UN Expert Calls for Peace Economy as Conflicts Threaten Human Rights and 2030 Goals

The damage caused by war reaches beyond battlefields, draining resources needed to improve people’s lives and support development.

The world is facing its highest number of conflicts since the Second World War, threatening human rights and progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN expert Surya Deva has warned. In his report to the UN General Assembly, the Special Rapporteur on the right to development called for a shift from economies that profit from war towards an economy built around peace. He said lasting peace depends on protecting human rights and confronting the discrimination and injustice that help drive conflict.

The damage caused by war reaches beyond battlefields, draining resources needed to improve people's lives and support development. Money diverted towards conflict reduces the resources available for realising human rights, meeting the Sustainable Development Goals and financing a fair transition to a green economy. Deva described peace as a precondition for development, stressing that its benefits must reach people who face exclusion and unequal opportunities.

Some States and businesses are gaining from the destruction, creating interests that can work against efforts to secure peace. Deva said unlawful invasions are being used to expand territorial boundaries and seize natural resources, including critical minerals belonging to invaded countries. Companies operating in arms and weapons, technology, natural resources and construction are among those he identified as profiteering from conflicts and wars.

Resource Competition and Inequality Drive Conflict

The report identifies several connected causes of conflict, including competition for natural resources, inequalities, political exclusion, corruption and human rights violations. It also points to the legacy of colonialism and present-day neo-colonial practices as forces that contribute to conflict. Addressing these pressures requires attention to the political and economic conditions that allow violence to develop and make it profitable for powerful interests.

A Peace Economy Built Around Dignity and Rights

Deva places the right to development at the centre of a proposed peace economy, giving the international community a foundation for moving away from war economies. His roadmap brings together foundational, preventive, institutional and deterrent measures, with the commitment to leave no one behind guiding the proposed shift. Governments are urged to invest in a dignified life for everyone, reduce inequalities, confront the political economy of conflict and promote good governance grounded in human rights.

Building this economy also means strengthening multilateral cooperation and encouraging a culture of peace through the ways States manage their relationships and resolve disputes. Deva calls for renewed disarmament efforts, stronger early warning systems and preventive diplomacy so that threats can be addressed before they grow into wider violence. These measures connect investment in people's wellbeing with efforts to prevent the destruction that undermines development.

Collective Security and Accountability Are Essential

The roadmap calls for a stronger focus on collective security, reform of the UN Security Council and greater accountability for international crimes. These institutional and deterrent measures form part of Deva's broader proposal to protect human rights and make peace sustainable. He said peace offers the best guarantee of national security, arguing that sustaining it costs far less than continuing to fund war economies.