Backgrounder - Peace and Stabilization Operations Program

Backgrounder

The new Peace and Stabilization Operations Program (PSOPs) will have a budget of $450 million over three years, and it will be managed by Global Affairs Canada. It builds on the more than a decade of experience and achievements of its predecessor, the Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force, or START, as well as lessons learned by the international community on how best to promote peace, security and stability.

PSOPs will give Canada a stronger voice on the world stage by funding projects that help to promote peace and security, including deployments of police officers and civilian experts to areas where they are needed and can make a difference.

PSOPs will complement other related efforts, such as life-saving humanitarian assistance and longer-term development cooperation. PSOPs will support and enable Canadian diplomacy, particularly by helping address the drivers of conflict, and in so doing, help lay the groundwork for enduring stability in fragile and conflict-affected states. PSOPs will help to create space for dialogue and conflict resolution so that affected communities can begin to recover their livelihoods and a sense of normalcy. Ensuring the meaningful participation of women in peacebuilding will be a core part of this effort.

PSOPs will work in partnership with other government departments and agencies, such as the Department of National Defence, the Department of Justice, Public Safety Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. PSOPs will deliver on Canada’s commitment to a closer coordination between defence policy, foreign policy and national security, as outlined in the mandate letter of Minister of Foreign Affairs Stéphane Dion.

PSOPs will also coordinate the government’s implementation of Canada’s Ac‎tion Plan on Women, Peace and Security and actively promote the role of women and youth in conflict resolution.

Overall, PSOPs will have three core responsibilities:

1. Leadership on stabilization and fragile states policy

The program will support Canadian efforts to influence and shape dialogue and collective action among allies and partners, particularly at the UN. Canada will aim to:

• provide a strong Canadian voice and sustain advocacy efforts in global policy forums and initiatives, such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the 2011 New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States and UN reforms on sustaining peace;
• advocate for improved compliance with international humanitarian law; enhance the protection of civilians from armed conflict, particularly of women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence; and promote the role of women and youth in conflict resolution; and
• help prevent mass atrocities by working with allies and partners to improve early warning and conflict analysis.

2. Support coordinated responses by the Government of Canada to conflicts and crises abroad

PSOPs will coordinate whole-of-government responses to catastrophic natural disasters and complex political crises abroad.

For political crises in particular, PSOPs will serve as a focal point for information sharing, joint analysis and the coordination of diplomatic, military, security and development efforts to ensure that they are mutually reinforcing and are coherent with and supportive of broader, collective efforts of the international community.

3. Design and deliver catalytic stabilization initiatives

PSOPs will provide visible and concrete assistance in response to conflicts or crises abroad through quick and flexible funding of stabilization activities. PSOPs will also manage the deployment of Canadian police officers and civilian experts to areas in need, and support the deployment of police in conjunction with Public Safety Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police through the International Police Peacekeeping and Peace Operations program. The program will focus Canada’s efforts in the areas of:

• programming, through $118 million per year in grants and contributions to advance key peace and security priorities, such as strengthening Ukraine’s security sector, reducing tensions among communities hosting Syrian refugees in Lebanon, supporting the implementation of Colombia’s peace process, supporting anti-Daesh coalition efforts and stabilization operations in Iraq, among others; and
• expert deployments, for which $17 million per year has been allocated; they will include the deployment of Canadian police officers, managed in conjunction with Public Safety Canada and the RCMP through the International Police Peacekeeping and Peace Operations program, as well as the deployment of civilian experts for technical support to external organizations or for rapid response to crises and natural disasters.

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Hon. Stéphane Dion Global Affairs Canada Government and Politics