The report presents findings from the 2018 revision of World Urbanization Prospects, which contains the latest estimates of the urban and rural populations or areas from 1950 to 2018 and projections to 2050, as well as estimates of population size from 1950 to 2018 and projections to 2030 for all urban agglomerations with 300,000 inhabitants or more in 2018. The world urban population is at an all-time high, and the share of urban dwellers, is projected to represent two thirds of the global population in 2050. Continued urbanization will bring new opportunities and challenges for sustainable development.

This book traces the trajectory and different meanings of the concept of peacebuilding in the United Nations since the early 1990s. It analyses how that concept gained life in a particular context and the implications of this process for the Organisation’s support to societies affected by armed conflict in general and for peace operations in particular. Departing from tenets about the influence of ideas in world politics and engaging with the critique of the liberal peace scholarship, the book provides a theoretically informed narrative of how peacebuilding acquired different meanings while remaining largely motivated, justified, legitimated and informed by a proactive and top-down agenda of promoting liberal democratic institutions, norms and values as a remedy to the challenges faced by societies affected by armed conflict. The book will appeal to scholars, policymakers and practitioners in peacebuilding and post-conflict development.

United Nations peacekeepers currently play a crucial role in international responses to threats to peace and security across the globe. Since 1948 the UN has been involved in over 60 peacekeeping operations. However in the current environment of complex and rapidly changing threats to peace, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of UN peacekeepers to deal with situations of instability. In 2009 alone over 100,000 individuals are deployed on such missions. This situation has resulted in a range of new and pressing challenges to the legal framework applicable during such collective international action. This book provides, for the first time, a comprehensive account of the legal framework regulating this area of collective international action. The book contains key documents in the areas of privileges and immunities, human rights law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law. Types of documents featured include foundational treaties, international rules and regulations, memoranda, judgments of the International Court of Justice, and some mission specific documents. Before each document a prefatory note is included, outlining the historical development of the document as well as its relevance to UN peace operations. To further assist scholars and practitioners in their work, the work concludes with a guide on undertaking further legal research on the laws relevant to peace operations, a list of all UN peace operations and relevant enabling resolutions, and a suggested approach to interpreting Security Council mandates. From scholars and students to policy makers, representatives in the military, police and humanitarian organisations - this book will be an invaluable resource in the development of a better understanding of the legal framework surrounding the establishment, management, and conduct of peace operations that are mandated and controlled by the UN.