UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs

The Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) is a Secretariat department of the United Nations headquartered in New York. It was created on 1 January 2019 when Secretary-General António Guterres merged the former Department of Political Affairs (DPA, established in 1992) with the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) as part of his reform of the UN peace and security pillar. The reform also produced a parallel Department of Peace Operations (DPO), with which DPPA shares a single set of regional divisions under a "single political-operational structure."

DPPA's core mandate covers three areas: conflict prevention and mediation, electoral assistance, and peacebuilding support. It manages UN special political missions (SPMs) such as UNAMA in Afghanistan, UNAMI in Iraq, UNSMIL in Libya, and UNRCCA in Central Asia, and backs the offices of envoys and special representatives (for example on Syria, Yemen, and the Horn of Africa). Its Mediation Support Unit deploys the Standby Team of Senior Mediation Advisers, and its Electoral Assistance Division has supported elections in more than 100 countries since 1992.

The department is led by an Under-Secretary-General; Rosemary DiCarlo (United States) has held the post since May 2018. DPPA also serves as the Secretariat for the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), the intergovernmental advisory body created in 2005, and administers the Secretary-General's Peacebuilding Fund, which channels catalytic financing to countries emerging from or at risk of conflict.

Unlike peacekeeping operations funded through assessed contributions, much of DPPA's peacebuilding and prevention work relies on voluntary contributions via its Multi-Year Appeal, which has made resource predictability a recurring concern. The department regularly briefs the Security Council on country situations and thematic issues such as the Women, Peace and Security agenda and the prevention of electoral violence.