EFTA02009895.pdf

IPI INTERNATIONAL PEACE INST tint Vienna, December 16, 2011 H.E. Mr. Erkki Tuomioja irs of Finland Finland Excellency, Finland has been for many years a major donor and partner of the International Peace Institute (IPI), and I am extremely grateful for your support and cooperation. As the Institute expands its activities, I would like to invite Finland to join IPI in a new phase of its development and to participate in the creation of an innovative, closer relationship between IPI and its government donors. In operation for more than 40 years as a New York—based independent nongovernmental organization, IPI has, thanks to the support of its donors and partners, become the leading think tank on issues related to the United Nations. Originally focused on the training of UN peacekeepers, the Institute has progressively developed a broader agenda and is today devoted to research and the facilitation of dialogue on peace and security issues. It is now proposed to establish the International Peace Institute as an international organization. The purpose of the new organization would be to promote the prevention and settlement of conflicts between and within states and to strengthen international peace and security. To achieve its purpose, the organization would employ a mix of policy research, convening, publishing, training, and outreach. I have the honor of inviting Finland to become a founding member of this new international organization, which would be based on a multilateral agreement and would take the name International Peace Institute. It would be headquartered in Vienna, where IPI opened an office in 2010. The establishment of IPI as an international organization would offer significant advantages to the Institute and to its government donors: EFTA_R1_00510980 EFTA02009895  The new status would give government donors a greater voice in the governance of the Institute while preserving the principles of academic independence and freedom for its research and convening activities. It would facilitate funding of the Institute by making IPI eligible for voluntary contributions from member states appropriated for international organizations. Moreover, as an international organization the Institute would become fully eligible for funding from multilateral donors. The Institute would be granted privileges and immunities by the Austrian government, as the host country thereby significantly reducing its operating costs in Austria. IPI as an international organization could apply for observer status in the United Nations General Assembly. This would raise the profile of the Institute in the UN and enable its greater participation in UN activities, which would in turn facilitate its research efforts. The new status could also be expected to increase the audience for IPI's research, by broadening the Institute's identity beyond that of a U.S.-based NGO. The work of the new international organization would also be supported by the existing New York—based nongovernmental organization, which would retain its current legal and institutional status and with which the new organization would enter a cooperative agreement. Please find attached, for your consideration, a memo on the architecture of this new organization and a draft agreement for the establishment of the International Peace Institute as an international organization. This draft has been prepared jointly by IPI and the Legal Office of the Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of Austria. IPI proposes to explore with Finland and with several other donor governments their interest in becoming founding members of this new organization. Following these informal contacts between IPI and its close partners, the government of Austria would then organize formal consultations with interested countries to pursue the establishment of the International Peace Institute as an international organization on the basis of the attached draft. I am very grateful for your consideration of this matter, and I would be pleased to provide you with any additional information deemed useful. Sincerely, Tede Red-Larsen Encl. Description of the new international organization Draft Agreement EFTA_Ri_00510981 EFTA02009896