In the series of the NDCs, each Conference has been a product of its time, and this year is no exception: we are living in increasingly volatile and unpredictable times. The number of armed conflicts in the world is at its highest level since the Second World War. Great power competition is intensifying, and the security policy environment continues to change drastically. We are seeing significant retrenchment of human rights, and gender equality is threatened by anti-gender activities. 

In recent years, the concept of polycrisis has gained ground, referring to a situation where multiple disparate crises interact and influence each other in such a way that the overall impact far exceeds the sum of the parts. While some of the crises, e.g., coups, pandemics and wars, develop in the short to medium term, others, e.g., climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation, affect our ecological, social, political and economic systems, creeping into prominence over years and decades. 

These multiple crises have a major impact on the fundaments of global peace and security. Consequently, those working on mediation, dialogue, and peacebuilding need to adjust to the crises’ different temporalities and find ways to address and act on multiple timescales at the same time. Concerningly, while several interconnected and overlapping forces negatively affect the ability to transform conflict through dialogue, the traditional multilateral architectures designed to manage and restrain conflicts struggle to cope. While new alliances and spheres of influence emerge, there is a growing feeling of double standards. Inequalities and injustices, within and among nations, are giving rise to new grievances. Coupled with the decline in global cooperation and security, peace and dialogue processes are facing great uncertainty.