CiR2P Option 10 | Develop constitutional structures

DISCUSSION:

For most populations, a sense of security begins with confidence that they live under fair constitutional structures not inherently hostile to their interests. Conversely, problematic constitutions or the inability to agree on new constitutional arrangements can explain many cases of violent conflict world-over.

Because of the enormous domestic sensitivities involved with constitution making, there are limits to what foreigners can contribute apart from offering creative technical assistance on possible power-and-wealth-sharing solutions, drawing on a vast array of different models already in existence.

UN technical assistance to any element of a constitutional reform process will usually require a request from the national government or mandate from a UN legislative body. Assistance can include the UN Secretary General’s political good offices (ie. mediation support); rule of law, gender and human rights advice; legal and technical capacity building; the provision of comparative good practice; and financial and administrative support.

The UN Department of Political and Peacekeeping Affairs recently launched a joint initiative with the UN Development Programme and the UN Environment Programme called the Climate Security Mechanism, which has developed guidance to promote the systematic analysis of climate-related security risks and support response. The DPPA Mediation Support Unit (MSU) has also recently elevated ‘climate-informed mediation’ to one of its core practices. DPPA MSU specialists are in a good position to offer advice on the synergies between climate change, sustainable peace, economic development, and constitution making.

Two prominent models of successful constitution making involving climate change and environmental protection in peace processes can be found in South Africa in 1994 and Kenya in 2010. Both constitutions stipulate that all citizens have a right to a clean and healthy environment (or, at least an environment not detrimental to their health and well-being). In both countries, climate-related constitutional provisions have helped spur a raft of national and subnational climate initiatives, most prominent among them, Kenya’s National Climate Change Action Plan of 2013, which is widely acknowledged as a flagship mitigation and adaption response across Africa, and subsequent national Climate Change Act of 2016.