A group of diplomats, former statesmen and U.N. officials began seeking political backing this week for a peacemaking framework to shape new standards for resolving conflicts that they say can avoid past mistakes such as in Mali and Afghanistan. But the framework’s proponents, who have just completed a two-year consultation period in dozens of countries, say today’s peace brokers are applying the wrong strategy. “You could say ‘Why the hell are people talking about peace when the whole thing falls apart?’ But there’s not a more important moment to talk about peace,” Bert Koenders, former U.N. envoy for Mali who is the Principles for Peace co-chair, said on the sidelines of a meeting with countries in Geneva. (https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-01-20/top-diplomats-un-officials-seek-to-fix-wild-west-of-peacemaking) There are more than 50 active conflicts in the world, from Democratic Republic of Congo to Ukraine, affecting some 2 billion people – a record for the post-World War Two period.