expanded through the 1948 Genocide Convention, the 1949 Geneva Conventions, and the ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY, 1993) and Rwanda (ICTR, 1994). The 1998 Rome Statute created the International Criminal Court (ICC), which began operating in 2002 as the first permanent court for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and (since 2018) the crime of aggression. The core disputes concern selectivity, sovereignty, and enforcement. African states, led at times by the African Union, have accused the ICC of disproportionately targeting African leaders, prompting withdrawal threats and Burundi's actual exit in 2017. Major powers — the United States, China, Russia, India, and Israel — have not ratified the Rome Statute, and recent ICC arrest warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin (2023) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2024) have triggered sanctions threats against the Court itself. Universal jurisdiction prosecutions in national courts (notably Germany's Koblenz trial on Syria) have partly filled enforcement gaps. Current debates focus on accountability for Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, and Myanmar; the proposed special tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine; reparations and victim participation; and whether the ICC's complementarity principle adequately respects domestic justice systems. The credibility of international justice now turns on whether it can be applied consistently to powerful as well as weak states.

Key players

Human Security

The concept of human security was introduced by the 1994 UNDP Human Development Report, which reframed security away from the defense of states toward the protection of individuals from chronic threats: hunger, disease, repression, environmental harm, and sudden disruptions to daily life. Japan and Canada became its principal early sponsors, with Canada championing the 'freedom from fear' strand (leading to the Ottawa landmines treaty and the Responsibility to Protect doctrine adopted at the 2005 World Summit) and Japan emphasizing 'freedom from want' through the UN Trust Fund for Human Security. The General Assembly's 2012 resolution 66/290 established a common understanding of human security as people-centered, comprehensive, context-specific, and prevention-oriented, while explicitly distinguishing it from R2P and from any authorization of force. Nonetheless, debate persists between states that view the concept as a useful integrative lens for development, peace, and rights, and those — including several non-aligned and major emerging powers — that worry it can dilute sovereignty or justify intervention. Contemporary application has shifted toward 'new generation' threats: pandemics (after COVID-19), climate-induced displacement, food and energy insecurity following the war in Ukraine, transnational organized crime, and digital harms. The 2022 UNDP Special Report on Human Security highlighted a paradox in which rising material wealth coexists with growing feelings of insecurity, pushing the agenda toward solidarity-based responses and planetary-scale risks.

Key players

Gender Equality (SDG 5)

Global commitments on gender equality consolidated through the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which set a comprehensive agenda across twelve critical areas. The 2000 adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 established the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, recognizing women's roles in conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and protection. Sustainable Development Goal 5, adopted in 2015, integrates these threads into a measurable framework covering violence, harmful practices, unpaid care, participation, and reproductive rights. Despite normative consensus, progress has stalled. UN Women's 2024 Gender Snapshot estimated that, at current rates, full legal gender equality is more than 130 years away. The Taliban's bans on girls' secondary and higher education in Afghanistan, the criminalization of LGBTQ+ people in several states, restrictions on abortion in parts of the Americas and Europe, and the COVID-19 era reversal of women's labor force participation illustrate the fragility of gains. Within multilateral forums, the Commission on the Status of Women has seen intensifying contestation over language on sexual and reproductive health and rights and on 'gender' itself. Current debates concern care economies, gender-responsive climate finance, online gender-based violence, and the implementation gap on WPS National Action Plans. Conflicts in Sudan, Gaza, Ukraine, and the Sahel have heightened concerns about conflict-related sexual violence and the underfunding of women-led civil society in crisis settings.

Key players

Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10)

Concern with inequality moved to the center of the multilateral agenda in the 2010s, after the 2008 financial crisis and the work of economists such as Thomas Piketty, Branko Milanović, and Joseph Stiglitz highlighted soaring wealth concentration. SDG 10, adopted in 2015, set targets to reduce income inequality both within and between countries, ensure equal opportunity, regulate financial markets, and facilitate orderly migration. Earlier instruments — the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965) and the Durban Declaration (2001) — provide complementary frameworks on discrimination-based inequalities. The core disputes pit redistribution against growth-first approaches and Global South demands for structural reform against Global North preferences for incremental change. Key contested issues include debt restructuring for low-income countries (the Common Framework has been criticized as slow), international tax cooperation (the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, initiated by an African Group resolution in 2023, is being negotiated against OECD-led Pillar 1/2 reforms), illicit financial flows, and reform of international financial institutions through agendas like the Bridgetown Initiative. The COVID-19 pandemic, inflation shocks, and climate damages have widened gaps both between and within states. Oxfam and World Inequality Lab data show the top 1% capturing a disproportionate share of recent global wealth gains, while progress on SDG 10 indicators is among the weakest of any goal. Inequality also intersects with race, migration status, disability, and geography, making the agenda politically sensitive across regions.

Key players

Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11)

More than half of humanity now lives in cities, and the share is projected to reach roughly 68% by 2050. Urbanization has been a defining driver of growth and poverty reduction, but also of emissions, inequality, and exposure to disasters. The international urban agenda was institutionalized through the UN-Habitat conferences, culminating in the 2016 New Urban Agenda adopted at Habitat III in Quito, which complements SDG 11's targets on housing, transport, participation, heritage, disaster risk, air quality, and public space. The central disputes concern housing affordability and the financialization of real estate, informal settlements (which house roughly a billion people), climate adaptation in coastal megacities, and the governance authority of local versus national governments. The Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction (2015) and the Paris Agreement intersect strongly with the urban agenda, as do debates on slum upgrading versus eviction, transit-oriented development, and the role of cities in climate diplomacy through networks such as C40 and ICLEI. Recent flashpoints include catastrophic urban flooding in Libya (Derna, 2023) and Pakistan (2022), heat-related mortality in South Asian and Gulf cities, housing crises in major economies, and the destruction of urban infrastructure in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan. The 2026 Habitat Assembly cycle and ongoing reform of UN-Habitat financing frame current intergovernmental debate, alongside the question of how cities can participate more directly in multilateral negotiations.

