A/72/PV.85 General Assembly

Before we proceed, I would like to appeal to all speakers to make their interventions brief and concise in order to make maximum use of the limited time we have for this high-level meeting. To enable everyone on the list of speakers to be heard, statements in plenary meetings should be limited to three minutes when speaking in a national capacity and to five minutes when speaking on behalf of a group. As members will recall, in its resolution 71/323, of 8 September 2017, the General Assembly called for strict adherence by each speaker to the time limits in the Assembly, in particular during high-level meetings. Participants with longer statements are encouraged to read out a shorter version of their texts and to submit their full statements to the Secretariat for posting on the PaperSmart portal. Also in accordance with resolution 71/323, the “all protocol observed” principle is recommended, whereby participants are encouraged to refrain from the listing of standard protocol expressions during their statements. Bearing in mind the time limit, I would like to appeal to speakers to deliver their statements at a reasonable pace so that interpretation into the six official United Nations languages may be provided properly. I appeal for the cooperation of all speakers in observing the time limits for statements so that all those inscribed on the list of speakers may be heard in a timely manner.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the members of the Human Security Network, a cross-regional network composed of Austria, Chile, Costa Rica, Greece, Ireland, Jordan, Mali, Norway, Slovenia, Switzerland, Thailand, South Africa, as an observer, and my own country, Panama. The Human Security Network is an informal group of States that promotes the integration of the human- security approach into policies and programmes at the regional, national and international levels. On behalf of the members of the Network, I would like to express our appreciation to the President of the General Assembly at its seventy-second session for convening this high-level meeting on peacebuilding and sustaining peace to take stock of efforts undertaken and opportunities to strengthen the work of the United Nations on conflict prevention and sustaining peace. We also welcome the report of the Secretary-General (A/72/707) and its bold proposals to enhance the coherence of international engagement in support of country-led efforts to build peaceful and resilient societies. The Network advocates the concept of human security, which calls for a people-centred, comprehensive, context-specific and prevention-oriented approach to multidimensional challenges relating to peace and security, development and human rights. We believe the human security approach is a valuable tool for creating synergies among the pillars of the United Nations system, thereby driving a more integrated, strategic and coherent response across the United Nations system towards sustaining peace and sustainable development. Human security has been at the core of two major shifts in the United Nations system — sustaining peace and sustainable development. The focus on people is crucial to the realization of those priorities. We therefore welcome the report’s emphasis on people-centred approaches and the focus on prevention, addressing the root causes of crises and inclusive national ownership that accounts for the needs of marginalized segments of the population, including women and youth. While we are encouraged by the discussions on prevention and sustaining peace, the Network remains concerned about the unacceptable levels of human suffering that are the result of the surge in violent conflicts in recent years. We note that the violence has become increasingly complex and intractable, affecting populations within countries as well as spilling across borders. The Network is engaging a broader range of actors and creating new dynamics that have significant implications for how we prevent violent conflict and build sustainable peace. In that context, we believe the human security approach can be particularly useful in supporting Governments and the United Nations system in the design and implementation of policies and strategies that address the root causes of conflict, promote social integration and harmony, combat poverty and inequality and build more secure and sustainable environments, based on the participation and engagement of all sectors of society. Emphasis should be placed on ensuring inclusion. We need greater recognition and support of women’s full and effective participation in all stages of the conflict resolution and post-conflict reconciliation processes. Similarly, we must harness the energy and ideas of youth to bolster prevention efforts and to craft lasting peace that provides opportunities for all. A prevention-oriented approach that includes the strong promotion and protection of human rights is fundamental to addressing the underlying causes of threats that endanger prospects for peace, stability and development. We must also be guided by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its emphasis on building peaceful, just and inclusive societies that provide equal access to justice and are based on respect for human rights, effective rule of law and good governance at all levels and on transparent, effective and accountable institutions. We continue to believe that all individuals and communities are entitled to freedom from fear and freedom from want, with an equal opportunity to enjoy all their rights and fully develop their human potential. We must make sure that the pledge the international community made to leave no one behind is fully implemented. Only in that manner will we be able to prevent conflict and sustain peace. We call for greater application of the human security approach to advance inclusive prevention and peacebuilding efforts.

I now give the floor to His Excellency Mr. Jonas Bering Liisberg, State Secretary for Foreign Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.

Denmark welcomes the convening of this high-level meeting of the General Assembly. We are gathered here at a critical juncture in the history of the United Nations, where we must advance key reforms of the Organization to make it more effective in dealing with today’s ever more complex threats and challenges to international peace and security, and where divisions and lack of trust among Member States hamper the ability of the United Nations to prevent conflict, stop atrocities, hold the perpetrators accountable and stabilize crisis-affected countries and regions. At stake is the legitimacy and credibility of the United Nations, and this high-level meeting is an important opportunity to come together and reinforce our shared commitment. The Government of Denmark will remain a strong partner of the United Nations. Fortunately, what we have seen today and yesterday is strong testimony to the support of the Member States to the United Nations and to advancing a durable and concerted effort to build and sustain peace. It also attests to our collective and fundamental concern about the deteriorating global security situation. We hear a strong call from across the membership to reinvigorate and reform our multilateral rules-based order. The sustaining peace concept provides a valuable framework for work on all three pillars of the United Nations system  — peace and security, development and human rights. Translating it into action will require bold efforts, from the Secretary-General to the Security Council to the full spectrum of United Nations instruments and agencies. Denmark strongly supports the reform vision of the Secretary-General. The status quo is not acceptable if the United Nations is to remain relevant in the maintenance of international peace and security. We welcome the Secretary-General’s report on peacebuilding and sustaining peace (A/72/707). We appreciate its sharp focus on the role of women and youth. We look forward to discussing its many constructive suggestions with other Member States, in particular on the way forward for reliable and stable financing of peacebuilding work. We call on all Member States to invest more in our common multilateral framework for peace and security. Denmark has been a long-standing supporter of United Nations efforts to prevent conflict and sustain peace, including through the Peacebuilding Fund, the Department of Political Affairs and peacekeeping missions. Furthermore, a central focus of Denmark’s development and humanitarian strategy is promoting stability and supporting the most vulnerable in fragile situations, working through the key United Nations agencies on the ground, with a strong emphasis on forging a stronger development, humanitarian and peace efforts nexus. Human rights must remain at the core of our efforts towards preventing conflict and sustaining peace. Likewise, the violation of human rights often serves as an early-warning indicator of potential conflict. Denmark welcomes statements by the High Commissioner for Human Rights in which he calls for an extended and early focus on violations of human rights. As the High Commissioner so rightfully stated in February at the Human Rights Council, “After all, the first tear in the fabric of peace often begins with a separation of the first few fibres”. Let me conclude by stressing that we will not succeed in sustaining peace without a sharp focus on human rights and the core values on which thr Organization is built. An essential cause of violence and extremism is a feeling of being left out and excluded from political processes and from economic life, a violation of human rights. In his latest address to the Human Rights Council, the Secretary-General correctly pointed out that perhaps the best prevention tool we have is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is crucial that the Secretariat continue to put human rights up front, and the protection of human rights in general at the heart of its prevention and peacebuilding efforts. As a candidate for membership of the Human Rights Council for the period 2019-2012, Denmark will continue to push for a sharp focus on human rights in the United Nations work on the maintenance of international peace and security. Let us advance this common agenda together.

I now give the floor to Her Excellency Ms. Anne Sipiläinen, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Security Policy of Finland.

The delegation of Finland aligns itself with the statement delivered yesterday on behalf of the European Union (see A/72/PV.83). Sustaining peace is a core task of the United Nations. There should be no hesitation to mobilize the whole United Nations system to accomplish this robust task, with the backing of the United Nations membership. In 2016, we all endorsed the review of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture to set the premises for sustaining peace. Now, two years later, we are able to make a reassessment of the achievements so far. Sustaining peace flows through all three pillars of the United Nations. A comprehensive approach to sustaining peace is within the unique mandate of the United Nations, reinforced by our common determination to promote peaceful and inclusive societies. We must ensure that the United Nations has the necessary tools to tackle the different phases of conflict. Finland fully supports the efforts of the Secretary- General to make the United Nations more adapted to respond in a more integrated way to what often are complex conflict situations. The broad concept of sustaining peace is therefore a guiding framework to overcome the silos. In their work, many parts of the United Nations system are already placing emphasis on better addressing crisis and conflict circumstances and on integrating a preventive approach. More joint efforts are called for in the field. The importance of human rights in that context is often overlooked. We wish to stress that the international human rights framework provides a critical foundation for sustaining peace. The prospects for durable peace, sustainable development and prosperous societies are better if we all pay attention to the inclusion of the whole society. The inclusive approach to peacebuilding is necessary for the achievement of permanent results, and sustaining peace requires the involvement of all actors from various parts of society. That means youth, women and civil society. We need to mainstream the gender perspective in all pillars and to strengthen the protection of women and girls. Finland just launched its third national action plan on women and peace and security, which incorporates new aspects of human security related to migration and refugee situations, arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation, as well as violent extremism. The action plan reasserts once again that more inclusive processes contribute to more sustainable peace. Conflict prevention and strengthening the role of mediation in the peaceful settlement of disputes is a cost-effective and life-saving tool for the United Nations. Finland believes that political solutions, mediation and dialogue should be at the forefront of the United Nations work. Strengthening the role of mediation has been one of Finland’s key priorities at the United Nations. Without sustainable peace there is no sustainable development. If a conflict escalates, human suffering is enormous. The costs of rebuilding a society are high. As the joint United Nations-World Bank study entitled Pathways for Peace has shown, prevention is cost- effective and pays off. Investing in inclusive prevention, with a people-centred approach, saves lives. Finland hopes to strengthen the United Nations through all its pillars — peace and security, development and human rights  — to enable a better response in preventing violent conflicts. We know from our own history that healing, reconciliation and peacebuilding take time. Lastly, I wish to thank the President of the General Assembly and the Secretary-General for this opportunity to discuss how we can sustain peace and prevent conflict in the future. This meeting helps us move a step further in the search for common ground, understanding and mutual respect. The United Nations is our common platform to share experiences, learn from the past and invigorate the efforts required for sustainable peace.

I take the floor on behalf of the Group of Friends of Sustaining Peace, an informal cross-regional group that brings together 40 Member States focused on deepening the dialogue and implementation of sustaining peace as a goal and a process. We express our appreciation to the Secretary- General and to the President of the General Assembly for their commitment to peacebuilding and sustaining peace and for their continued support for deeper engagement with Member States on this issue. The Group of Friends came together following the adoption of the twin General Assembly and Security Council resolutions (resolution 70/262 and Security Council resolution 2282 (2016)). We have come a long way in the past two years in pursuit of a more inclusive and integrated approach to sustaining peace and addressing the root causes of conflict, instead of just responding to crises. Our Group expects that the concept of sustaining peace will continue to be implemented by Member States according to national ownership, priorities and strategies, as well as by the United Nations system, coherently across the three pillars. We recognize that more has to be done to improve the coherence of the system, the conflict-prevention capacities, the field focus of the Organization, its use of partnerships and achieving sustainable funding. The adoption of the new draft procedural resolution on peacebuilding and sustaining peace (A/72/L.49) will be a reflection of the commitment of Member States. We look forward to keeping the momentum going and to the mandated reports that the Secretary-General will present to Member States in order to take stock of, and further build upon, the implementation efforts of Member States and the United Nations system in peacebuilding and sustaining peace in support of the next review of the peacebuilding architecture, in 2030.

