From Signals to Action: Strengthening the UN's Conflict Prevention Efforts

31 March 2025

Authored by Adam Day and Emma Bapt, our recent two-part research series explores how the United Nations' human rights system can enhance its role in early warning and conflict prevention.

The first brief, 'From Signals to Action – How the UN Human Rights System Can Deliver Early Warning and Conflict Prevention', examines how human rights data from the UN system can signal rising risks of violent conflict. Through case studies of Syria, Mali, South Sudan, Ukraine, and Myanmar, the report highlights how the UN’s human rights system already generates a wealth of information that clearly indicates growing risks of violent conflict. However, many of these signals were buried in long reports or spread out across different bodies of information that made them difficult to access or understand. The research also found that:

  • Human rights reporting provided a unique sense of the social and economic drivers of conflict
  • How marginalization and discrimination affected the risks of violence in the years prior to a significant escalation
  • Where governments were failing to respond to risks
  • What kinds of responses might have lowered risk levels

Building on these findings, the second brief, 'Operationalizing Prevention – How the UN Human Rights System Can Connect Early Warning to Action', shifts the focus to actionable steps for turning these signals into preventive measures and offers concrete policy recommendations. It identifies critical gaps including:

  • The lack of systematic data aggregation
  • Weak institutional linkages between Geneva and New York
  • Political resistance to early intervention

By addressing these challenges, the report underscores how the Human Rights Council (HRC) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) can play a more decisive role in preventing large-scale human rights violations and violent conflicts.

As the UN prepares for the 2025 Peacebuilding Architecture Review, these insights offer a timely roadmap for enhancing global peace and security efforts.

These papers forms part of a larger research on human rights and prevention - exploring how the human rights system can serve as a tool in conflict prevention, resilience and early warning.

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

neurodata graphics News

New Research Brief Evaluates the Effectiveness of GDPR in Mitigating Risks Associated with the Distinctive Nature of Neurodata

21 January 2025

Our recent research brief, Neurodata: Navigating GDPR and AI Act Compliance in the Context of Neurotechnology, examines how effectively GDPR addresses the unique risks posed by neurodata.

Read more

web of information News

New Research Brief Examines the Relationship Between Digital Technologies and Their Misuse in Surveillance, Cyberattacks, and Disinformation Campaigns

21 February 2025

Our new research brief examines the complex relationship between digital technologies and their misuse in surveillance, cyberattacks, and disinformation campaigns.

Read more

Open dump Training

Protecting Human Rights and the Environment

15-19 September 2025

Participants in this training course will gain practical insights into UN human rights mechanisms and their role in environmental protection and learn about how to address the interplay between international human rights and environmental law, and explore environmental litigation paths.

Read more

A general view of participants during of the 33nd ordinary session of the Human Rights Council. Training

The Universal Periodic Review and the UN Human Rights System: Raising the Bar on Accountability

10-14 November 2025

This training course will explore the origin and evolution of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and its functioning in Geneva and will focus on the nature of implementation of the UPR recommendations at the national level.

Read more

First annual conference of the Geneva Human Rights Platform Project

The Annual Conference of the Geneva Human Rights Platform

Started in June 2019

Read more

Session of a UN Treaty Body Project

Treaty Bodies Individual Communications Procedures

Started in January 2019

Read more

Cover of the publication Publication

Briefing N° 25: Localizing Multilateralism

published on March 2025

Domenico Zipoli, Ludovica Chiussi Curzi, Kamelia Kemileva

Read more

Cover page of the working paper Publication

AI Decoded: Key Concepts and Applications of Artificial Intelligence for Human Rights and SDG Monitoring

published on January 2025

Milica Mirkovic, Jennifer Victoria Scurrell

Read more