Key players

Innovative Approaches to Peacebuilding

As traditional UN peace operations face mandate fatigue and host-state pushback — exemplified by the closures of MINUSMA in Mali (2023) and the drawdown of MONUSCO in the DRC — practitioners and member states have turned to a wider repertoire of peacebuilding tools. These include data-driven early warning, mediation support, infrastructures for peace such as local peace committees, climate-security programming, and digital approaches ranging from social-media monitoring to AI-assisted dialogue facilitation pioneered in Libya, Yemen, and Bougainville. The Secretary-General's 2023 'New Agenda for Peace' explicitly calls for adaptive, prevention-oriented strategies, integration of women, youth, and peace agendas (UNSCRs 1325 and 2250), and stronger links between peacebuilding and climate adaptation finance. The Peacebuilding Fund has prioritized cross-border and youth-focused programming, and regional bodies — the AU, ECOWAS, IGAD, ASEAN, and OAS — increasingly drive mediation, sometimes in tension with UN-led processes. At the same time, digital tools raise concerns about surveillance, data protection, and the manipulation of conflict information environments by both states and platforms. Debate centers on how to evaluate what actually works, how to fund prevention when political appetite favors crisis response, and how to integrate non-state actors — including the private sector, faith communities, and diaspora networks — without undermining state legitimacy. The role of artificial intelligence in conflict analysis, the use of cash-based peace dividends, and climate-sensitive peacebuilding in the Sahel and Horn of Africa are among the most active fronts.

Key players

Transitional Justice Mechanisms

Transitional justice — the set of judicial and non-judicial measures used to address legacies of mass abuse — emerged from Southern European and Latin American transitions in the 1970s–1980s and was consolidated by South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (1995) after apartheid. The field rests on four widely recognized pillars articulated in the 2004 UN Secretary-General's report on rule of law and transitional justice: criminal prosecutions, truth-seeking, reparations, and institutional reform (including vetting and security sector reform), with guarantees of non-recurrence. The core disputes concern sequencing — whether peace negotiations require amnesties that may conflict with international law — and the relative weight of retributive versus restorative approaches. Hybrid mechanisms such as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Colombia's Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), and the Kosovo Specialist Chambers have tested different combinations. The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, established in 2011, has helped consolidate normative standards. Today, transitional justice is being applied or debated in extraordinarily varied contexts: ongoing accountability for Syria through the IIIM and the new Independent Institution on Missing Persons; documentation efforts on Ukraine; potential mechanisms for Sudan, Ethiopia (post-Tigray), Myanmar, and Gaza; reparations debates over colonialism and slavery; and confronting historical injustices against Indigenous peoples in Canada, Australia, and the Americas. Persistent challenges include funding, victim-centeredness, gender integration, and the political will to reform abusive institutions rather than only prosecute individuals.

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for International Conference on Peacebuilding, Justice, and Human Security (ICPJHS-2026).

Recent reporting to ground your prep

India's 131st Amendment Bill

India's 33% Women’s Quota in Lok Sabha 2029

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

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Gender Dynamics Across Cultures

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Dynamic Analysis

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

Conflict Resolution

Israel September 2026

By committee

Frequently asked questions

International Conference on Peacebuilding, Justice, and Human Security (ICPJHS-2026)

Sep 28–29, 2026Jerusalem, IsraelIn-person

Registration open

Committees & topics

Topics
Peacebuilding in Post-Conflict Societies · International Justice and Accountability · Human Security · Gender Equality (SDG 5) · Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10) · Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11) · Innovative Approaches to Peacebuilding · Transitional Justice Mechanisms

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 1 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Belgium

As the host nation, BEL provides a neutral and central European location for international dialogue on peace and justice.

Role in topic

Topics & background

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

Peacebuilding in Post-Conflict Societies

Key players

International Justice and Accountability

Key players

Human Security

Key players

Gender Equality (SDG 5)

Key players

Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10)

Key players

Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11)

Key players

Innovative Approaches to Peacebuilding

Key players

Transitional Justice Mechanisms

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for International Conference on Peacebuilding, Justice, and Human Security (ICPJHS-2026).

Recent reporting to ground your prep

India's 131st Amendment Bill

India's 33% Women’s Quota in Lok Sabha 2029

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

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Gender Dynamics Across Cultures

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Dynamic Analysis

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

Conflict Resolution

Israel September 2026

By committee

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

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Frequently asked questions

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

Related conferences

Tel Aviv Conference 2026: The Future of Israel

ISC 2026 - כנס האבטחה של ישראל

International Conference on Conflict Resolution, Peacebuilding, and Human Rights (ICCRPHR)

International Conference on Conflict Resolution and Post-War Reconstruction

International Conference on Human Rights, Genocide, and Mass Violence (ICHRGMV - 26)

International Conference on Conflict Resolution and International Organizations (ICCRIO-26)

Frequently asked questions