Hand in Hand: Putting the Peacebuilding and Human Rights Nexus at the Heart of Canadian Foreign Policy

This final chapter concludes that the extent to which the nexus between peacebuilding and human rights has played a significant role in Canadian foreign policy has been inconsistent over the years. The current situation in Israel/Palestine and, in particular, the crisis in Gaza, serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of the failure to focus on peacebuilding or human rights, let alone prioritizing their nexus, in advancing solutions to a situation of widespread human rights violations, humanitarian suffering and deeply entrenched violence and armed conflict. The chapter distills a number of common themes that emerge from the examination of the nexus throughout the book’s chapters. Key lessons that are highlighted include the need to prioritize peace and human rights, expressly embrace the nexus between peacebuilding and human rights, lift up the role of individuals, respect and support civil society, put equality and intersectionality at the core of the nexus, and draw connections between home and abroad. Ultimately the chapter and the book conclude with a call for the Canadian government to develop an Integrated Peacebuilding and Human Rights Framework to guide the country’s foreign policy. Doing so would be a meaningful contribution to enumerating and putting in practice what is perhaps the ultimate manifestation of the peacebuilding and human rights nexus, the elaboration and endorsement of a human right to peace.