Performance on this policy goal is assessed by PSA 3 (Conflict prevention) and PSA 5 (European security [performance indicators A and B]).

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“The FCO, with DfID and the MoD, provide important funding support to the UN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) in key areas such as peacekeeping policy and guidance development, knowledge management and gender mainstreaming. This fits into the UN’s ‘Peacekeeping 2010’ reform effort, and demonstrates the UK’s strong commitment to strengthening the instrument of UN peacekeeping to better meet the complex and ever growing demands it faces around the world.”
Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, United Nations

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The speech by the Prime Minister at the Guildhall on 12 November 2007 signalled the importance this Government attaches to preventing conflict, and responding when it occurs. He underlined the need for the international system to be able to intervene to protect vulnerable people. He also set out the need for the UN in particular to do better at the areas beyond peacekeeping and immediate stabilisation of conflicts – getting better at building long-term peace and full recovery. This intention is reflected in the Government’s Public Service Agreement on conflict prevention and resolution for the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review period.

As this report sets out, the FCO is engaged globally in all those areas. This work is both political – improving the effectiveness and capacity of international organisations, and also intensely practical – such as trying to find helicopters to move troops in Darfur, or sending UK police to train their Afghan counterparts.

We are engaged across the world – particularly in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Kosovo and the Middle East – but also in numerous other conflicts. Conflicts, wherever they occur, are a moral blight, a drain on the world’s prosperity, and they impact on the UK streets through migration, crime, drugs and terrorism.

Lord Malloch-Brown
Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN


Tackling conflict effectively requires involvement in preventing conflict, mediation and resolution, peacekeeping and peace-building. The UK’s global interests and responsibility as a permanent member of the UN Security Council mean that we have to act across the world.

We cannot do this on our own, either internationally, where we work closely with partner nations and international organisations, or on a domestic level. This agenda is at the core of the FCO’s new Departmental Strategic Objectives and is a key element of the Government’s National Security Strategy.

As a result of the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review, and the creation of a new Public Service Agreement on preventing and resolving conflict, the FCO and its partners across Government, particularly the MoD, DfID and the Cabinet Office, work increasingly closely to plan and prioritise our activities. We also rely on non-governmental partners to advise us on our approach and we hold regular discussions with NGOs to review and strengthen the Government’s conflict work, and to plan conflict-prevention programmes.

Conflict prevention and resolution

Good governance and human rights – The FCO has continued to press internationally for recognition that democratic states with effective judicial systems and security forces that protect and promote human rights are more likely to be stable and create the conditions for the prosperity and well-being of all their citizens. We also run projects to improve standards of governance and human rights.

‘Responsibility to Protect’ (R2P) – Under ‘R2P’, it is the primary responsibility of states to protect their citizens from genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Where states fail to do so, the international community shares this responsibility (see www.responsibilitytoprotect.org). The FCO has promoted R2P through references in multilateral statements and support for senior UN staff capacity on R2P. We have also sought to lead the international community’s practical efforts in addressing acts that might otherwise lead to major atrocities, by using all the tools available to us to break the conflict cycle.

Human security – The FCO has continued its efforts to raise the profile of specific human security issues. We have made sure that the UN Security Council Working Group on Children in Armed Conflict has been effective, and we are working on stronger international systems for protecting of civilians. We have also worked closely with DfID and MoD on the UK’s national action plan to implement UNSCR 1325 on women, peace and security.

Early warning – The FCO has continued to lead efforts to improve early warning of conflict, which allows the UK and international partners to intervene earlier and more effectively to prevent violent conflict. We have carried out detailed analysis of countries at risk of instability in several regions.

Conflict prevention programmes

The FCO has worked closely with DfID and MoD, to help fund conflict prevention projects through the Africa and Global Conflict Prevention Pools (from April 2008 these will become a single Conflict Prevention Pool). These programmes have:

• worked to build the capacity of international organisations, for example the UN and African Union (AU)
• improved international efforts to reform the security sector and
• tackled the root causes of conflict in individual countries.

In Africa, for example, four regional conflict advisers co-ordinate a range of work, including:

• grassroots conflict prevention and resolution work in Nigeria, Uganda and Somalia
• giving support to the Darfur and Southern Sudan peace agreements
• peacekeeping training in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya and
• post-conflict projects in Liberia.

