Successful transitions are vital; providing the means to secure the gains achieved through UN missions. A carefully managed transition process is one of the best ways to guard against backslide and to ensure the continuity of essential peacebuilding and conflict prevention efforts. As part of this, it will be important to build and reinforce the essential foundations for economic stability, and to maintain financing for peace programming post-withdrawal. Therefore, the overall objective of this research was to address the systemic challenges of financing UN Mission transitions, by outlining opportunities to ensure that:

• the potentially negative economic impacts and disruptions of UN Mission transitions are mitigated;
• financing for peacebuilding programmes is sustained post mission withdrawal; and
• domestic economic growth is sustained and supported where possible.

This paper combines global trends and research on peace operation transitions with findings from case studies in DRC (initial stages of MONUSCO transition), Haiti (handover from MINUJUSH to BINUH), Liberia (following UNMIL’s withdrawal) and Sudan (transition of UNAMID). The paper focuses on opportunities that the international community could integrate into programming, co-ordination and financing. Accordingly, the paper is structured around the three phases of transition – ongoing UN missions, the transition, and sustaining capacity and economic stability post-withdrawal.