Trump launches ‘Board of Peace’ in Davos: Inside governance, mandate & members

The US President Donald Trump on Thursday signed the founding charter of his highly anticipated “Board of Peace” at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Dubbing the Board of Peace as “the most consequential board in history” , the US President called it “a very exciting day, long in the making.”

Harbinger of peace

While speaking at Davos, Trump said, “Just one year ago the world was actually on fire, a lot of people didn't know about it. Yet many good things are happening and the threats around the world "are really calming down.”

“We're going to have peace in the world. And we're all stars,”Trump announced.

What is Trump’s Board of Peace?

Trump first propounded the idea of a Board of Peace in September, aiming to end the Gaza conflict.

The board was initially framed as a mechanism to support the administration, reconstruction, and economic recovery of the war-battered Gaza Strip.

Later, he expressed the desire to make this body constructive enough to tackle the other conflict across the world.

The core purpose of the board is to end wars and conflicts happening around the world and promote peace.

Governance structure

According to the 11-page charter, comprising eight chapters and 13 articles, the governance framework consists of three tiers, including the Board of Peace, the executive board, and chairman.

At the top tier sits the “founding executive council.” BoP is responsible for voting on budget, policy and senior appointments.

An executive board equipped with seven members will implement the mission.

Members of board are former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Trump will chair the board who can veto decisions and remove members.

After the founding council comes the “Gaza executive board” which will be tasked with regional cooperation and effective governance in Gaza. The representatives would be Arab countries.

At the bottom of the governance hierarchy lies the "national committee for the administration of Gaza” led by Ali Shaath, a former Palestinian Authority deputy minister.

Mandate of Board

The UN Security Council approved a new group called the Board of Peace. This group was created to help manage and rebuild Gaza, but its mission currently has some specific limits and rules.

Being a transitional administration, BoP will “set the framework, and coordinate funding for the redevelopment of Gaza under Trump's peace plan.”

The UN body also gave power to BoP to deploy a temporary International Stabilization Force in Gaza.

For accountability and transparency, the board will report to the 15-member Security Council after every 6 months.

List of Member states who joined Board of Peace

According to senior White House officials, about 35 world leaders have shown commitment to join the Board of Peace out of 50 invitations.

The list includes Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Hungary, Morocco, Indonesia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Paraguay, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Belarus.

China and Russia were also invited but they have not yet accepted the invitation.

Member states would be allowed to join the board, but their tenure would be limited to three-years unless they pay $1 billion each to fund the board’s activities and earn permanent membership status, according to the charter.

Countries who refused invitation

The countries including Sweden, Norway, France, Denmark, and Slovenia have refused to join BoP.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has said that the UK will not yet be signing up to the Board of Peace over concerns about Russian leader Vladimir Putin's possible participation.

Board of Peace: Rival to the UN?

For years, Trump has been vocal about the UN, calling it "ineffective" in resolving disputes.

However, Trump has downplayed these fears that the BoP could replace the UN. He stated, “I believe you got to let the U.N. continue because the potential is so great.”

On the sideline of WEF, Trump said that the BoP would “work with many others, including the United Nations.”