UN deputy chief asks stakeholders to consider assessed contribution for peacebuilding

The United Nations Peacebuilding Fund is “something positive which works, in a troubled, turbulent and turmoil-driven world,” Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said today, while asking its stakeholders to consider devoting a small amount of assessed contributions for peacebuilding purposes.

“We need a mechanism to provide predictable, core support for peacebuilding,” Mr. Eliasson said in remarks to the Annual Peacebuilding Fund Stakeholders Meeting at UN Headquarters. “Isn’t it time to consider devoting a small amount of assessed contributions for peacebuilding purposes? Wouldn’t this remind us all that we need to invest in longer-term peace stabilization?”

Following a request from the General Assembly and the Security Council, the Secretary-General established the Fund for post-conflict peacebuilding initiatives in October 2006, as an essential component for a more sustained engagement in support of countries emerging from conflict.

Mr. Eliasson said the Secretary-General’s Advisory Group had endorsed an annual programming target of $100 million per year, and for its part, the Peacebuilding Fund is now achieving this target.

“However – and this is serious – we are not raising $100 million per year. And we have used up the reserves from the initial contributions of donors,” he said, adding that “it is short-sighted to not also be investing in conflict prevention and post-conflict programmes.”

Citing examples and describing the work of the Fund, the deputy UN chief said it was “a particular pleasure” to address the meeting because it provided him a chance to talk about “something positive which works, in a troubled, turbulent and turmoil-driven world.”

“Post-conflict countries face simultaneous challenges on nearly every front: economic, social, cultural and political,” he said. “Their leaders do not have the luxury of time. They need to create economic opportunities, to invest in their youth and to unleash the creative social and economic power of their women. They need to set up working governance systems. And they need to do all this under great pressures and expectations, taking advantage of critical windows to consolidate peace.”

But Mr. Eliasson also drew attention to the need to focus more on women’s empowerment.

“The Secretary-General has established a target that 15 per cent of all UN peacebuilding resources should focus on the empowerment of women,” he said. “I regret to say that the Peacebuilding Fund is still failing to meet this figure.”

He cited an example by the Fund, which approved a project earlier this year that will facilitate the networking and capacity-building of women’s organizations engaging in political life in Somalia.

Mr. Eliasson concluded by saying that “we have developed an instrument, built on guidelines from the General Assembly, which emphasizes speed, flexibility, national ownership and risk-tolerance.”

“This work is now delivering results,” he said. “Now is also the time, I suggest, to renew and expand that support.”