Research: UN's Work in Cases of Contested Sovereignty in Europe and Central Asia

Details

Mission and objectives

Update

Context

The Europe and Central Asia region consists of mostly middle-income countries with various degrees of political, socio-economic, and environmental vulnerabilities. Over the last couple of years, the region has seen an increase in compound risks from diminishing civic space, the erosion of social cohesion, continued challenges to the rule of law and human rights, elite capture and corruption, increased stigmatization of minority groups, social conflict between communities and extractive industries, divisive narratives and hate speech, as well as cross-border and ethnic tensions and armed conflicts. Volatility in regional power dynamics, with the war in Ukraine, brings along new turns in protracted conflicts along with further uncertainties (Karabakh, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria). Unresolved status of enclaves, disputed territories and contested border delimitations across the region are also endemic issues that have led to sporadic violence in the past decade and created a persistent risk of escalation. With existing dialogue platforms facilitated by Russia and the ‘West’ to address and try to settle the protracted conflicts in ECA negatively impacted from geopolitical tensions, the imperative for UN to step up preventive diplomacy in the region has assumed growing importance, along with re-thinking of the operational engagement of UN under these context of contested sovereignty. The Online Volunteer will be expected to support between June-August 2024, for 8 weeks.

Task description

1. Conduct a desk view on the evolution of political dynamics around the protracted conflicts in the ECA region since the start of the war in Ukraine. 2. Map the ongoing work and engagement of the EU on these contexts of contested sovereignty (diplomatic efforts as well as operational engagement for confidence building and/or conflict resolution)- will involve the design and conduct of a questionnaire, as well as targeted interviews, with UN Country Teams. 3. Map existing UN guidance on operating under contested sovereignty and engaging ‘de-facto authorities’. 4. Identify good practices from ECA and other parts of the world on engagement that has rendered a positive impact on improving conflict/peace dynamics. 5. Compile the findings into a comparative study on ongoing UN engagement in protracted conflicts in the ECA region, focusing on recommendations on operating under contested sovereignty and engaging ‘de-facto authorities’ with a view to help improve conflict/peace dynamics.