Neglected Conflicts and Overlooked Opportunities for Peacemaking

This panel will examine how conflicts become neglected, who defines neglect, and what can be done before a crisis commands global attention. It will explore how political priorities, institutional mandates, funding decisions, fragmented early-warning systems, and patterns of media coverage determine which crises are discussed, funded, and addressed. Anchored in contexts such as Myanmar, Afghanistan, and the Great Lakes region, the discussion will consider how humanitarian evidence, human rights monitoring, local knowledge, and early warning can be connected more effectively to political engagement.

In addressing conflict, Geneva brings together actors who often hold different parts of the same picture. The panel will explore how diplomatic missions, humanitarian, human rights, and peacebuilding actors in International Geneva can connect information, political access, and operational experience early to support preventive action. The session aims to identify practical roles and actionable pathways for Geneva-based actors in sustaining attention, convening coalitions, and supporting preventive diplomacy in neglected contexts.

The discussion will seek collaborations, commitments, and concrete areas for follow-up within the next twelve months on addressing neglected conflicts. It will serve as the public starting point for a longer-term initiative, including a Geneva-based group of interested actors, a follow-up convening on specific prevention and peacemaking opportunities, and inputs towards an annual flagship report on neglected conflicts, emerging risks and overlooked opportunities for peacemaking.

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