Interim Report of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Armed Conflict

The present report is prepared in response to General Assembly resolution 55/281 of 1 August 2001, by which the Assembly calls upon Governments, regional and subregional organizations, as well as relevant civil society actors to consider the report of the Secretary-General on the prevention of armed conflict (A/55/985-S/2001/574 and Corr.1).

The report provides an analytical overview of United Nations efforts in the field of prevention. It shows that the United Nations system has recently launched a number of efforts to assist Member States in building their capacity for the prevention and peaceful settlement of disputes and for building sustainable peace and development. It has also undertaken initial efforts to strengthen its own capacity for providing such assistance. The report notes that while some initial progress has been made in improving the capacity of the Organization, this is not enough. The United Nations is only at the beginning of a fundamental process of mobilization and of building partnerships. In his comprehensive report to be submitted to the General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session, the Secretary-General intends to present recommendations on how to strengthen further the capacity of the Organization in order to ensure that conflict prevention is made the cornerstone of the collective security system of the United Nations in the twenty-first century.