Select committee: Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 33
2nd Report - The write to protect: Britain’s pen on the world stage
Published 21 Sep 2025
Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Foreign Affairs Committee The UK at the United Nations Security Council All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
It is clear that United Nations peacekeeping requires reform, and we support the Government’s efforts to promote a leaner peacekeeping and peace and security architecture at the UN. However, we would urge the Government to maintain UK investment in conflict prevention, including through the UN. The Government should: a. Set out, in its response to this report, its long-term plan to reform the over-inflated peacekeeping bodies and missions at the United Nations and how those plans fit into the United Nations 80 (UN80) agenda. The Government should detail its specific objectives. It should also consider whether in some places, redirecting investments to other UN arms, such as the UN Peacebuilding Support Office and its Peacebuilding Fund, could deliver the same or more impact at a fraction of the cost. b. Drive forward the review and closure of United Nations peacekeeping structures, missions, mandates and agencies which overlap or those which are not delivering their objective of promoting mediation and security. Additionally, the Government should outline its internal review process for deciding how mandates are evaluated. c. Lead on efforts to create a unified and singular United Nations peace and security structure, which is focused on mediation and conflict resolution. This structure should be responsible to the United Nations Security Council. d. Outline how it will use its penholdership of this file to promote, secure and further the United Nations’ role in peace, security and mediation and detail what conflicts it will identify as priorities. e. Seek to ensure that United Nations peacekeeping budgets and relevant peacekeeping mandates are financially supported despite the increasing polarisation evident on the United Nations Security Council, which may hinder regular budgetary processes. f. Actively push for the use of technology, particularly drones, in peacekeeping as a way to mitigate costs and promote safety in regions where peacekeepers may be at greater
From: Foreign Affairs Committee, 2nd Report - The write to protect: Britain’s pen on the world stage (HC 930), 21 September 2025
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 1 December 2025 (deadline 21 November 2025).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government marks most recommendations "Agree", "Partially agree" on some, and "Disagree" on three, including co-penholding and mandated Myanmar reporting.
- On co-penholding (Recommendation 10) it says "Disagree", stating that "co-penning is not appropriate for every agenda item" and it does not agree the UK should take a "one size fits all" approach.
- On ODA (Recommendation 7) it "Partially agree"s. It remains committed to restoring 0.7% of GNI "as soon as the fiscal circumstances allow", but says it is "not possible" to commit to ringfencing any future spend.
- On Myanmar (Recommendation 15) it says "Disagree". It recognises the call for mandated, more regular reporting but says there is "not yet the requisite support across the UN Security Council", including among the permanent members.
- On Somalia (Recommendation 18) it "Partially agree"s and says a new "joint fund" mechanism "would likely encounter similar challenges". It announced £16.5 million to AUSSOM.