Abbreviation | IPI |
---|---|
Predecessor | International Peace Academy (IPA) |
Formation | 1970 |
Founder | Ruth Forbes Young, Major General Indar Jit Rikhye |
Type | International non-governmental organization |
Purpose | "Advancing Multilateral Solutions for a Peaceful Planet" |
President and CEO | Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein [1] |
Vice President and COO | Adam Lupel [2] |
Chair of the Board of Directors | Jean Todt [3] |
Website | https://www.ipinst.org/ |
The International Peace Institute (IPI, formerly the International Peace Academy) is an independent non-profit think tank [4] founded in 1970 [5] based in New York. The institute has a regional office in the Middle East (Manama, Bahrain) and had a regional office in Europe (Vienna, Austria) until 2020. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
IPI specializes in multilateral approaches to peace and security issues, working closely with the United Nations system and its member states. [8] [9] Areas of focus include peace operations; peace, climate, and sustainable development; women, peace, and security; and human rights and humanitarian affairs. [6]
IPI states that it produces “evidence-based analysis and practical policy recommendations to inform debate and guide decision making on complex and emerging issues;” that it “engages policy- and decision-makers from the United Nations System, member states, regional organizations, civil society, and the private sector through candid discussion;” and that it “provides innovative and strategic advice on multilateral processes to these partners to help them develop and implement achievable and sustainable solutions.” [11] [12]
As of May 2024, IPI has a staff of approximately 38. Since March 2021, Zeid bin Ra'ad Al Hussein has been the President and CEO of IPI with Adam Lupel as Vice President and COO. [13] [14]
The International Peace Institute was created with support from UN Secretary-General U Thant in 1970, [15] originally with the purpose of studying UN peacekeeping and developing peacekeeping doctrine, with strong financial backing from Ruth Forbes Paine Young.[ citation needed ]
Its first President was Maj. Gen. Indar Jit Rikhye, Indian commanding officer of UN peacekeeping forces and a former military advisor to the UN Secretary-General. Under his tenure, IPI initiated an innovative program aimed at training civilians and military officers together for the challenges of preventing conflict and building peace. In 1990, under Olara Otunnu, a Ugandan diplomat and politician, IPI branched out into the political dimensions of war and peace. During this time, IPI became known for its case studies of UN field operations and for its forward-looking analysis on new roles for the UN in the security sphere. Otunnu also initiated IPI's Africa Program, currently its longest-running program.
David M. Malone, a Canadian scholar-diplomat, took over as President in 1998, followed by Terje Rød-Larsen, from 2005 to 2020, a Norwegian sociologist and diplomat who has served the UN as its senior envoy in the Middle East, and a principal architect of the 1990s Oslo Peace Accords. [16] [17]
IPI today focuses its work on multilateral cooperation, peace operations, climate change and sustainable development, women, peace, and security, human rights and humanitarian affairs. [18]
The IPI works in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Central Asia [19] that involves interacting with international diplomats, dignitaries and scholars (especially from the United Nations) to achieve its goals [ vague ]. These include direct consultation with diplomats and officials, conducting research and publishing reports, convening discussions and presentations, and encouraging and facilitating diplomatic activities of others. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
The IPI has convened "high-level" discussion panels made up of international diplomats, dignitaries and scholars (especially from the United Nations) to discuss major issues in international affairs affecting international peace and security. [8] [9] [10]
The organization publishes a wide range of reports relating to international diplomacy, peacekeeping and humanitarian responses to crisis. [20]
The International Peace Institute (IPI) Vienna Seminar on Peacemaking and Peacekeeping is an annual event, held in Vienna, Austria since 1970. Over the years it has become a widely recognized forum for discussion of peace and security issues, addressed in a broad sense. It operates with additional support from the Austrian and Viennese governments, and the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. The event includes presentations by major international diplomats and political officials. [21] [22] [23]
In 2020 Verdens Gang wrote that IPI has received 130 million Norwegian kroner "through the years", from the Norwegian Foreign Ministry. [24] The Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation donated 375,000 dollars in 2012. [25]
According to the IPI website, the organisation is funded by governments, philanthropic foundations, and individuals. Roughly 70% of annual funds are from government donors, and 22% of our funds are from philanthropic foundations. The remaining funds come from corporate sponsors, individuals, and board members. [26]
In 2020-2021 financial statements IPI declared US$10,311,911 in assets. [27]
The United Nations (UN) is a diplomatic and political international organization with the intended purpose of maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, achieving international cooperation, and serving as a center for coordinating the actions of member nations. It is widely recognised as the world's largest international organization. The UN is headquartered in New York City, in international territory with certain privileges extraterritorial to the United States, and the UN has other offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna, and The Hague, where the International Court of Justice is headquartered at the Peace Palace.
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Mona Juul is a Norwegian diplomat and former politician for the Labour Party. She worked at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and has been an ambassador to several different countries. Juul hails from Sparbu, and was educated in political science. She played a key role facilitating the Oslo Accords in the 1990s. On 25 July 2019, Juul was elected President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
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Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad bin Zeid al-Hussein is a Jordanian former diplomat who is the Perry World House Professor of the Practice of Law and Human Rights at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the president and CEO of the International Peace Institute. He also served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2014 to 2018. He played a central role in the establishment of the International Criminal Court, and was elected the first president of the Assembly of State Parties of the International Criminal Court in September 2002. He also served as a political affairs officer in UNPROFOR in the former Yugoslavia from 1994 to 1996.
David M. Malone, born in 1954, is a Canadian author on international security and development, as well as a career diplomat. He is a former president of the International Peace Institute, and a frequently quoted expert on international affairs, especially on Indian Foreign Policy and the work of the UN Security Council. He became president of the International Development Research Centre in 2008 and served until 2013. On 1 March 2013, he took up the position of UN Under-Secretary-General, Rector of the United Nations University, which he fulfilled until 28 February 2023.
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