In Nepal, our programme supports the UN in continuing to build an environment for open and free elections in 2008. We also resumed direct support to the Palestinian Authority, including promoting basic needs and improving freedom of movement and access to justice.

Burma – When the crisis broke in August 2007, the FCO worked to ensure strong international reactions from the UN Security Council, Human Rights Council and the EU. This helped to unite efforts to promote political change and to reinvigorate the UN Secretary-General’s good offices mission under Ibrahim Gambari. The FCO helped secure:

• an unprecedented Security Council presidential statement on Burma (Presidential statement number 37, 11 October 2007)
• a unanimous UN resolution on human rights in Burma agreed at the Human Rights Council and
• additional sanctions by the EU against the Burmese regime.

Zimbabwe – The FCO made sure that the international community remained focused on Zimbabwe through an EU statement at the Human Rights Council, as well as EU Council conclusions and G8 statements condemning state-sponsored violence. In Zimbabwe we spend £3.3 million each year supporting people on the ground who are working for democracy. Our embassy proactively monitors human rights abuses. It monitored closely preparations for the 29 March elections.

Kenya – The disputed result of Kenyan elections in December 2007 led to violence in which up to 1,500 people were killed and an estimated 250,000 displaced. The UK’s diplomatic intervention focused on:

• securing an end to violence
• following up allegations of election irregularity; and
• urging Kenya’s politicians to agree, and then implement fully and in good faith, a lasting political solution through a process of dialogue, supported by AU mediation, led by Kofi Annan.

The FCO has played a leading role in the EU, the UN and with our African partners to shape a coherent international policy. The Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, has spoken on many occasions to his counterparts across Europe, in the USA and in Africa to advance the Government’s aims. The Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, Lord Malloch-Brown, visited Kenya at the end of January 2008 and discussed the issue with our African partners in the margins of the AU summit in Addis Ababa. On 28 February 2008 a political solution (including a power-sharing agreement and a means to address underlying political issues) was agreed. The violence has ceased and political leaders are now focused on dialogue and on implementing the agreement.

Middle East – The Annapolis process offers the best chance of peace negotiations since 2000, but violence and suffering continue, particularly in Gaza. The FCO has worked closely with the parties involved and other partners, including the EU, USA, UN and regional states, to support the US-led negotiating process. The Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, met key players in the region and in London, and intervened at the Annapolis meeting in November 2007. The FCO, with DfID and the MoD, has worked to help the Palestinian economic, humanitarian, governance and security situation, and supported the work of Tony Blair as the Quartet Special Envoy.

Northern Uganda – The Juba Peace Process has produced a Final Peace Agreement that ends the long-running conflict, one of Africa’s worst, between the Ugandan Government and the Lord’s Resistance Army. The FCO has led the UK’s support for the Secretary-General’s special representative, former Mozambique President Chissano, and driven EU (Council conclusions in June 2007) and UN (New York seminar in August 2007) policy on the issue. The UK mission to the UN has continued to ensure that the UN Security Council has given support to the Juba Process. The UK has contributed £250,000 to the UN fund supporting the peace process. The Prime Minister discussed the peace process with President Museveni when they met during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala in November 2007 and again when they met in London on 10 March 2008.

Peacekeeping and stabilisation

Peacekeeping – The recent increase in operations is a positive development as it represents progress, albeit fragile, in resolving key conflicts, particularly in Africa. However, this is placing increasing strain on the UN. Today the UN has 20 peacekeeping and related missions worldwide, with over 130,000 personnel working in the field. The UN has limited HQ and field capacity, and staff are struggling to cope with the current situation. Member states are also struggling to provide the necessary troops and negotiators that peacekeeping operations need. The UK plays a leading role in the UN Security Council in making sure that peacekeeping operations are properly managed. Work continues to address the underlying problems.

Peacekeeping budget – The total cost of UN peacekeeping is over US$ 6.5 billion (£3.2 billion at current exchange rates). The UK’s assessed contribution  to this is almost 8%. The UK’s peacekeeping budget, managed by the FCO on behalf of the FCO, MoD and DfID, amounted to £374 million in 2007/08. In addition to our share of UN costs, it covers our assessed contributions* to EU and Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) peacekeeping missions, bilateral financial support to AU missions, and the costs of UK military, police and civilian personnel participating in, for example, missions led by the UN, EU and OSCE.

