Our vision
Our initiative is based on a simple observation
Global problems without cooperative solutions lead to conflicts.
The challenges the world faces—climate change, terrorism, migration, cyber insecurity and the like—ignore borders. Addressing them requires international cooperation and collective action. However, collaboration is increasingly difficult as countries are turning inward. Today, the international community fails at producing the needed solutions.
Our world is not going in the right direction.
States are competing hard for advantage and populism is undermining the institutions and mechanisms for collective action. Democratic spaces are shrinking and inequalities are widening. Military expenditures are growing fast while the United Nations budget is cut. International norms, in particular, human rights, are disregarded. The Internet is becoming a jungle where data is hacked and fake news spread. International justice if being questioned. And we are losing the race against global warming.
This situation is not conducive to peace.
It leads to new conflicts on all continents. Peace is not just the suspension of war. Peace is made up of all the solutions that help reduce international tensions: cooperation to fight climate change and mitigate resource scarcity, institutions to channel power rivalries and better administer global public goods, regulation to address abuses of power and inequalities, intergenerational bridges and gender equality to create more peaceful societies. In other words, peace will only be sustainable if effective global governance underpins it.
Our mission
Our mission is to contribute to bridging this governance gap
We bring together all stakeholders to advance concrete solutions where none exist.
We support, improve, and complement multilateral institutions.
Multilateral organizations with universal membership have legitimate mandates for the creation of rules and mechanisms to solve transnational problems. We pick up the slack when these institutions cannot act or when the solutions proposed are insufficient.
We are multi-stakeholder.
We foster hybrid coalitions by gathering old and new actors of global governance: states and international organizations, but also NGOs, companies, foundations, philanthropic organizations, development agencies, religious groups, trade unions, think tanks, universities, and civil society at large.
We are project-oriented.
We showcase and support concrete projects that are either normative (instruments of law, standards, and good practices) or capacity-building (new institutions, mechanisms, and innovations).
Forum history
Frequently asked questions
A multilateral initiative: The idea was initiated in 2017 by the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, during his speech at the Ambassadors’ Conference where he called for the need to take concrete steps to strengthen multilateralism and preserve peace.
A simple observation: The international system abounds with contradictions. International collaboration is increasingly difficult. However, the challenges the world faces – pandemics, climate change, terrorism, migration, cyber insecurity, and other global issues – require a collective response.
A concrete objective: To bridge the international coordination gap by supporting and complementing existing systems and picking up the slack when these institutions cannot act or when the solutions proposed are inadequate.
An independent organization: Although the idea was initiated by the President of the French Republic, the Forum is led by a hybrid that ensures the independence of this multilateral initiative in its missions and financing.
An association under the law of 1901: The Forum is a non-profit association established under French Law ‘loi 1901’ recognized as a public charity. It is governed by 3 international bodies and financed by numerous partners around the world.
The General Assembly decides the Association’s main legal and budgetary orientations, approves its annual accounts, and amends its Bylaws. It includes all members of the Association, both Founding Members and Ordinary Members.
The Executive Committee makes all the decisions regarding the activities of the Association and in particular the organization of its annual event. It shapes the program, authorizes partnership agreements, and decides on new memberships. It gathers the ten
Founding Members, as well as Open Society Foundations, which joined in March 2022.
The Steering Committee provides the Executive Committee with recommendations on the strategic orientations of the Association and all its activities, including the organization of the annual Paris Peace Forum event. It gathers approximately fifteen personalities from all continents who are appointed for three years.
The Circle of Partners brings together the Forum’s public and private benefactors, international organizations and media partners. They support the Forum and make recommendations on its strategic orientations.
Since 2018, the Paris Peace Forum is the place where heads of state and international organizations work hand in hand with civil society and the private sector to build new forms of collective action. Throughout the year, the Forum put the spotlight on those who implement concrete actions by advancing worldwide governance projects. The idea is not only to highlight projects but to strengthen and support them in their implementation and development.
An annual event: Each year in Paris, in November, the Forum gathers collective action stakeholders, both states and non-state actors, around global governance solutions.
The Forum addresses peace through global coordination and cooperation: Lasting peace will only be achieved through adapted and effective global coordination to address current issues.
The Forum does not focus on geopolitical issues nor conflicts: Peace is more than the simple suspension of war and it is made up of all the solutions that help reduce international tensions:
- Cooperation to mitigate resource scarcity.
- International institutions to channel power rivalries and better administer global public goods.
- Regulation to address new abuses of power and inequality exacerbated by globalization.
- Intergenerational bridges and gender equality to create more peaceful societies.
The Forum considers that state institutions and non-state organizations are interdependent: International and regional multilateral organizations with universal membership have legitimate mandates for the creation of rules and mechanisms to solve global problems.
The Forum supports and complements existing systems: It picks up the slack when these institutions cannot act or when the solutions proposed are inadequate, to reinforce their action and push forward the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
>> Learn more about the Paris Peace Forum’s institutional partners.
The Forum is supported by a diversity of global governance actors: States and multilateral organizations, but also NGOs, companies, development agencies, foundations, philanthropies, religious groups, associations, think tanks, universities, and civil society at large.
These partners represent numerous benefactors, institutions, and several medias renewed each year. They make recommendations on the Forum’s strategic orientations.
The official languages of the Forum are English and French.
You can join our community by using the dedicated hashtag for the 7th edition: #PPF2024