The human misery caused by armed violence is testimony to the chronic lack of political will to respond collectively to new and emerging threats to stability and peace. This is why the Task Force called for the establishment of the following initiatives as key advisory and advocacy mechanisms to ensure effective change in the existing conflict prevention architecture.

Parliamentarians Network
The Parliamentarians Network, one of the initial recommendations from the Task Force in 2007, was launched by EWI in October 2008.

The Network works to build capacity, strengthen international cooperation, influence legislation, hold governments accountable, produce and disseminate information and institutionalize and mainstream conflict prevention. It has grown to include some 70 parliamentarians from 30 countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Latvia, Northern Ireland, Norway, Pakistan, Palestinian territories, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Somalia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, The Netherlands, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

Through its March 2009 Declaration to the G20 member states, the Parliamentarians Network is working to raise awareness and increase resources for conflict prevention.

Read more about the Parliamentarians Network or visit the website.

Global Summit on Conflict & Security and the International Panel
The Global Summit on Conflict and Security will be a biennial conference that will bring together, for the first time ever, the traditional security establishment with development policy decision-makers and the peacebuilding community, including civil society, business and the media, to reframe traditional security and development policy to include preventive approaches.

Once established, the Summit is expected to mandate the International Panel on Conflict Prevention and Human Security. The Panel's aim will be to develop new approaches and capacity to deal with medium, long-term and new threats and challenges. It will also make recommendations for the measures necessary to meet those challenges and for the organizational and budgetary requirements to implement the recommendations.

As a first step in this process, the Preventive Diplomacy Initiative is working to secure an additional day at the Munich Conference on Security Policy, beginning in 2010.