UN deputy chief urges ramped-up support for global peacebuilding efforts

The international community must boost material and financial support for peacebuilding initiatives in order to better help countries emerging from conflict build a sustainable and peaceful future, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said today.

Addressing the opening of the Second Annual Session of the Peacebuilding Commission at UN Headquarters in New York, the Deputy Secretary-General emphasized the role of peacebuilding at “the core of UN activities in conflict-affected countries” but warned that financing efforts for peacebuilding still remained woefully insufficient.

“We do not know exactly how large the financing gap for peacebuilding is, since there are no global estimates of peacebuilding needs. But there are clear indications that allocations to peacebuilding and to institution-building – which is closely related – in conflict-affected countries are grossly inadequate,” Mr. Eliasson confirmed.

The UN deputy head told those gathered that in a group of 31 conflict-affected countries, critical institution-building in the political, security and justice areas received less than 10 per cent of official development assistance (ODA) during the period 2002-2013. For the six countries on the agenda of the Peacebuilding Commission Burundi (Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and Central African Republic), only 7 per cent of ODA was allocated to these areas.

“This shortfall affects our ability to build and consolidate peace with short term and targeted support to national processes and plans,” he continued.

In addition to the funding shortfalls, Mr. Eliasson pointed out that existing funding mechanisms among donors remained “fragmented” as development, security, human rights and humanitarian activities are often funded from different budgets with separate decision-making processes.

On the recipient side, the funding mechanisms remain equally scattered across separate funds and “a multitude of plans and strategies on the part of governments, the UN system and other actors on the ground” which, he added, “do not contribute to coherence and a clear focus.”

One option to countering such a piecemeal approach would be to enhance the UN Peacebuilding Fund, Mr. Eliasson said, citing the global pooled fund which had already played “a positive role in breaking down the silos” among UN missions and country teams in areas such as the Central African Republic.

However, compounding the problem related to fragmentation, the Deputy Secretary-General also noted the lack of robust tax and rule of law institutions in many countries emerging from conflict, cautioning that this only added to the burden facing an effective mobilization of domestic resources.

He suggested that this alone made the need for early and sustained investment in capacity building by the international community “even more critical.”

“We need to make sure that the Peacebuilding Fund is placed on a solid footing,” Mr. Eliasson concluded. “The Fund has a valuable role to play as a global pooled fund that brings together the political, security and development aspects of peacebuilding.”

For the President of the General Assembly, Sam K. Kutesa, the Peacebuilding Fund also remains an important component for supporting peacebuilding activities, which directly contribute to post-conflict stabilization and strengthening the capacity of governments and institutions at national level.

Reflecting on the theme of predictable financing from the point of view of the policy-making role of the General Assembly, he reminded the Commission that the international community is working toward the formulation of an “ambitious and transformative post-2015 development agenda.”

“The proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), whose core objective is to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development in its social, economic and environmental dimensions, holds great promise for addressing the challenges faced by countries in post-conflict situations,” he added.

It is therefore critical to ensure that adequate resources are mobilized for implementation of the new development agenda, M. Kutesa stressed. “These major engagements will not only seek to address some of the most pressing challenges facing humanity, but will also contribute to finding solutions for the silos and the fragmentation we see in the field of peacebuilding.”