* Assessed contributions: UN peacekeeping operations are primarily financed from fixed contributions from member states.  The General Assembly approves the budget for each operation and determines the assessment for each member on an across-the-board formula. This is broadly based on the relative capacity of each country to pay, as measured by their gross national income, with adjustments for external debt and low per capita income.  The UK's annual contribution is currently 8%.  A similar arrangement is used for the fixed financing of EU and OSCE peacekeeping operations by its members.  The UK's EU rate is currently 17%. 

Stabilisation – Operational experience continues to make clear the importance of co-ordinated action between civil and military parties in crisis management. This requires improved international civil–military capability. The FCO continues to lead national and international efforts on this, including through joint direction of the Stabilisation Unit. The Unit supports countries emerging from conflict, at the request of its parent departments (FCO, MoD and DfID) or the Cabinet Office. The Unit has continued to provide specialist assistance to key countries (Afghanistan, Iraq, Nepal, Somalia and Sudan in 2007/08), where close co-operation between an international military presence and civilian agencies is essential for greater stability.

Afghanistan – Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world, facing a range of development, security and drugs challenges. The UK is supporting Afghanistan’s Government and people to establish stability and security, build up governance capacity (including on development) and reduce poppy cultivation. Since 2001 the UK has committed over £1.3 billion to reconstruction and development. By the end of 2007 over 40,000 Afghan soldiers had been recruited, trained and equipped. Progress has also been made in recruiting and training Afghan police, with the UK participating in EU and supporting US-led training programmes. We also announced a new package of counter-narcotics activities in August 2007.

Kosovo – Throughout 2007 the UK worked closely with its partners in the EU, NATO, UN Security Council and Balkans Contact Group to bring the negotiations over Kosovo’s status to rapid and successful completion. The UK also worked hard to ensure a leading EU role in implementing the Kosovo settlement. Kosovo declared independence on 17 February 2008, following 15 months of negotiations by UN Special Envoy Ahtisaari and four months of talks arranged by a troika or three-member group consisting of the EU, US and Russia, which had clearly shown that agreement between Belgrade and Pristina was out of reach. The UK recognised Kosovo’s independence on 18 February, and subsequently established an embassy. Post-independence, the UK continues to work with key international partners and the Kosovo Government, including through membership of the International Steering Group overseeing Kosovo settlement implementation.

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – The UN peacekeeping mission, which includes British military officers, is vital in:

• supporting stabilisation and efforts to achieve peace and reduction in violence, particularly in the east of the region
• achieving ceasefires between the armed forces and rebel troops
• paving the way for rebel soldiers to rejoin the army and
• making access possible for humanitarian organisations.

The UK worked on the mission’s renewal in December 2007, arguing for more attention to the problems of sexual violence and the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda militia, and support for local elections in 2008. Officials from the FCO and the Stabilisation Unit have established a mini mission in Goma, eastern DRC, to:

• support stabilisation
• report on developments in the conflict and
• provide political representation.

Somalia - The FCO and DfID have played a leading role in the International Contact Group on Somalia at its four meetings during 2007. The FCO hosted the Contact Group in June 2007. In 2007/08 the UK has taken the lead in the UN Security Council on Somalia successfully where resolutions 1744 (February 2007), 1772 (August 2007) and 1801 (February 2008) where all unanimously adopted. These set out the international community’s policy towards the political process in Somalia and authorised the deployment of the African Union’s peacekeeping mission. The UK has provided £8 million towards this mission from the UK Peacekeeping Budget. The FCO has also helped shape successive EU Council conclusions, in April, May and December 2007.

Peace-building

Governance and rule of law – The FCO supports the promotion of good governance and rule of law in countries rebuilding themselves after conflict (in other words post-conflict countries), for example:

• at the UN (including pushing for and funding the UN’s Rule of Law Unit)
• through a cross-government justice assistance network to co-ordinate expertise and
• through the recruiting and deploying of justice advisers, prisons advisers and police experts.

The FCO, with DfID and MoD, continues to support UN, EU and OSCE missions with significant contributions to post-conflict capacity building in a range of countries and in 2007 deployed 113 police and 50 civilian experts to support these operations.