For Liberia, the issues of sustaining peace and preventing conflict present more than an opportunity to debate. They allow us to summarize the present-day challenges with which our post-conflict nation is faced. For us, this is not a subject in abstraction; it is our reality. We therefore join others in commending both the President of the General Assembly and the Secretary-General on this important undertaking, and feel compelled to use the time afforded us to both lament the growing concerns we feel over the escalating levels and difficulties of conflicts around the world today and acknowledge the duty we must share to address them. We are increasingly becoming witnesses to the harsh truth of the way we live together in our world — indeed, the truth that conflict anywhere threatens us everywhere. That truth ought to remind us of the common-sense duty to support each other in preventing conflict, as opposed to managing the present-day human tragedies and economic losses that are certain to result therefrom and destined to affect all of us. This is a common-sense duty because conflict is costly, financially and emotionally, not just for the affected country that is a member of our world family, but for all of us. As if we needed further proof, the recent World Bank estimates of $5 billion and $70 billion of savings to an affected country and the international community at large by preventing conflict should be incentive enough to draw upon our collective ingenuity and resources to meaningfully invest in conflict prevention and alleviating human suffering and socioeconomic exclusion — the prime drivers of conflict. We welcome the Secretary-General’s call to scale up investment in conflict prevention. We thank him for his commitment to supporting Member States in their efforts to sustain peace and build resilient, prosperous and inclusive societies. In the same vein, my delegation lends our endorsement to his vision of strengthening the capacity of the Peacebuilding Support Office through the restructuring of the peace and security pillar, as well as enhancing the capacity of the peacebuilding mechanisms for conflict prevention and peacebuilding. The harsh truth, however, is that we are seeing a serious diminution of commitment to funding these needed important intervention tools, which have the flexibility to make immediate and profound impacts on the ground where it actually matters. Common sense tells us that peacebuilding is a more enduring and safer way to peacekeeping. No doubt, each Member State must continue to strive to address the drivers of conflict through its development plans, thereby creating inclusive policies designed to leave no one behind. But we in Liberia are increasingly coming to terms with the fact that for a post-conflict society struggling to consolidate its cherished peace, development plans and inclusive policies must necessarily be supported by the resources needed to yield a continuous flow of results. We therefore agree on the need to increase support to the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund by Member States and development partners. However, that ought not excuse the commitments of partners to the overall development support of the affected Member State, or the unlocking of private capital in development efforts. In that context, all sectors of society, regional bodies and the international community must be joined in one coordinated and mutually accountable effort led by the host country and supported by all to build and sustain peace. In Liberia and many other conflict-affected countries, we have seen the resilience of ordinary people stretched to the breaking point, and yet we have endured. Imagine if we could catalyse such resilience into preventing conflicts. Imagine if we truly dedicated ourselves to the common sense of enabling people to dream and actually realize their chance at a better life. Imagine investing in roads and energy, hospitals and schools, rather than bullets and tanks. Rather than investing in how different we are, we could inspire investments in tolerance, into how, despite our superficial differences in race, religion, tribe and creed, deep inside we all yearn to be free, to live in peace and to wish the best for ourselves and our families. Imagine how we can use science and technology — yes, to spy on each other — but also to enrich lives and to improve learning and services in clinics and hospitals. Imagine we could actually leave a better world to our children than the one we inherited. By seeking to prevent conflict and sustain peace, we do not delude ourselves. Although this sense may not seem common today, lest we forget, so too have many collective endeavours that have shifted the course of human history not seemed so common in sense. It is no doubt a longer and even more challenging path, but it is a better road for all humankind. This is the road on which Liberia is determined to tread. We continue to stabilize the political architecture of our country with increased commitments to democratic governance. And although we are challenged by the lack of resources, we are determined to accountably invest in the infrastructure by which all of our people will reap the dividend of peace and have their lives bettered: roads, power, health and education, as well as the empowerment of young people and women. We count on continued partnership with the international community in that regard. Finally, we commend the United Nations and our development partners for agreeing to take this journey to sustaining our peace and preventing conflicts with us. Liberians are confident that our national development agenda  — the pro-poor agenda  — along with the Peacebuilding Plan for Liberia and the Multi-Partner Trust Fund, will be enduring frameworks not only for our ongoing partnerships, but also for realizing our shared commitment to continuing to build a more peaceful and inclusive society. For Liberia, this is common sense.

I would like to thank the President of the General Assembly, Mr. Lajčák, for holding this important high-level meeting on peacebuilding and sustaining peace. This meeting is timely and crucial because the stakes have never been higher  — and the danger to peace never greater — than today. Secretary-General Guterres delivered the most alarming warning two weeks ago whe he talked about chaos in the Middle East, which, as he said, has become a threat to peace and security (see S/PV.8231). In this volatile world one might ask what can be done to sustain peace when all the roads to peace are blocked. The answer is to go back to basics, to commit ourselves to the principles of the United Nations set forth in its Charter, which defines the Organization’s mission as “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”. One of the most courageous leaders of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjöld, put it simply: the United Nations “was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell”. The United Nations has expressed its will and acted to sustain peace over the past few years through a process of commitment and reform. But to save humanity from hell, what is needed today is peacemakers. The disrupters are many and loud, while the peacemakers are few and timid. Each one of us needs to act for peace, to be bold and loud and to flood every space available, especially cyberspace, with this message and drown out the message of hatred, oppression and incitement. What more can be done to sustain peace? Lebanon supports the Secretary-General’s vision and agrees with his call to renew the focus on conflict prevention and the role of peace operations and peacekeeping missions in preventing conflicts. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon in south Lebanon is a good example of that vision, and we are grateful to the mission. But peacekeeping is not an alternative to peace. There is a need to address the root causes of conflicts, especially ending occupation, hegemony, inequality and exclusion, and strengthening the rule of law. The Lebanese Government is committed to sustaining peace. It works on many fronts to make this concept a reality. The Lebanese Government very recently adopted a national strategy for preventing violent extremism. The Government has introduced economic plans to create jobs for young people and give them hope for the future. Education is another area in which the Lebanese State believes it is important to invest; it is an investment in sustaining peace because education will help new generations to be better equipped to join the job market, but also to believe in peace. Sustaining peace is also about promoting a culture of peace. I am proud to note that Lebanon learned lessons from its many painful experiences of war, but the most important lesson is the power of dialogue. Lebanon is a living model for constructive dialogue among the various religions and cultures. The late Pope John Paul II described Lebanon as a message. It is against that backdrop that our President, General Michel Aoun, proposed before the General Assembly last September that Lebanon become a permanent centre for dialogue among civilizations and religions, under the umbrella of the United Nations (see A/72/PV.11). We are ready to cooperate with the General Assembly on this issue to make this vision a reality. In conclusion, I offer the words of former American President John F. Kennedy, when he talked about peace. He said, “I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children ... not merely peace in our time but peace for all time”. Was this young President a dreamer? If so, maybe we all are dreamers too, as John Lennon said. But I hope that someday the whole world will join us and be as one in peace.

Sustaining peace requires collective concerted efforts by the international community through the United Nations aimed at stepping up coordination and entrenching the principle of peace by building partnerships to achieve the shared goals of development, peace, stability and prosperity. More important, efforts must be made towards preventive diplomacy. It is important for conflicts not to break out in the first place, which may be done by resolving the root causes of crises. We emphasize the importance of United Nations efforts in that regard, including specifically mediation and development efforts, undertaken so as not to neglect certain issues, exclude anybody or leave anyone behind. We believe that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is an objective in and of itself. It must not have preconditions attached. We uphold a country’s accountability and should respect national ownership and give due consideration to the priorities of countries, especially those afflicted by conflict. It is also important to stress the link between peace, security and development. In that regard, we wish to welcome the report (A/72/707) of the Secretary-General calling upon United Nations officials on the ground to analyse the situation and risks and translate that analysis into specific measures so as to strengthen the sustaining of peace agenda and conflict prevention. We stress the importance of ensuring the participation of national leadership in all aspects of risk assessment by country teams, which should of course take into account the specific features of the society under consideration. We are living in an era that is very different from previous ones. The pace of change is swift. The United Nations needs to keep up with the pace of those changes by adopting innovative solutions that can enable us to tackle the challenges of our era. In that context, we wish to pay tribute to the use of preventive diplomacy and its tools. We stress the importance of using them with all good intentions and not to exploit them to interfere in the internal affairs of other States. We emphasize that preventive measures must be multilateral and strictly adhere to the norms of domestic political agendas. It is incumbent upon us to implement them fully, in line with international law and while taking into account a country’s priorities and national sovereignty. The question of command and control at the United Nations level is of great importance. The Secretary- General mentioned that when he voiced the desire to boost the effectiveness, efficiency and accountability of the United Nations, be it on the ground or at Headquarters. We stress that accountability may be a difficult endeavour, especially in conflict-affected countries or countries emerging from conflict. When United Nations leaders are appointed to head existing mechanisms, it is very difficult to achieve accountability because those mechanisms are responsible for their being placed in their posts. The United Nations has a wealth of staff with a plethora of skills. I believe that the international community needs to optimally harness staff, while taking into consideration the importance of gender parity and balanced geographical representation, as well as ensure better follow-up and accountability. We fully support the partnership for sustaining peace and favour further partnership with regional and international organizations. In that regard, we would mention the example of the African Union, whose partnership with the United Nations has been very fruitful, particularly in terms of peace and security and the involvement of women, young people and civil society in efforts to build and sustain peace, especially with respect to raising awareness in their societies through country teams and in conjunction with national authorities. In conclusion, my country wishes to reiterate its wholehearted support for all of the reform efforts of the Secretary-General in peacebuilding and sustaining peace. We hope that the future reports of the Secretary- General will encompass a view of the role of the media in peacebuilding and sustaining peace. The media can play an important role in terms of raising awareness and with respect to explaining circumstances. We would note that many conflicts and disputes have morphed into larger conflicts. We see in this a negative impact from the media, which requires the establishment of follow-up mechanisms to track hate speech and inflammatory rhetoric. It is important for there to be greater accountability, especially in the light of the fact that terrorist groups exploit the various forms of media, including social media, in order to disseminate their violent and hateful rhetoric. Civil-society organizations should also be engaged, as terrorists often use them as tools.

