CAF25 Key Takeaways

The 2025 Challenges Annual Forum (CAF25) hosted by the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), took place in Accra, Ghana, on 14-15 October 2025. It brought together over 170 partners and key stakeholders – including representatives from the United Nations (UN), regional organizations, government agencies, think tanks, civil society and academia – to discuss how to adapt, advance and renew the impact of international peace operations. CAF25 was pledged by Ghana and Sweden at the Berlin Peacekeeping Ministerial in May 2025, with the aim to inform and contribute to the Review on the Future of All Forms of UN Peace Operations (the Review), the UN80 initiative and the Peacebuilding Architecture Review. 

Against a backdrop of geopolitical polarisation and friction, unprecedented financial challenges within the UN system and the highest number of wars, armed conflicts and refugees in the world since World War II, CAF25 provided partners and participants with a timely opportunity to generate new ideas, identify common ground and align long-term thinking on the future role, mandates and priorities of international peace operations. Discussions also focused on the role of regional organizations in addressing armed conflicts and regional instability; leveraging the use of new technologies; and integrating climate change analysis and strategies into peace operations.