UN peace-building – The FCO also actively supports the UN’s efforts to carry out peace-building more effectively. It is a key donor to the peace-building fund and supports the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), which provides longer-term international support to countries on its agenda (currently Sierra Leone, Burundi and Guinea-Bissau). The FCO is working to make sure that peace-building is planned from the start of peacekeeping missions, and that UN agencies are genuinely integrated in their efforts, building on the UN’s existing mission planning process.

Sierra Leone - The FCO contributed to international efforts to make sure that the first national elections since the withdrawal of UN peacekeepers took place peacefully. We also actively supported the efforts of the Peacebuilding Commission to build long-term governance and development. In December 2007 it agreed a peace-building co-operation framework with the Government of Sierra Leone.

Iraq - The FCO has worked in Baghdad, Basra and Erbil, and through our leadership of the multinational Basra Provincial Reconstruction Team, we have worked hard to:

• promote political reconciliation between the different parties
• build capacity in the Iraqi security forces
• support the legal and criminal justice system
• increase co-operation between Iraq and its neighbours and
• promote the regeneration of an Iraqi-led economy.

In Basra our work helped deliver some notable successes in December 2007 including:

• the hand-over of security responsibility to the Iraqi authorities
• the launch of the Basra Development Commission, which aims to help develop Basra’s economic potential and
• a joint declaration by all political parties supporting the rule of law and the Iraqi security forces.

Sudan

Sudan has been a priority in 2007/08. A co-ordinated effort by the FCO, including our mission in New York and embassies in Khartoum and other key capitals, together with partners across Government, achieved agreement in July 2007 in the UN and African Union to authorise a joint peacekeeping mission to Darfur.

The UN Security Council has formed a strategy, which the UK has helped devise, to tackle security, political and humanitarian issues in Darfur. The FCO is working with the Government and international partners to overcome problems related to the deployment of the UN AU Mission in Darfur and develop a viable cease-fire and peace process.

The FCO has been involved in the peace negotiations and provided £2 million support, together with £5 million of UK assistance to the Darfur Community Peace and Stability Fund, to tackle Darfur’s immediate recovery and long-term reconstruction needs.

The FCO has also remained focused on the peace process for southern Sudan, including implementation of the north–south comprehensive peace agreement. The FCO:

• was a member of the Assessment and Evaluation Committee (AEC), which monitors the implementation of the peace agreement, and also led the AEC security sub-committee and
• worked in the UN Security Council to strengthen the UN Mission in Sudan peacekeeping mandate.

Lessons identified: Afghanistan

Despite huge international effort in recent years, many of Afghanistan’s more significant problems will require further time and international and Afghan resources to reach resolution. The starting point was a country ravaged by a quarter of a century of conflict. In the past year the FCO has been engaged in an intensive ‘lessons identified’ exercise, with Government and our international partners.

We have readjusted our approach and in particular re-prioritised our resources across the FCO in order to reinforce our staff levels in Kabul and Lashkar Gah and those in London working on Afghanistan, to tackle the increased scale of the UK’s commitments. Our staff have worked for progress by:

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• encouraging a more holistic and political approach by the Government of Afghanistan and the international community to Afghanistan’s problems, including increased responsibility by the Government of Afghanistan to deliver to the Afghan people
• co-ordinating better international efforts on the civilian aspects of peace-building
• working to develop effective and accountable Afghan security forces
• improving our counter-narcotics efforts
• promoting Afghan responsibility for the wider rule of law and developing civil society and
• strengthening the capacity of the Afghanistan Government to communicate with the Afghan population.

Cost benefit analysis: conflict prevention vs peacekeeping

The sums the FCO spends on preventing conflict and on building local capacity are relatively low when compared to what it costs to Government to intervene directly or through the UN once conflict has broken out.

In 2007/08, for example, the UK invested £1.5 million from the Africa Conflict Prevention Pool in building the conflict prevention and peacekeeping capacity of the African Union. That action could prevent a future crisis like that of Sierra Leone in the 1990s, or make sure the AU can intervene quickly to prevent a problem from developing. Although Sierra Leone was a notable success in responding to a crisis once it emerged, it was a multimillion pound commitment by the UK to provide its troops on the ground, apart from our share of the cost of the UN force.

Even where the UK does not intervene directly itself, the costs to the Government can still be high. The UK contribution to the UN force in Haiti in 2007/08 was £19.3 million. This compares with a total of £1.5 million of funding from the Global Conflict Prevention Pool allocated to the conflict prevention programmes in the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean in the same period.