Cuba endorses the statement made by the representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on behalf of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries (see A/72/PV.83). We welcome the convening of this meeting, the report of the Secretary-General on peacebuilding and sustaining peace (A/72/707) and his efforts to improve the work of the United Nations. Cuba supports overcoming fragmentation and achieving United Nations system-wide coherence without altering the mandates and functions of its principal organs. We join the call for increased funding for United Nations peacebuilding and sustaining peace activities. Urgent decisions need to be taken to ensure adequate, predictable and sustained funding for such activities. Achieving sustainable and lasting peace among nations depends upon a favourable international environment based on respect for multilateralism, international law and the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and on friendly and cooperative relations. The integrated reform of the Organization and its monetary and financial institutions, as well as a new international order that is more just, democratic and equitable, would also contribute to sustained peace. Efforts to sustain peace will be thwarted if the threat and unilateral use of force against sovereign States, unilateral coercive measures, attempts to impose certain political systems and patterns of democracy, or intimidation and unequal trade continue. In Cuba’s opinion, sustained peace requires the eradication of the root causes of conflicts, in particular the problems of social and economic development that affect many nations, among other reasons, through the imposition of irrational and unsustainable consumption and production patterns through exploitation and looting. In that regard, we accord priority to and call for support for the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, capacity-building in developing countries, equal access and technology transfer without discrimination, and the fulfilment of commitments and increased official development assistance, without preconditions. The United Nations must be willing and able to assist in those efforts, within the framework of the mandates and functions given to national Governments that request them, while respecting their national ownership and priorities, their sovereignty and political independence, and without interference in their internal affairs. Only in that way can it support, objectively and impartially, peacebuilding and sustaining peace. Ms. Bahous (Jordan) (spoke in Arabic) At the outset, I would like extend my thanks to the President of the General Assembly for organizing this important meeting. I would also like to thank Bangladesh and Lithuania, the facilitators of the negotiations on the draft solution entitled “Follow-up to the report of the Secretary-General on peacebuilding and sustaining peace” (A/72/L.49), which will be adopted at the final meeting. I would also like to welcome the efforts of the Secretary-General and his report on implementing the peacebuilding and sustaining peace agenda, which puts prevention at the very heart of United Nations conflict- prevention efforts (A/72/707). It is necessary to deal with the root causes of conflicts and to achieve progress in peacebuilding and sustaining peace, especially in the light of the increasing number of conflicts and the growing number of refugees and displaced persons in the world, as well as the expansion in military spending, which is now at the highest level since the end of the Cold War. Ending conflicts is part and parcel of the development efforts and the humanitarian, diplomatic and security work of the United Nations. We reiterate that peacebuilding and sustaining peace is a priority for the entire world and that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is the right pathway for sustainable development because it is dedicated to conflict prevention. The 2030 Agenda is the main basis for building and sustaining peace, as it focuses on combating poverty, providing quality education to all and ensuring economic and social development. Our purpose is to achieve peace and security and human dignity and justice. We should deal with the basic roots of conflicts, and we underscore that it is necessary, through our efforts and those of the Secretary-General, to enhance United Nations accountability. We must therefore strengthen trust in it, in particular through the Peacebuilding Support Office and the Peacebuilding Commission. Jordan supports the Secretary-General’s efforts aimed at coordination and cooperation through the United Nations country teams working in New York and in the field. We highlight the importance of national ownership and the financing needed to complete the high-priority projects of the countries in question. Jordan attaches great importance to the role of young people in sustaining peace and security, in accordance with Security Council resolution 2250 (2015), which Jordan submitted to the Council. The resolution confirms the role of young men and women in building peace, especially through early response and standing against violent extremism. We believe that the role of women is very important because their participation is an important factor in reinforcing peace and security. It is also important to emphasize the role of women in peacebuilding operations and to increase their representation in all mechanisms and institutions related to conflict prevention and mediation processes, in accordance with resolution 1325 (2000), on women and peace and security. We must remove all obstacles to women’s participation. Accordingly, Jordan has aligned the women and youth agenda with the sustainable development agenda in our national plan of action to implement resolution 1325 (2000). Together with Georgia, Jordan has launched a countering-extremism project that emphasizes supporting women and young people in combating violent extremism and reinforcing the role of women in conflict prevention; responding to crises and emergency situations; and building sustainable peace, with emphasis on the nexus between education and humanitarian and social sciences, the media and communications with the aim of preparing future generations to work for peace. In the light of the increasing number of crises and conflicts, we find the importance of discussion and negotiation among civilizations and religious understanding to be essential. We have worked for more than 10 years in this area, which is reflected in our “Amman Message”, “Common Word”, “Amman and International Understanding Week” and “World Interfaith Harmony Week” initiatives, under the auspices of the United Nations and celebrated annually in the first week of February. In the Middle East in particular, we have to understand that dealing with the basic causes of conflict will help us to avoid future negative consequences. In addition, our region will not enjoy peace and security as long as the Israeli occupation of Palestine has not ended. The Palestinian question is the key to stability in our region, and undoing the injustice being done to the Palestinian people is an international moral duty. Implementing political solutions will lead to the settlement of conflicts in our region. We must translate our efforts into reality so that the two-State solution will come to pass. We must help to establish a Palestinian State that is sovereign and viable, within the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital. We must also step up our efforts to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis so that we can support the aspirations of the Syrian people to peace. In addition, efforts should be made to achieve security and stability in Yemen, Libya and Iraq. The inability to reach political settlements to the crises in the region is forcing countless civilians to leave their homes on a daily basis. Refugees need us. They need education, work and housing, and, more important, they need hope. Host countries must therefore make greater efforts to bring about peace and security and to improve refugees’ standard of living. Jordan hosts the most refugees of any country in the world. Despite our meagre financial and natural resources, we have welcomed a great number of refugees. In that connection, we have been facing unprecedented economic problems as a result of ongoing regional upheaval. Jordan is facing this challenge, which hampers sustainable development efforts, by devising innovative solutions to benefit both host countries and refugees. We hope that the international community will support our country in its efforts to build and sustain peace in the region. The international community must continue to uphold the values of peace, justice, human rights and solidarity. We must pool our efforts to meet the world’s security and sustainable development needs. We must rise above divisions and put an end to conflicts in order to alleviate human suffering. We must stand together in sustaining peace.

I would like to make three points. First, national ownership lies at the heart of the peacebuilding and sustaining peace agenda. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. In our effort to advance the 2030 Agenda and to support peace and development, we must have an appreciation for the unique domestic and regional context of each country. The United Nations works best when supporting national Governments in achieving national priorities. Only then can our efforts take root and become truly sustainable. My second point relates to the importance of regional organizations. They can, and must, play an important role in fostering peace and development in a region. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which Singapore has the honour to chair this year, has played a critical role in fostering peace and stability in South-East Asia since its founding, in 1967. South-East Asia is a diverse region with many cultures, languages and histories. ASEAN has been the foundation on which we have built 51 years of peace and stability across the region, and the centre of a wider regional architecture, including groupings such as ASEAN+3, the East Asia Summit and various dialogue partnerships. On the international stage, ASEAN works with the United Nations through the ASEAN-United Nations plan of action across multiple areas, including peacebuilding and development. My third point is that Singapore supports the Secretary-General’s goal of building a better United Nations that can effectively implement its mandates, including in peacebuilding and sustaining peace across the continuum. The reform of the United Nations must be focused on outcomes and making a real difference on the ground. Only then can the United Nations continue to be a credible champion for the cause of sustaining peace and the backbone of the multilateral system. In the words of the Secretary-General, that will require leadership, accountability and capacity. It is critical that the Secretariat and Member States alike take real ownership of the reform process. Singapore also welcomes the Secretary-General’s commitment to making accountability a fundamental part of the United Nations work. As we demand more from the United Nations and ask for a more accountable, responsive and flexible United Nations, we must answer the Secretary-General’s call to provide the Organization with the resources that it needs. Especially on the question of peacebuilding and sustaining peace, it is past time to look at how the peace continuum can be best supported by the financial and administrative structures that are currently in place. It is not enough to support peace with our words. We must also do so through our actions.

I am honoured to deliver this statement on behalf of His Excellency Mr. Wang Yi, State Councillor and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China. “Sustaining peace and sustainable development for all are the shared aspiration of the people of the world and the lofty goal and mission of the United Nations. In recent years the United Nations peacebuilding architecture has energetically supported post-conflict nation-building, and played an important role in helping the countries concerned consolidate peace and strive for sustainable development. “With regard to the work of the United Nations on peacebuilding and sustaining peace, I would like to make the following points. “First, we must respect the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the basic norms governing international relations. Sovereign equality is a fundamental principle enshrined in the Charter. In view of the differences among countries in terms of their national situations and levels of development, peacebuilding must respect the sovereignty, will and ownership of the countries concerned and be suited to their specific situations. Peacebuilding work must be geared towards the overarching goal of strengthening political and security institutions and development capacity with a focus on helping the countries concerned build capacity, strengthen conflict prevention and promote the transition to development and reconstruction. “Secondly, we must give equal weight to development and security and eliminate the sources of conflict by addressing both its symptoms and root causes. The international community needs to establish a global governance concept based on extensive consultations, joint contributions and benefits-sharing; comprehensively advance the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; and strengthen the global development partnership and fulfil assistance commitments to help developing countries improve the livelihoods of their people, explore paths of development best suited to their own conditions and increase their development capacities, thereby laying a solid foundation for sustainable peace and promoting sustainable peace through sustainable development. “Thirdly, we should strengthen the United Nations system’s integration and coordination capacity and deepen partnerships, including those with regional organizations. In carrying out their work in peacebuilding, the relevant United Nations organs must strictly follow their respective mandates in order to achieve synergy. It is important to leverage the comparative advantages of regional organizations, in particular by actively supporting the African Union in implementing its African Peace and Security Architecture Roadmap 2016-2020 and Agenda 2063, and encouraging regional organizations to play an active role in peacebuilding in their respective regions. International financial institutions, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, should focus on supporting developing countries in achieving economic and social development, thereby eliminating poverty and other root causes of conflict. “China firmly defends the international system with the United Nations at its core, resolutely safeguards the basic norms governing international relations, which are based on the purposes of principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and vigorously supports multilateralism. China is ready to share opportunities and the fruits of development with other countries and to provide more public goods for the realization of world peace, stability, development and prosperity. “To that end, China is ready to work together with the international community to build a shared future for humankind and make further contributions to global peace and development.”

The United Nations was established to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. Despite that, we have not achieved this for the Syrian people, the Rohingya or communities in Iraq and Afghanistan, to name but a few. We must do better. We cannot forget about conflicts that do not make the headlines every day — South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Mali, for example. I would also note that Russia’s illegal incursions into Crimea, in eastern Ukraine, and, before that, into Georgia have led to further instability and run counter to our common goal of building and sustaining peace. It is clear to us that, if we wish to better sustain peace, we also need to do start doing things differently. Allow me to emphasize four points that are particularly important to Canada. First, on prevention, we fully agree with the Secretary-General and the conclusions of the report of the World Bank and the United Nations entitled Pathways for Peace: Inclusive Approaches to Preventing Violent Conflict. It is imperative that the United Nations be better structured, better equipped and better supported to prevent the outbreak, escalation, continuation and re-emergence of conflict. Conflict does not break out from one day to the next. It is often the result of decades of exclusion, failures in development or governance and non-respect for human rights. The Resident Coordinator system could play a greater role in ensuring that the United Nations better informs its development efforts through conflict risk analysis and integrate conflict- sensitive development principles into its country frameworks. Canada also calls for greater integration of human rights into the efforts of the United Nations system towards prevention, building on the important work of the Human Rights Up Front initiative. (spoke in English) Secondly, it is also clear that women must be given an opportunity to play a full and central role in sustaining peace. When women influence the processes that profoundly affect them, sustainable peace becomes far more likely. We commend the Peacebuilding Fund for exceeding the Secretary-General’s 15 per cent target for women’s empowerment projects. We welcome its decision to raise the target to 30 per cent under its new business plan. My third point concerns the planning and execution of mission transitions and drawdowns. Those processes go to the heart of the ability of the United Nations to secure stability gains and investments and to reinforce objectives that can sustain peace and promote recovery and development. We have learned that effective transitions require broad consultation with national stakeholders and access to resources in order to ensure that long-term peacebuilding needs are addressed. We must ensure that mission transitions are deliberately designed to foster longer-term stability and, importantly, that there is an effective handover between the United Nations agencies dealing with peace and security and those that come under the development system. We must also make every effort to ensure that institutions that support the rule of law and policing are sufficiently resilient, accountable and sustainable to be able to play an effective role beyond the drawdown of the United Nations forces. We believe that the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) has an important role to play in supporting effective transition strategies. We commend the role that the PBC played in Liberia under Sweden’s leadership as a model for future United Nations transitions. Finally, we must turn to the issue of ensuring predictable and sustained financing for prevention and peacebuilding. Better coordination with other peacebuilding contributors, including United Nations agencies working across all pillars, international financial institutions and regional and bilateral partners and donors, is crucial. Donors also have a key role to play in addressing the fragmentation of United Nations financing for prevention and peacebuilding. By requesting joint analysis and by contributing to pooled and unearmarked funds, donors can powerfully incentivize coordinated and coherent United Nations peacebuilding efforts. We were pleased to see a range of ambitious financing options put forward in the Secretary-General’s report (A/72/707). We look forward to discussing them further. We remain committed to the continued implementation of this important agenda. The Secretary-General has Canada’s full support.

It is an honour for my delegation to participate in this high-level meeting. We wish to thank the President for having convened it, as well as the Secretary-General for his very useful report (A/72/707). Jamaica also wishes to align itself with the statement delivered by the representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on behalf of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries (see A/72/PV.83) and to offer the following additional comments. First, we would concur with the argument that the focus on peacebuilding and sustaining peace must be couched in the long-term focus on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our efforts must be geared towards the greater good of ensuring that no one is left behind. The Government of Jamaica remains committed to playing its part in that regard and, from the outset, has implemented its own national development plan, Vision 2030 Jamaica, which is fully aligned with the SDGs. Sustaining peace is one of the core considerations in the pursuit of sustainable development. Secondly, the case for greater coherence, in terms of both policy and operational coherence, cannot be overemphasized. It is important that at the level of the United Nations system, as well as at the national and regional levels, we continue to work to ensure that there is coherence in order to ensure that peace is not only maintained and restored but also cultivated. Thirdly, Jamaica believes in the value of partnerships among the various networks and stakeholders in order to build and sustain peace. However, efforts in that regard will be meaningless without a simultaneous focus on identifying and responding to the root causes of conflict and the other factors that destabilize societies. Partnerships, including South-South and triangular cooperation, as well as interaction with regional and subregional organizations, must inform collective action going forward. Fourthly, like other delegations, we also believe that the focus on youth, as well as the full participation of women, in conflict prevention and peacebuilding is critical. We would encourage continued efforts in that regard. Fifthly, given the wide-ranging continuum of peace, Jamaica has long regarded peacekeeping as one of the key components of the United Nations effort to promote international peace and security. To that end, over the years we have contributed to United Nations peacekeeping missions through the deployment of police officers as well as civilian personnel. From the beginning, Jamaica has also been supportive of the work of the Peacebuilding Commission as an avenue through which the United Nations can promote a cohesive yet multidimensional response to post-conflict situations and comprehensive strategies for peacebuilding, development and institution-building. In keeping with that long-standing position, I wish to reiterate my delegation’s commitment to supporting efforts to reform the peace and security architecture so as to ensure that the United Nations is able to respond to the peace and security threats and challenges that confront us as an international community.

At the outset, I wish to thank the President of the General Assembly for having convened today’s important meeting. I also wish to thank the Secretary-General for his very important report (A/72/707). The adoption of two identical resolutions (resolution 70/262 and Security Council resolution 2282 (2016)) began a new era for strengthening the coordination of United Nations efforts to build and sustain peace. The 10-year review of the peacebuilding architecture was a concerted and holistic approach to tackling interconnected emerging non-traditional challenges  — in the areas of conflict resolution, peacekeeping, peacebuilding and sustainable development  — in order to ensure the practical implementation of the sustaining peace principle in the countries concerned. I wish to emphasize that there is a great need to bring together a unified concept for sustaining peace among all States and eliminate any concerns regarding its interpretation. In order to address this phenomenon, it is first necessary to take into account the specificities of all countries and the national needs of each country. There is no single solution for all conflicts. Secondly, building and sustaining peace in countries emerging from, or mired in, conflict requires that the root causes be dealt with  — be they social, political or geostrategic dimensions. It is important to implement the various tools at the disposal of the United Nations in order to achieve a lasting settlement, not merely to settle for conflict management. Thirdly, it is necessary to establish a vision for a single system of work within the Secretariat, in particular to support national efforts during political settlement and recovery in order to rebuild national institutions. This period is liable to last years and requires that the Organization tailor its tools in order to meet the needs and specific features of the countries and societies concerned, as well as to align them with the various stages of conflict. Fourthly, efforts to build and sustain peace must issue from a vision of national ownership, the outcome of a holistic, unified vision of the future of a country and its priorities in terms of economic and social development, specifically recovery, the rebuilding of institutions and capacity-building, so as to ensure that States and societies can take ownership and lead such efforts. Women and young people must also be able to participate. It is necessary also to take into account the regional approach to sustaining peace, which is important to ensuring a comprehensive and complete recovery and a full assessment of the interdependent transnational challenges that many regions, including the Sahel, must face. Efforts to build effective partnerships with regional and subregional organizations are key to tackling those challenges. Hence it is important to reinforce existing partnerships with the African Union, the League of Arab States and other organizations in order to strengthen them so that those partnerships can be harnessed in line with national priorities. Lastly, despite the progress made in the development of international tools to support the building and sustaining of peace since the establishment of the peacebuilding mechanism, in 2006, the nature and the scope of the challenges stemming from armed conflict require a renewal of political commitment. In order to make our tools more resolute and robust, it is important to allocate more financial and technical resources. For the resources to be more predictable, we must lend greater support to ensuring better coordination in the mandates, policies and programmes of States mired in or emerging from conflict. We reaffirm what is stated in the Secretary-General’s report with regard to alternatives to proposed financing, specifically support for the Peacebuilding Fund. We cherish the hope that Member States will arrive at an overall agreement with respect to the Secretary- General’s reform proposal, which is important financial order or the Organization to be better positioned through the mandate of its bodies to achieve sustaining peace overall.

It has been almost two years since the adoption of the twin resolutions (Council resolution 2282 (2016) and Assembly resolution 70/262). We have established the notion of sustaining peace, whereby peace and security, development and human rights are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. The agenda is still as relevant today as it was then. I wish from the start to commend the President of the General Assembly for organizing this event, as well as for his active engagement with every region in preparation for this meeting in order to exchange views on how to achieve sustained peace. Thailand is also pleased that the Secretary-General has taken serious steps to echo such paradigm shifts in the restructuring of the Secretariat, along with peace and security pillar reforms and the restructuring of the development system — aligning all the three pillars closer together. Financing for peacebuilding remains an outstanding issue. Thailand welcomes the budgetary options proposed in the Secretary-General’s report (A/72/707). While innovative proposals such as attracting funds from the private sector are worth exploring, the most sustainable and predictable source remains increasing assessed contributions. Redirecting unspent assessed contributions or savings from peacekeeping to peacebuilding could be a preferable start to reflect the shift in budget considerations from conflict response to conflict prevention. We take this opportunity to call on all Member States to support the agenda by fulfilling mandated financial contributions in order to ensure financing predictability for the whole United Nations system and avoid painful budget cuts in one agenda to finance another. Another step forward might be setting up clear mandates and guidelines. Peacebuilding and sustaining peace stress the primary responsibility of national Governments and authorities, especially in non-mission settings where sustaining peace is essentially part and parcel of national plans to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. But the primacy of politics should not be an obstacle for the international community to act in a timely manner to prevent conflicts or mass atrocities. Our previous attempts, particularly on the responsibility to protect, eventually lost momentum as Member States interpreted the concept differently. We should seize this moment to concretize a substantive framework to address any interpretative complications and to implement measures for sustaining peace.

I would like to thank the President for his dedicated work in organizing this important high-level meeting on peacebuilding and sustaining peace. My delegation appreciates the report of the Secretary-General on peacebuilding and sustaining peace (A/72/707). We welcome the draft resolution (A/72/L.49) and the strengthening of the Peacebuilding Fund to support United Nations efforts to that end. We are gathered here today to further strengthen our solidarity and collective efforts to achieve our common goal of a world of peace, progress and prosperity for all in this new era of global uncertainty and instability. Today we are witnessing a complex and shifting global security environment and unprecedented challenges in pursuit of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We need to iterate the important nexus between achieving peace and realizing sustainable development. Conflicts and instability can have lasting impact on a country’s development. Without peace, there can be no sustainable development or social justice. It is also true that there can be no lasting peace without the implementation of inclusive and sustainable development. For Myanmar, which has endured seven decades of internal armed conflicts, nothing is more important than peace and stability. National reconciliation and peace are always at the top of our agenda of national priorities. The new President of Myanmar, Mr. Win Myint, has also reaffirmed their place at the top of the agenda of national priorities, along with the rule of law and socioeconomic development. While recognizing peace as a prerequisite and enabler for development, we have revitalized the peace process with numerous ethnic armed groups to end internal armed conflicts. A new milestone in the direction of peace was made last February when two more ethnic armed groups came on board to sign the nationwide ceasefire agreement, thereby bringing the total number of signatories to 10. The two Union Peace Conferences held so far also made some progress: despite complexity and challenges, 37 key principles were agreed upon for a future democratic federal union at the second session, held in May 2017. Dialogue is taking place, and the third session of the Conference is scheduled to be convened next month. We have been trying to build peace out of internal strife, a peace that must be lasting and that must be accompanied by sustainable and equitable development. We would like to invite the international community to take part in this peace process so as to find lasting solutions to the problems that have plagued our country for decades. Conflicts can be resolved through discussion and dialogue, through open-mindedness and the generosity and courage that enables us to see other people’s point of view. It is through cooperation and understanding that our world can go forward. Hate and fear are the main scourges of our world. All conflicts arise out of either hate or fear. It is only by eliminating the sources of hate and fear that we will be able to end conflict from our country and world and build a better world for tomorrow. I would like to conclude by expressing the sincere appreciation of the Government of Myanmar to all our friends around the world and to the United Nations for supporting the peace process in Myanmar. We look forward to the continued support and encouragement of the international community in our efforts to achieve lasting peace, sustainable development and democratic nation-building.

The delegation of Senegal thanks the President of the General Assembly, His Excellency Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, for organizing this high-level meeting on peacebuilding and sustaining peace, which will undoubtedly contribute to further reflection on the strategies and the measures that should enable us to meet the challenges of achieving lasting peace. May I also congratulate Secretary-General António Guterres for his innovative vision of the reform and restructuring of the Organization. I also welcome the relevant recommendations contained in his report on peacebuilding and sustaining peace (A/72/707). The significant progress made in implementing the recommendations of the report of the Advisory Group of Experts on the Review of the Peacebuilding Architecture (see A/69/968) and subsequent resolutions is both a measure of optimism and a source of encouragement in our efforts to advance the sustainable peace agenda. Although beneficial, that progress should not lead us to lose sight of the complexity of the challenges to be met, and the correct and sustainable grasp of which could be achieved only in the framework of innovative partnerships involving national actors; subregional, regional and international organizations; and financial and development institutions, with the aim of fostering the emergence of more cohesive, comprehensive and coherent strategies that can establish genuine foundations for lasting peace. My delegation is pleased to note, in the light of the information contained in the report under review, that the Peacebuilding Commission has endorsed this new vision, as reflected both in its commitments to the countries on its agenda and in its initiatives on regional and cross-cutting issues. In that spirit, my delegation calls for additional initiatives to strengthen partnerships with regional and subregional organizations, in particular the African Union, given their effective contribution to conflict-prevention efforts. Regular visits and exchanges between the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission, some Chairs of country- specific configurations and several African Union officials, with a view to exploring ways to improve cooperation between the Commission and the Peace and Security Council of the African Union in the areas of conflict prevention and peacebuilding in Africa, are initiatives that should be stepped up. The same should be the case for debates on the regional, transboundary and transnational issues around peacebuilding in West Africa, as well as the issue of strengthening partnerships with such subregional organizations as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Mano River Union. Needless to say, the development of regional and local responses to crises, the conduct of joint assessments on the nature and challenges of peacebuilding in Africa, as well as an ongoing dialogue on how best to harmonize support for countries on the peacebuilding agenda are, among other things, actions that can increase the added value of such cooperation. The successful involvement of ECOWAS in the post- election crisis in the Gambia, and in several countries of the subregion, in collaboration with the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel and other regional and international partners, is quite illustrative of the appropriateness of that approach. The delegation of Senegal welcomes the organization on 23 April of the high-level meeting of the Peacebuilding Commission on the Gambia, in view of the international donors conference to be held on 22 May in Brussels. In that respect, I would like to stress the importance of maintaining and strengthening the support and backing of countries in the peacebuilding phase so that they can continue to benefit from the attention of the international community, in particular in terms of sustainable and predictable funding. The challenges that these countries face in this context are enormous. Their needs in terms of assistance are equally huge, particularly in the areas of justice and security sector reform, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, the strengthening of health and education systems, economic recovery, support for agriculture and, above all, the creation of jobs for young people. That is why my delegation is of the view that these countries need considerable long-term funding. Unfortunately, that funding remains limited, irregular and at times very unpredictable. Senegal therefore calls on the international community and on the bilateral and multilateral partners of the Gambia to take part in the upcoming international donors conference and to make strong commitments that will allow the Gambia to return to the path of sustainable peace.

Uruguay aligns itself with the statement made by the representative of Switzerland on behalf of the Human Rights/Conflict Prevention Caucus (see A/72/PV.84). I wish to make this statement in my national capacity as the Permanent Representative of Uruguay. Uruguay agrees with the views expressed on several occasions by the Secretary-General that we must pay special attention to conflict prevention and focus on addressing the root causes of conflict. Nevertheless, we must implement the provisions of the identical resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council on sustaining peace (resolution 70/262 and Security Council resolution 2282 (2016)), adopted in 2016. In that regard, Uruguay is gratified that the Organization is shifting from the paradigm of conflict prevention to that of sustaining peace as a goal and a process to build a shared societal view. That view encompasses activities aimed at preventing the outbreak, escalation, prolongation and recurrence of conflicts by addressing root causes and helping parties to a conflict put an end to hostilities with a view to achieving national reconciliation and making progress in recovery, rebuilding and development. The achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is fundamental to the implementation of the concept of sustaining peace. The realization of the SDGs is, without a doubt, a precondition for achieving lasting peace worldwide. The reform of the peace and security pillar that the Secretary-General proposed in the framework of a broader reform process is essential to addressing systemic difficulties in sustaining peace. Uruguay attaches particular importance to strengthening institutions and national development in efforts to prevent the outbreak, escalation and recurrence of conflicts. Having aligned itself with the statement made by the representative of Switzerland on behalf of the members of the Human Rights/Conflict Prevention Caucus, Uruguay also wishes to highlight the importance of promoting and protecting human rights as one of the fundamental pillars of the United Nations that cuts across the entire system. The close link between violations of human rights and emerging conflicts that can become threats to international peace and security is apparent to Uruguay. That is why we fully endorse the principle of placing human rights at the centre of conflict prevention. Finally, I would like to conclude by noting the primary responsibility of sovereign States in achieving sustainable peace and leading the process that brings it about. That responsibility has two facets. The first is the responsibility of States as Members of the Organization to ensure that the system implements the provisions of the identical resolutions on sustaining peace and that it supports the reform of the Organization proposed by the Secretary-General, especially with regard to the peace and security pillar. The second facet is the primary responsibility of sovereign States, and particularly their leaders, to ensure peace within their borders and provide their peoples guarantees of better standards of life in larger freedom, as set forth in the Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations.

It is my great pleasure to address the General Assembly at this high-level meeting on peacebuilding and sustaining peace. Japan welcomes the efforts of the President of the General Assembly to build momentum through our discussions here. Japan supports the Secretary-General’s initiative to shift the balance of the peace and security activities of the United Nations from reacting to conflicts towards preventing them. Sustaining peace requires enhancing operational and policy coherence within the United Nations system and partnerships among all the relevant parties. Japan believes that promoting human security is one key to building and sustaining peace. The human security approach is people-centred, comprehensive, context-specific and focuses on prevention. It aims at protecting and empowering vulnerable individuals. We seek to make a difference on the ground. To that end, there should be coherence in concrete actions by stakeholders. With that in mind, Japan supports a programme in Somalia, for example, which aims at addressing the root causes of conflict there by improving basic social services. That programme has been co-funded by the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) and the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security, and is now being implemented jointly by various actors. Japan believes that to be a good example of coherence. Institution-building and human-resources development are also necessary to prevent a relapse into conflict. The core element of institution-building is to expand and consolidate national and local authorities throughout a country. Respecting national ownership is essential. Japan continues to focus on this topic in the Peacebuilding Commission, including cross-border issues, and will serve as a champion of institution-building. Last but not least, financing is a factor critical to implementing and enhance peacebuilding activities and the sustaining peace agenda. I would like to briefly emphasize two points on strengthening the PBF. First, it is essential not only to increase the predictability of the budget of the PBF but also to maintain transparency and flexibility. Secondly, further efforts should be made to discover untapped resources for peacebuilding by strengthening partnerships between the private sector and international financial institutions. Sustaining peace will not be achieved without enhancing the role of women and youth as main actors. We welcome the fact that the PBF prioritizes that approach. Now is the time to take actions that will make these principles a reality on the ground. Japan will spare no effort to achieve the sustaining peace agenda and propagate the culture of prevention in the field.

It is a real pleasure for the delegation of the Dominican Republic to join previous speakers in sincerely congratulating the President on the convening of this significant high-level dialogue on the concept of sustainable peace. We hope that the important contributions made in the framework of this forum will have a real impact on the work of our Organization. The Sustainable Development Goals have strengthened the consensus in the international community that security, peace and the rule of law are essential to sustainable development. The notion that security, development and the rule of law are closely linked has been discussed in the United Nations for a long time now. The interconnectivity among the Sustainable Development Goals implies that the Organization’s peacebuilding work must be aligned with and supplement the work of every body and initiative that promotes social, economic and political development. The gaps between peacebuilding, humanitarian assistance and development must be bridged and addressed as an ongoing process, so that all peoples, all over the world, can have the opportunity to achieve peace and prosperity. If we are to talk about sustainable peace, we must address the root causes of conflict. We cannot talk seriously about promoting peace without tackling the factors that threaten it. Poverty, inequality and social exclusion exacerbate conflict. We know that when we promote economic development, we build resistance to the risks and vulnerabilities of fragile States. Peacebuilding should contribute to maximizing the opportunities for trade, investment and development. There is no question that such an effort requires the collective, coordinated and sustained backing of national actors and the international community with a view to supporting multidimensional strategies that address political, security and developmental aspects as a meaningful way to prevent the outbreak, escalation, prolongation and recurrence of conflicts. The changing nature of conflicts calls for a new, robust, multidimensional strategy that combines peacekeeping, peacebuilding and sustainable development with climate-change mitigation. The Dominican Republic believes that we must take full consideration of the natural links between the challenges to peace and security faced by small island developing States and the maintenance of international peace and security. The classic and somewhat narrow concept of peace and security does not work for the multifaceted problems that small island developing States face. Climate change is one of the greatest challenges to such States’ development aspirations and a threat to their own security and survival. We urge the international community to recognize the particular vulnerabilities of small developing States in order to develop coordinated action that can enable them to address security concerns comprehensively and coherently. We believe that with this important debate represents a positive step, generating promising momentum for promoting a shift in perspective and creating new peacebuilding structures that can implement fundamental and specific tasks in the constantly evolving quest to build sustainable peace.

At the outset, I would like to thank Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, President of the General Assembly, for convening this important meeting to discuss peace, one of the most critical pillars of the United Nations, under the agenda item of peacebuilding and sustaining peace. We align ourselves with the statement delivered previously by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Venezuela on behalf of the States members of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries (see A/72/PV.83). Since 2011, when a transitional political process began in Yemen in the wake of the youth revolution in February of that year, the United Nations has played a critical role in facilitating Yemen’s political transition, which has taken place in two stages. The first, from 2011 to 2014, began through the executive mechanism of an initiative of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which led to the finalization of a draft constitution for the Republic of Yemen, based on the conclusions of our National Dialogue Conference. The second stage occurred in September 2014, when the Houthi militias turned against the institutions of the State and constitutional legitimacy, and it is still ongoing. The Secretary-General has appointed three Special Envoys on Yemen during that period. The latest, Mr. Martin Griffiths, was appointed in March to help continue the peace negotiations between the Yemeni Government and the rebels that were begun in Geneva in 2015 and resumed in Kuwait in 2016. Unfortunately, all of those consultations have collapsed and have failed to produce solutions to protect the Yemeni people, who are enduring terrible bloodshed and human suffering owing to the intransigent positions of the Houthi militias, which are supported by Iran, as the former Special Envoy on Yemen confirmed. Yemen will continue to work for lasting peace in order to end this futile war, through political solutions based on the three reference points that have been agreed on — the Gulf initiative, the conclusions of the National Dialogue Conference and the relevant Security Council resolutions, particularly resolution 2216 (2015). We want to restore our country’s constitutional legitimacy and to rebuild State institutions and security in Yemen and the region. The Government of the Republic of Yemen is convinced that the price of conflict prevention is far less when peacebuilding is achieved. For that reason, it is important to prioritize, emphasize and secure the financing needed to implement preventive diplomacy to end conflicts worldwide. It is also important to implement multilateral diplomacy, to which the United Nations is central, and which has demonstrated its effectiveness and ability to safeguard the interests of all countries, including smaller ones. It is also crucial to strengthen the principles of non-intervention in the domestic affairs of States and non-support for militias and other such parties within States, as well as ensure that foreign agents are not established within States. Those principles are all essential to enabling the achievement of peace and stability, and they apply, of course, to Iran’s intervention in Yemen and the region, which must end. The Republic of Yemen has played a key role in promoting international peace and security through its effective participation in peacekeeping operations since 2003, and there have been as many as 365 Yemenis deployed as military observers and police officers in various United Nations missions. We hope to soon resume that participation, which ended owing to the disastrous current situation in Yemen. Over the past few years, the General Assembly and the Security Council have demonstrated their commitment to sustainable peace through the adoption of the respective twin resolutions 70/262 and 2282 (2016), which affirm that sustaining peace is the joint responsibility of the Government and all national stakeholders. They also affirm that efforts to sustain peace are not only necessary and useful during conflict but also important before conflicts they occur, since they help to prevent outbreaks and address the root causes of conflict. In that regard, my country welcomes the efforts of the Secretary-General with regard to peacebuilding and sustaining peace. We appreciate the reform efforts of the Secretary-General and his report on peacebuilding and sustaining peace (A/72/707) and its recommendations. In conclusion, we wish this meeting every success. We hope that the desired results will be achieved.

I would like to start by thanking the President and his team for organizing this high- level event on peacebuilding and sustaining peace, thereby implementing the identical resolutions 70/262 and 2282 (2016) of the General Assembly and the Security Council, which have provided a historic opportunity to achieve the main objective of the United Nations — peace. We understand that sustaining peace is simply part of an integral process of prevention that focuses on the well-being of the individual. It does not address political or military clashes alone. Clearly, it is especially important to intervene before the outbreak of a conflict, but intervention is also necessary during and after such outbreaks. Sustaining peace is today’s concrete opportunity to make development work for peace and for the development of peoples, as well as to prevent disputes, eliminate exclusion and promote peaceful and stable coexistence. I would like to share my country’s experience of how we have been implementing a sustainable peace, even before the concept was adopted by the General Assembly and the Security Council. Mr. Jimmy Morales, President of the Republic of Guatemala, during his participation in the high-level segment of the seventy-second session of the General Assembly, said, “Guatemala, after 36 years of internal armed conflict, signed a peace agreement and took on the even more arduous task of peacebuilding. That conflict was conditioned by international ideological polarization engendered by political doctrines that are alien to us. Its aftermath weakened State institutions, preventing them from providing the necessary services to our people.” (A/72/PV.6, pp. 6-7) In its political and social maturity, Guatemala recognized the weakness inherent in proceeding alone and therefore turned to the United Nations. In our initiative we sought to strengthen the capacities of State institutions, particularly the justice sector and especially public administration. That not only demonstrates ownership by various sectors of the population, as well as the State itself; it has also strengthened our institutions and our citizens’ trust in them. Sustaining peace has a direct relationship to the strengthening of institutions, security-sector reform and good governance. We are therefore strengthening our institutions and the rule of law. Citizens are participating more actively, calling for accountability and supporting the fight against corruption and impunity. That in turn shows that we are implementing the principle of inclusivity throughout various sectors of the population. Another example of Guatemala’s ongoing commitment to peacebuilding and achieving truly sustainable peace is the referendum held on 15 April on the territorial dispute with our sister State of Belize. In that democratic process, the people of Guatemala opted for a peaceful, democratic and lawful solution for resolving a territorial dispute that had lasted more than a century and a half, in order to ensure a prosperous future for both countries that guarantees territorial security and legal certainty and to preserve peaceful and friendly coexistence between both peoples. We hosted the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala, and as a result we can attest to the importance of breaking down silos not only among Departments of the Organization but also among national institutions and sectors, in order to promote greater effectiveness and efficiency when the Secretariat is implementing various mandates on the ground through the Departments of Peacekeeping Operations, Field Support and Political Affairs, as well as the Peacebuilding Support Office. My delegation reiterates its firm conviction that there can be no peace or justice without development, and no development without peace and justice. In our experience, the pillars of peace and security, development and human rights must be addressed jointly and simultaneously, as a whole. We therefore emphasize the importance of overcoming the fragmented mindset that has prevailed among the three main pillars of the Organization. In that regard, Guatemala will work together with all Member States, including on the Secretary-General’s efforts for possible reforms, with a view to achieving that objective and building a better world.

I would like to thank the President for organizing this important and very timely high-level meeting to review the progress of the implementation of General Assembly and Security Council resolutions 70/262 and 2282 (2016), on the peacebuilding architecture and the related follow- up action. Today, the world faces an increasing and unprecedented number of conflicts whose nature varies. The importance of peacebuilding has never been felt so keenly or intensely. Peacebuilding has evolved from its initial concept of mere reconstruction and rebuilding to encompass a wider canvas, including prevention, non-escalation and non-recurrence. We attach particular importance to the aspect of prevention, as emphasized in the report of the Secretary-General (A/72/707), before potential situations transform themselves into conflicts with a severe impact on human lives and resources. It is critically important to emphasize the aspects of national ownership and inclusivity in such processes. We have also come to recognize that maintaining peace in the long term is essential to building and strengthening societies recovering from conflict. Sri Lanka has emerged from a long-drawn-out conflict. For the past three years, our Government has embarked on a process of peacebuilding and reconciliation, and we have undertaken many initiatives on truth-seeking, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence. By addressing the hearts and minds of our people, we hope to realize our vision for a peaceful, united and prosperous country for all. Our path towards reconciliation and peacebuilding has not been easy. Along the way, we have faced many challenges that confront most free and democratic societies. We still have some way to go to achieve all our objectives, but we remain optimistic and hopeful for the future. We are acutely aware that, in our efforts for reconciliation and achieving long-lasting peace, it is essential that we engage with the international community and the United Nations. Sri Lanka deeply values the important contribution of the United Nations, most particularly through the Peacebuilding Support Office and the Peacebuilding Fund, to support Sri Lanka’s journey towards reconciliation and a lasting peace. The funding that Sri Lanka received from the Immediate Response Facility and the longer-term funding that has been made available to us for a number of areas, such as resettlement and technical advice and expertise to set up the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation and the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms, have been invaluable. What has proved for us most critical to our efforts has been to receive the right assistance at the right time. Through the Peacebuilding Priority Plan, which was drafted with the support of the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO), together with the Peacebuilding Board of Sri Lanka, the United Nations and the Government of Sri Lanka are working together as partners to identify areas that require assistance. The close coordination and consultations among the Government of Sri Lanka, the United Nations Resident Coordinator Office and the country team have been a hallmark of our interactions with the Organization. Our bilateral partners are also being brought into the process to avoid duplication. Sri Lanka’s example illustrates the importance of the sustained and predictable funding of the Peacebuilding Fund and the crucial need to further strengthen the Peacebuilding Support Office, as proposed in the Secretary-General’s report on peacebuilding and sustaining peace. It is imperative that the two issues of funding and strengthening the PBSO be given due priority and translated into practical action if the United Nations is to remain a viable contributor to the peacebuilding efforts of Member States in the future. Sri Lanka stands ready to support all initiatives in that regard.

At the outset, I wish to congratulate and thank the President of the General Assembly for having taken the initiative to convene this high-level event on peacebuilding and sustaining peace. Today, the premises of the world that led to the birth of the United Nations have changed. Seventy-three years later, we need to reflect on the best way to rework the United Nations, its action and its soundness faced with the demands of the challenges of the contemporary world. I would also like to thank the Secretary-General for his report (A/72/707) and for his personal and resolute commitment to sustained peacebuilding. In the context of peacebuilding and sustaining peace, it is important to adopt a consistent and coordinated approach to support countries in transition that face a wide range of multidimensional challenges that strike indiscriminately. As a result of persistent efforts, unforeseeable changes are beginning to emerge. They bring us a little closer to the noble goal that we all seek, namely, establishing peace as a cross-pillar issue as an end and a process. My delegation welcomes the adoption in 2006 of the twin resolutions 70/262 and Security Council resolution 2282 (2006) and the issuing of the recent report of the Secretary-General on peacebuilding and sustaining peace. My country also welcomes the complementary efforts under way with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which is a solution for the establishment of peace, security and sustained growth in general. The work achieved to date as a result of the commitment of States can only contribute to the principle and ultimate goal of peace at all levels — prior to, during and following the outbreak of conflict. In that regard, Morocco supports the sacrosanct three-part concept, namely, the importance of national ownership and sovereignty, inclusivity and cooperation partnerships. It is fitting to recall two truths that have been established during the debate at this high-level meeting. First, only a stronger United Nations can effectively help Member States to prevent conflicts and to maintain peace. Second is the need to prevent conflicts before their outbreak, which saves lives and safeguards the resilience of our societies. We must not lose sight of the fact that the reforms under way are not an end in themselves but should ensure stronger prevention, more agile mediation amd more effective peacekeeping operations. The Kingdom of Morocco therefore spares no effort in promoting the principles of preventive diplomacy, which allows us to act pre-emptively and to truly contribute to strengthening the international peace and security architecture. Morocco strives to achieve such principles through the peaceful settlement of disputes, mediation in Africa, good offices and the establishment of a climate and culture of peace. Those are specific examples of measures for confidence-building and sustaining peace that bring people together and bear fruit. My country is convinced that peace is an eternal cause, which is the primary responsibility of all States as stewards of all peacebuilding and sustaining peace efforts on the ground. Since regaining its independence, Morocco has been actively participating in peace efforts at the international, multilateral, regional and national levels, as well as in the context of its South-South and triangular cooperation in support of requesting countries. That is particularly the case with brotherly and partner countries on the African continent, where Morocco hopes to create a space of co-prosperity for peace in all its forms and manifestations to set the stage for sustainable socioeconomic development and common well-being, since it must be recalled that there can be progress only if it is shared. Those principles prevailed during the election of Morocco to the Security Council in 1963 and 1992 during our engagement in peacekeeping operations and our chairmanship of the Central African Republic configuration of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC). I wish to recall that, as part of our commitment to peacekeeping and peacebuilding, to date Morocco has deployed troops in several peacekeeping operations. More than 1,600 troops are currently deployed to maintain peace, and more than 60,000 soldiers have served under the banner of the United Nations. For all countries, including mine, the convening of this high-level meeting on peacebuilding and sustaining peace bodes well for sending the clear message that the United Nations is ready to support States in transition and those that wish to help to implement the success story achieved and desired by countries emerging from crisis. The Peacebuilding Commission does outstanding work through its important contribution to United Nations peacebuilding and sustaining peace. Beyond country configurations, it has sought to undertake other activities and to cooperate with new partners. My delegation therefore welcomes the contribution of the PBC acknowledged in the report of the Secretary- General and the more eminent role that it will be called on to assume in the new United Nations configuration, such as within the Peacebuilding Support Office and the Peacebuilding Fund. It is not by chance that the PBC has succeeded in establishing itself as a consultative credible body with great flexibility and the ability to adapt, upon which the Security Council will increasingly draw. I would like to take this opportunity, in the presence of the high-level officials in this Hall, to call on States to provide substantial and predictable financing through voluntary or assessed contributions. The Secretary-General’s report includes a number of proposals and recommendations in that regard for our consideration. In conclusion, I would like to take this historic opportunity to note that peace is a right, not a privilege, in a world where all conflicts, threats and crises are cross-border in nature. In that regard, the reform launched by the Secretary-General, today’s high-level meeting and other processes, such as the review of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture planned for 2020, are part of an ongoing promising trend. It is incumbent on all of us — Member States and the international community — to deepen our discussion and find the right balance in order to demonstrate the political will and creativity we need to ensure that building and sustaining peace can become a concrete reality for every individual. As always, Morocco stands ready to support all joint initiatives and will provide assistance when it is requested.

At the outset, I would like to join previous speakers in welcoming this important high-level meeting and, at the same time, to congratulate the Secretary-General on the quality of his report on building and sustaining peace (A/72/707) and its pertinent recommendations. Chad welcomes the robust participation of States in this debate on sustaining and building peace, which, owing to the stakes involved, continues to be central to all our concerns. All the reforms envisaged, and those to come, have the quest for peace at their core — seeking, maintaining, strengthening and sustaining it. Lasting peace has particular significance for many of our countries, because they have endured so much violence, which has undermined their foundations and resulted in painful hardships and countless sacrifices. Chad is one such country, whose territory has been the scene of unspeakable violence. Our current authorities, and the entire Chadian population, have had to make enormous efforts to break the cycle of violence, achieve peace, preserve cohesion and promote reconciliation, without which the temporary end of conflict is merely a perilous interlude that can enable a relapse into a worse crisis. My country is striving to rebuild peace, but also to share it in its immediate neighbourhood with those who lack it. That is why we are making sacrifices by participating in various initiatives in the subregion aimed at combating cross-border crime, trafficking in drugs and humans, and groups that foment violent extremism. At the national level, maintaining the fragile peace requires as much if not more effort as it did to win it. Peacebuilding mechanisms have been put in place to maintain a spirit of dialogue and consultation. Whether through our national political dialogue committee, which brings together parties of the majority and the opposition, our reconciliation framework for farmers, our interreligious platform for peace or our association of traditional chiefdoms, we have explored all kinds of specific ways to preserve peace and build a peaceful society. In that regard, we commend the valuable support provided by the Peacebuilding Fund and the Peacebuilding Support Office, which remain committed to supporting the efforts of the Chadian Government and meeting the pressing financing needs of the local communities involved in prevention and mediation activities. Based on a holistic approach to consolidating and sustaining peace, my country has established strengthening national unity as the first pillar of our 2030 Vision for the Chad we want. That guideline will enable us to fight social divisions and thereby help to strengthen peace among our people, without which our developing democratic environment would be weakened. To achieve that crucial objective, we will mobilize ethnic and religious diversity, our cultural and political dimensions and our human rights commitments. In order to launch that approach we held an inclusive national forum from 19 to 27 March, where participants not only reaffirmed their desire to live together in peace, but also voiced forceful new ideas for preserving the gains we have made. The prominent role played by young people and women in the forum resulted in the adoption of some 20 resolutions, committing the State to creating the conditions to enable those sectors, whose dynamism in prevention and mediation is evident at every level of national life, to participate more in decision-making. By making young people and women the major actors for Chad’s future, the Government intends to make them more responsible, so that their creative genius leaves every citizen with a love of country and the will to live together and in peace. Peace can be sustainable only if we tackle the root causes of conflict. In that regard, Chad welcomes the Secretary-General’s commitment to making the actions of our shared Organization more efficient. Of all the reforms envisaged by the Secretary-General to which my country once again gives its support, the reform concerning the repositioning of the United Nations development system is at the heart of our aspirations for peace. Poverty, exclusion and frustration form breeding grounds for every violent crisis, and we see that around Lake Chad and in the Sahel. We therefore call on Member States for greater commitment to implementing the reforms launched by the Secretary- General, so that lasting and predictable resources can be mobilized to curb vulnerability and poverty. In conclusion, Chad reiterates its support for the Secretary-General’s vision and will continue to work with ever greater effort in solidarity and complementarity in order to achieve peaceful, reconciled and determined societies working with confidence for the common good.

My delegation thanks the President for organizing this high- level meeting, an opportunity for all States Members of the United Nations to commit to working together to achieve genuine peacebuilding, a goal that is so crucial to multilateralism. Honduras welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on peacebuilding and sustaining peace (A/72/707), which includes proposals aimed at improving the effectiveness of the United Nations with regard to one of its fundamental mandates arising from the Charter, and we take note of its recommendations. My country reiterates its support for the concept of sustainable peace, given our commitment to the promotion of the peaceful settlement of disputes and the implementation of the relevant United Nations resolutions and international law as a whole with the aim of helping to strengthening international peace and security. Peacekeeping operations have been an essential tool in the promotion and maintenance of international peace and of a climate of security. Given that they have been developing over time towards more holistic and multidisciplinary approaches, the need to reform the United Nations peace and security pillar so as to adapt it to the new realities has become a joint task. Honduras agrees on a holistic approach to reform that takes into account the wishes of all women, men, young people, boys and girls in conflict-affected areas to find the peace of a better future. My delegation believes that, in order to make progress on the delicate and important task of achieving sustainable and lasting peace, we must first address the sources of instability to avoid conflicts before they start, by intensifying investment efforts and adopting new measures to prevent crises, which result in ever-greater human and financial losses. We must ensure the full participation of women in all sectors of society, and specifically in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peacebuilding. We must bolster cooperation among the different stakeholders and the search for synergies among international, regional and subregional organizations, since peace can be achieved and sustained only if everyone participates. Lastly, we must promote a culture of mediation in national, regional and international policies. My delegation recognizes the important work being done by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations throughout the world and believes that preventive diplomacy and effective dialogue among the parties is the way most in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations to prevent conflicts and achieve lasting peace. Honduras supports the strengthening of the Peacebuilding Support Office so as to integrate peace and security with development and human rights, and ongoing assistance through the Peacebuilding Fund to help overcome barriers to social cohesion and develop a safer and more resilient society. In that regard, my country would like to express special thanks to the Secretary-General for his consideration and approval of the Tri-National Project for Resilience and Social Cohesion in Northern Central America, through the Peacebuilding Fund, which aims to address specific difficulties faced by women, children and adolescents by coordinating actions among the United Nations and the Governments of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. In conclusion, my delegation would like to state that peace and development are interlinked. We cannot expect to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in circumstances of war, conflict and instability. Especially in these violent times, all Member States must find peaceful and satisfactory solutions to conflicts and disputes, act with moderation, refrain from the use of force or threat of force and strengthen cooperation among all countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. Honduras reiterates its commitment to that great objective.

Let me begin by thanking the President for organizing and convening this high- level meeting. As we all know, the peace and security landscape all across the world is plagued by mounting and complex challenges. Long-standing conflicts have intensified, while new dangers have emerged. In fundamental ways, we have gone in reverse rather than forward. This meeting is therefore an opportune moment to step back, take stock and review where we are and what needs to be done. While we all agree on the criticality of achieving and sustaining peace, we have not been able to translate that broad agreement into real progress on the ground, or indeed to evolve the necessary consensus on the steps we need to take next. We believe that sustained political processes should be at the core of our peace endeavours — processes that cover all phases of conflict, from prevention to escalation to avoidance of any relapse or regression. The path towards durable peace begins with a clear understanding of the root causes and nature of conflict, and sustainable peace cannot be achieved until the underlying causes of conflict are fully addressed. They include poverty; foreign occupation, external interference and interventions, political and economic injustice; ethnic, tribal and religious tensions and also, increasingly, environmental degradation. In addition, the resolution of long-standing political disputes is critical. We appreciate the report of the Secretary-General (A/72/707), with its added focus on prevention. He addresses some vital questions that have been raised in various forums since the adoption of the twin resolutions — resolution 70/262 and Security Council resolution 2282 (2016) — on the peacebuilding architecture review in 2016. Those include the role of cross-pillar coordination within the United Nations system, options for predictable sources of funding for peacebuilding and the impact of the impending reform of various United Nations pillars on peacebuilding activities. Recommendations in the report provide us with a good basis to proceed. We believe that the following factors are vital for the success of our peacebuilding and sustaining-peace efforts. First, we need a better understanding of the root causes of conflict and the ability to address them in our strategies. Secondly, we need greater coherence and synergy across the United Nations system and enhanced capacity of the Peacebuilding Support Office to act as a hinge between the peace and security and other pillars of the United Nations system. Thirdly, we must devise regional strategies with the full participation of national actors. We strongly feel that sustaining peace initiatives should be locally owned, regionally anchored and internationally supported. Fourthly, we must recognize and support the pivotal role of women and youth in sustaining peace. Fifthly, we must restructure and better prioritize the funding needs for peacebuilding activities. The options provided by the Secretary- General therefore need to be very carefully considered. Finally, building peace, as we all know, is hard work, but sustaining peace is even harder. Lasting peace cannot be imposed from the outside. It has to be built from within. What we need are capacities to provide early warning, address the root causes and include all stakeholders in trying to find comprehensive solutions.

At the outset, I would like to thank the President for organizing this high-level meeting on the important issue of peacebuilding and sustaining peace. Addressing that issue is the reason the Organization was founded more than 70 years ago. I would also like to thank the Secretary-General for his opening statement (see A/72/ PV.83), which included a number of important elements in this regard. This meeting shows, if it was still necessary to do so, how important peacebuilding and sustaining peace are, as provided for in the so-called twin draft resolutions (resolution 70/262 and Security Council resolution 2282 (2016)). This is of the greatest importance for many States Members of the United Nations, particularly those that are emerging from a conflict or those that are in the throes of conflict. We therefore reaffirm and call for everybody to remember the concept of restoring peace, which began under the institutional plan in the late Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali’s report entitled “An Agenda for Peace”, which was published in 1992. At the time, the Secretary- General presented a vision of a United Nations with strengthened capacities for taking an integrated and global approach to ensuring international peace and security. It would begin with preventive diplomacy and the restoration of peace and peacekeeping until peace could be built, along the lines of a continuum, which is something that has been embraced and adopted by the United Nations since then. The State of Kuwait very much appreciates the efforts of the current Secretary-General in terms of reform, particularly the reform of the peace and security pillars, given that they are intrinsically linked in the field. We therefore welcome the report of the Secretary-General in this area (A/72/707). The State of Kuwait urges the General Assembly to adopt draft resolution A/72/L.49, so that the Secretary-General can move forward in reviewing the peacebuilding provisions at the Assembly’s seventy- fourth session, in 2020. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the facilitators of the negotiations to achieve a draft resolution, namely, the Permanent Representatives of Bangladesh and Lithuania. We thank them for their efforts for an adoption by consensus of the draft resolution. When we are discussing issues of peacebuilding and sustaining peace in this Hall, we need to discuss the Peacebuilding Commission, which was created by the Security Council and the General Assembly and is of the greatest importance for peacebuilding and sustaining peace. When it was created, it filled an important gap in the United Nations between emergency aid and development aid. The foreign policy of the State of Kuwait is based upon a number of pillars, including preventive diplomacy, reconciliation and mediation, in order to prevent disputes from breaking out and contain them when they do. We have a dispute-settlement mechanism using solely peaceful methods. We fully believe that preventive diplomacy, reconciliation and mediation, if used appropriately, can prevent many conflicts from occurring. What I have mentioned is in line with the Secretary- General’s vision for the reform of the peace pillar, as provided for in his 2017 report on restructuring the United Nations peace and security pillar (A/72/525). In the report, he shed light on a very important element, namely, that society must look at the root causes of conflict as well as at the need to prevent and contain conflicts before they break out through early prevention and reconciliation.

At the outset, I would like to express my delegation’s gratitude and appreciation to the President for having convened this important meeting and setting out our priorities for peacebuilding and sustaining peace. I would also like to thank the Secretary-General for his enlightening remarks (see A.72/PV.83) and the valuable recommendations contained in his recent report (A/72/707). My delegation aligns itself with the statement delivered by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on behalf of the Movement of Non-Aligned countries (see A.72/PV.83). Our meeting takes place at a time when the world is facing unprecedented, complex and multifaceted challenges, including protracted armed conflicts, terrorism, refugee and migrant crises, inequality and exclusion, and increasing mistrust, which pose serious threats to international peace and security and severely undermine our efforts to achieve sustainable development. It is therefore high time for the United Nations to take a more holistic, integrated and people-centred approach to sustaining peace, with key priority given to conflict prevention, promotion of synergies and smooth transitions from peacekeeping to peacebuilding activities, with national ownership at the heart of those efforts. For that strategy to work, my delegation would like to make the following observations. First, all disputes and conflicts must be resolved by peaceful means in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and international law, including non-interference in the internal affairs of countries, respect for the sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of States, and renouncing the threat or use of force. We believe that through multilateralism and strict compliance with international law, we could collectively address outstanding and emerging issues, promote mutual trust, and reduce the risk of negative ideologies, policies and actions. We call on the world’s Powers to demonstrate their goodwill, shoulder their responsibilities and take the initiative in finding harmonious, equitable and long-lasting solutions to outstanding issues in the interest of all parties concerned, thereby creating a peaceful and stable environment. Secondly, sustaining peace is possible only by addressing the root causes of conflicts and preventing the outbreak of and the relapse into conflicts. It is critical to develop and carry out comprehensive policies with concrete measures to help conflict- affected States, especially those vulnerable to crises, to enhance institutional capacity and good governance, advance economic development, and promote peaceful, inclusive and resilient societies. Thirdly, equal, efficient and sustainable partnerships and cooperation among the United Nations, regional and subregional organizations, national Governments and other diverse stakeholders, particularly women and youth, are essential for sustaining peace and sustainable development. To that end, at Viet Nam’s initiative, in 2009 the Security Council adopted resolution 1889 (2009), on women and peace and security, calling for countries and international and regional communities to expand women’s participation in all stages of conflict settlement and post-conflict reconstruction. Fourthly, it is necessary to allocate adequate resources to implement the crucial peacebuilding and sustaining peace agendas. Financing for both should be sustained, predictable, long-term and well managed for effective and efficient impact on the ground. We welcome the Secretary-General’s reports on the comprehensive reform of the United Nations system with concrete proposals to enhance the coherence, accountability and efficiency of peace operations, both at Headquarters and in field missions, to cost-effectively carry out its mandate and to better assist Member States in implementing their development priorities. As a peace-loving country, Viet Nam has always been committed to the maintenance and consolidation of international peace and security. Together with other countries members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, we have been doing our utmost to build a South-East Asian region of peace, stability and prosperity. It is our consistent policy to settle all disputes, including the East Sea — also known as the South China Sea — by peaceful means, in accordance with international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to fully respect diplomatic and legal processes, and to refrain from the threat or use of force. We are now actively working towards the conclusion of the code of conduct of parties in the South China Sea. Since 2014, Viet Nam has actively participated in United Nations peacekeeping operations. We are now preparing for the deployment of a Level 2 hospital in South Sudan, in line with United Nations standards and requirements. Achieving peace is not an end in itself. My delegation therefore strongly supports the draft resolution on peacebuilding and sustaining peace to be adopted later (A/72/L.49) and will work together with all partners to implement our agendas for peace and prosperity for all.

The Republic of Korea aligns itself with the statements delivered by the representatives of Mexico, on behalf of the Group of Friends of Sustaining Peace, and of Turkey, on behalf of the MIKTA countries — Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia — respectively (see A/72/ PV.83). We wish to commend the President for his outstanding leadership in keeping alive the hard-won momentum on sustaining peace that was created by the twin resolutions we collectively adopted two years ago (resolution 70/262 and Security Council resolution 2282 (2016)). We also welcome the draft resolution that will be adopted at this high-level meeting in which we as Member States renew our strong commitment to keeping the torch of sustaining peace ablaze until it is firmly rooted across the United Nations system (A/72/L.49). Today I would like to highlight several key points that we believe deserve our due consideration in the pursuit of sustaining peace. First, we need to enhance the effectiveness of United Nations activities across the peace continuum. The world has been making great strides towards sustainable development and peace, yet we continue to face increasingly complex challenges that require the United Nations to dramatically change its modus operandi towards prevention and sustaining peace. The Republic of Korea therefore strongly supports the leadership and vision of Secretary-General Guterres in pursuing reforms to overcome the deep-rooted fragmentation that exists across the United Nations system and promote a holistic, coherent approach that integrates the three pillars of the United Nations in a mutually reinforcing way. As we push forward with reforms, let us not forget the underlying spirit of the twin resolutions, namely, to build and sustain peace from the perspective of the local people who bear the brunt of global challenges. Secondly, given the unprecedentedly complex nature of today’s challenges, it has become of paramount importance that the United Nations work effectively with different partners, such as regional organizations, international financial institutions, the private sector and civil society. That lies at the heart of the concept of sustaining peace. In fact, today many actors with financial resources, technology and expertise are increasingly showing interest in working with the United Nations. In our view, the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) is well placed within the United Nations system to help build those partnerships by making full use of its unique convening power. That was the focus when the Republic of Korea chaired the Commission last year, as we helped to facilitate an agreement between the PBC and the World Bank to, inter alia, hold annual dialogues. While the United Nations is making progress in building partnerships with international financial institutions and regional organizations such as the African Union, greater efforts should be made to work with the private sector and civil society. As the Secretary-General has rightly pointed out, the world already has the resources to deliver the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and to sustain peace. The only question is how to connect the dots. The United Nations, which has a brand like no other, is best poised to convene those different actors. And finally, I would like to take this opportunity to share with the General Assembly some key messages that came out of the Asian Conference on Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention, which my Government convened in Seoul last October with the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and the Peacebuilding Support Office. While the diversity across Asia limits general observations on the peace and security dynamics in the region, there are rich experiences that can inform United Nations efforts towards prevention and sustaining peace. First, while most large-scale armed conflicts have come to an end in Asia, subnational and low-intensity conflicts, which can have a devastating cumulative impact over time, persist across the region. Even in relatively peaceful societies, potentially destabilizing factors such as growing economic inequalities, exclusion and aggressive nationalism exist and need to be addressed. Secondly, the growing politicization of ethnic and religious identities across Asia requires long-term peacebuilding strategies that address ethnic tensions and support identity politics in a way that promotes unity. The historical and cultural sensitivities of a country should be well understood when providing support for its peacebuilding priorities. Thirdly, economic development and education are the main drivers for sustaining peace in many Asian countries. In the case of the Republic of Korea, in the aftermath of the Korean War in the early 1950s, more than two thirds of foreign aid was channelled to developing the domestic private sector. That unique public-private partnership was a key to Korea’s rapid economic development and, in turn, to sustaining peace. And finally, the peace process in Asia is marked by strong national ownership, while the United Nations is usually not in the lead. The United Nations should therefore identify its comparative advantage before engaging in the region and provide tailored support that builds on local capacities. I hope that some of these messages can be adequately reflected in our collective efforts to build and sustain peace.

Those who have taken the floor before us have spoken clearly about the new challenges we face, as reflected in the report of the Secretary-General on peacebuilding and sustaining peace (A/72/707) and in the draft resolution to be adopted later in this high- level meeting (A/72/L.49) , and have shared a common vision on how to address them. Chile understands that peace is a requirement for the promotion and protection of fundamental rights and that, in turn, social inclusion and inclusive development are conditions for peace. We are pleased to see how we have moved towards a consensus on how the system should support both the Member States and civil society in building more just and peaceful societies. This long and sometimes frustrating process has been marked by significant milestones such as the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in September 2015; resolution 2242 (2015), on women and peace and security, in October 2015; resolution 2250 (2015), on youth, peace and security, in December 2015; and the twin General Assembly and Security Council resolutions on peacebuilding, in 2016 (resolution 70/262 and Security Council resolution 2282 (2016)). This high-level meeting provides us with a further opportunity to move forward in consolidating this common vision through the draft resolution to be adopted at the end of this debate. We cannot pass up the opportunity to mention these significant advances because of the contribution they represent to global well-being. In that regard, we reaffirm the importance of strengthening multilateralism around more coherent responses to global problems. We know that sustaining peace is almost as difficult as achieving peace and that the absence of armed conflict does not mean that there is peace. The so-called traditional security threats have been largely replaced by new threats, non-State and non-military — wars and other transnational dangers such as terrorism, organized crime, drug trafficking, money laundering, arms trafficking, human trafficking, natural disasters, the spread of diseases and environmental degradation. To understand and address those new challenges, we must adopt a multidimensional approach that addresses the underlying causes of those threats, including socioeconomic, ethnic, tribal, religious or ideological tensions that may have local, regional or global impacts. In that regard, we share the opinion of the Secretary-General that we need to invest much more in prevention. The United Nations should aim for a preventive approach, focusing on early identification of the processes of violence and their underlying conditions, rather than on management and response. As the President of the General Assembly has already said, the price of not doing so is too high and the effects of conflict too inhumane (see A/72/PV.83). Along with prevention, work on peacebuilding is particularly important, preventing countries that have overcome conflicts from relapsing into spirals of violence. We hope that other processes currently under way in the Organization — reform of the development system, management reform, the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration and a concrete and pragmatic reform of the Security Council — can contribute to forging an integrated and coherent response by the Organization so as to address the causes of conflict and post-conflict reconstruction, promoting resilient societies through the implementation of joint strategies in the areas of development, human rights and the rule of law, and peace and security. Chile will continue to participate actively in those processes, fully aware of their potential to achieve the Organization’s ambitious objectives.