US President Donald Trump has formally rolled out the "Board of Peace" with himself as chairman of the new international body that he said could eventually rival the United Nations — despite many US allies opting not to participate.
World leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, for the signing ceremony of the "Board of Peace", an event held on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
Trump delivered a speech before he announced and signed the charter of the board during the ceremony.
The initiative, initially conceived as a mechanism to oversee the Gaza ceasefire and post-genocide reconstruction, has since expanded into a broader international conflict-mediation body, with dozens of countries invited to join.
Among the countries that have accepted the invitation are Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, and Egypt, Israel as well as Hungary.
Other participating states include Morocco, Indonesia, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus.
Last week, the White House announced the formation of the Board of Peace, alongside the approval of a National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, one of the four bodies designated to manage the transitional phase in the enclave.
The creation of the board coincided with the launch of phase two of a ceasefire agreement, which halted Israel’s genocide in Gaza that has killed more than 71,000 Palestinians and wounded over 171,000 others since October 2023.
Analysts suggest the actual death toll may be higher, given that Israel has flattened much of Gaza's infrastructure and continues to occupy nearly half of the besieged territory.
Board can help solve other conflicts
The peace board is expected to operate as an international peace-building organisation, with a mandate that extends beyond Gaza.
"This isn’t the United States, this is for the world," Trump said, adding, "I think we can spread it out to other things as we succeed in Gaza."
Trump hailed the board as "something very, very unique for the world."
Speaking at a ceremony to sign the board’s charter, Trump said it could work with the United Nations to resolve wars not only in the Middle East but elsewhere too.
But he did not provide specifics about how the board would cooperate with the UN.
The event also featured Ali Shaath, the head of a new, future technocratic government in Gaza, announcing that the Rafah border crossing will open in both directions next week.
The Gaza side of the crossing, which runs between Gaza and Egypt, is currently under Israeli military occupation.
Shaath, an engineer and former Palestinian Authority official from Gaza, is overseeing the Palestinian committee set to govern the territory under US supervision.
The White House billed the ceremony as a sort of charter launch, but no charter draft has been publicly released. Nor is a complete membership list clear yet.
Some invitees are still considering whether to join.
Kosovo shares details on how board could work
The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised the Board of Peace as "a group of leaders that is about action" and credited Trump for bringing it together.
"He’s not limited by some of the things that have happened in the past, and he’s willing to talk to or engage with anyone in the interest of peace," Rubio said.
Rubio stressed the body’s job "first and foremost" is "making sure that this peace deal in Gaza becomes enduring."
Then, Rubio said, it can look elsewhere.
"Many others who are going to join, you know, others either are not in town today or they have to go through some procedure internally in their own countries, in their own country, because of constitutional limitations, but others will join," Rubio added.
Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani, whose small Balkan country has signed on to the board, said decisions will be taken by a majority of members.
Still, Trump is the "founder and chairman of the board," Osmani said, and "there are more powers in the hands of the United States of America."
She did not elaborate.
Osmani spoke to reporters after emerging from the signing ceremony, lamenting how the decision-making at the United Nations has a "very complex decision-making procedure."
She alluded to the right of all five permanent members of the Security Council to veto any decision.
"Is it better to be in an international organisation where Russia has the right of veto and causes wars that they never want to stop by using the rights of veto?" said Osmani.
"Or to be in an international organisation where Russia doesn’t have the right to veto and where we can trust established leadership, which is American leadership, when it comes to making peace in the world?"
