NEW YORK, APRIL 27 – Addressing a High Level meeting of the UN Peacebuilding Commission, Italy confirmed its support to the multidimensional approach to prevent conflicts and to its policy of investing in peace and security. “Italy is committed, also through its candidacy to the Peacebuilding Commission, to ensuring adequate, stable and predictable funding for peacebuilding”, the Italian Permanent Representative to the Un in New York, Ambassador Maurizio Massari, said.
“Keeping the peace has become more important but also more complex in a world of proliferating conflicts, that are becoming more “intertwined”, the UN’s policy chief Volker Türk told the high-level meeting of the General Assembly spotlighting financing for peacebuilding on Wednesday.
Türk laid out the “multiple, compounding risks” which are stacking up – from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to climate change, to the threats posed by emerging technologies. “The number of violent conflicts is at the highest level since 1945 with terrible human consequences, seen in record levels of forced displacement and global humanitarian needs. Peacebuilding is the responsibility of the entire UN system – as was recognized in the landmark 2015 resolutions on the peacebuilding architecture”, he told participants.
“Member States decided that this meeting would produce ‘action-oriented outcomes’. We really count on you to meet that objective & lay the foundation for financing that is adequate, predictable and sustainable”, he added.
The Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) is an intergovernmental advisory body that supports peace efforts in conflict-affected countries and is a key addition to the capacity of the International Community in the broad peace agenda. The PBC is composed of 31 Member States, elected from the General Assembly, the Security Council, and the Economic and Social Council. The top financial contributing countries and the top troop-contributing countries to the United Nations system are also members.
Since 2018, the Secretary-General’s reports have presented many and various options for increasing, restructuring and better prioritizing funding dedicated to the UN’s peacebuilding activities, and “some progress” has been made, Türk stressed. Voluntary contributions to the Fund have increased, allowing it to invest $195 million in 2021. “But, progress is insufficient”, he warned. Allocation targets have been cut for the past three years because of a lack of funding, and the UN is significantly short of the “quantum leap” needed, to $500 million per year.
The Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission, Rabab Fatima, said that the body elected by the General Assembly to aid conflict-affected nations, recognized that “adequate, predictable and sustained financing remains a critical challenge”. Ms. Fatima, who is also Bangladeshi Ambassador to the UN, said the PBC was concerned about the fact that financial flows to conflict-affected countries “have been severely stressed”, particularly in terms of Official Development Assistance devoted to peacebuilding.
“The challenge is particularly acute for countries in transitions”, she said, amidst COVID-19 and public spending constraints. She called for more work to be done in support of the women, peace and security agenda, the youth, peace and security agenda, and stressed the importance of “good peacebuilding financing”, which should include stronger partnerships with regional and sub-regional organizations, together with international financial institutions. (@OnuItalia)
