Club Lunch – Belt and Road Initiative: A Tool for Conflict Prevention in the Himalayan region?

UN Resident Coordinator in China Nicholas Rosellini discussed how the Belt and Road initiative (BRI) could accelerate the achievements of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that set out an ambitious vision for the future of our planet and people. It focused on keeping the peace through building connectivity and reducing tensions and mitigating potential conflicts over access to water and other resources. Himalayan Consensus Founding Director, Laurence Brahm discussed the importance of conflict prevention along the Belt and Road by addressing issues at their root causes rather than just the effects. He also introduced the UNDP-Himalayan Consensus collaborative efforts at addressing these through the recently launched Silk Road Dialogue program for conflict prevention.

Nicholas Rosellini took up his assignment as the UN Resident Coordinator, and UNDP Resident Representative in the People’s Republic of China in October 2016. Prior to this, he served as UNDP Deputy Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific since January 2009, and as Director of the Bangkok Regional Hub.

Laurence Brahm is an international crisis mediation lawyer and development economist. He is founding director of the Himalayan Consensus, a regional multi-stakeholder and multi-lateral process dedicated to the prevention of conflict over water resources due to climate disruption. Between 2013-2015, he was a Senior Adviser to China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection.