S/PV.9250 Security Council

In accordance with rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representatives of Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Djibouti, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Federated States of Micronesia, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Palau, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan and Ukraine to participate in this meeting. In accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the following briefers to participate in this meeting: His Excellency Mr. Muhammad Abdul Muhith, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations and Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission; and Ms. Diago Ndiaye, President of the Network on Peace and Security for Women in the ECOWAS Region. In accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite His Excellency Mr. Maged Abdelaziz, Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States to the United Nations, to participate in this meeting. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2023/19, which contains the text of a letter dated 5 January 2023 from the Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, transmitting a concept note on the item under consideration. I warmly welcome the Deputy Secretary-General, Her Excellency Ms. Amina Mohammed, to whom I now give the floor.

I would like to start by expressing my gratitude to Japan for hosting this timely and important debate. Peace is the core mission of the United Nations. It is our raison d’être. That mission is now under grave threat. People’s sense of safety and security is at a low in almost every country, with six in seven worldwide plagued by feelings of insecurity. The world is facing the highest number of violent conflicts since the Second World War. Two billion people, one quarter of humankind, live in places affected by conflict. That is causing grave human suffering, both directly in conflict zones and indirectly, by adding to poverty and food insecurity and reducing access to education and health care. It is imposing severe constraints on people’s ability to fulfil their potential and contribute to society. Even before the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, conflict-affected countries were lagging on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Projections indicated that by 2030 more than 80 per cent of the world’s extreme poor would live in fragile and conflict-affected countries. In other words, conflict and poverty are closely intertwined. The pandemic has only aggravated that dire situation. The war in Ukraine is devastating the lives of millions of Ukrainians. It has also compounded a food, energy and finance crisis worldwide, especially among the world’s most vulnerable people and countries. Recalling the words of the Secretary-General, the world is at a key inflection point in history. Rethinking our efforts towards achieving sustainable peace is an absolute necessity. There is only one route to durable peace  — to the peace that withstands the crises of our times. It is the route of sustainable development. Inclusive, sustainable development that leaves no one behind is essential in its own rights. It is also humankind’s ultimate prevention tool. It is the only reliable tool that can break through cycles of instability to address the underlying drivers of fragility and humanitarian need. Investments in development, investments in people, investments in human security, investments in our shared prosperity are also investments in peace. And yet, our investments in recent years have fallen far short. As we approach the midway point of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we see that our current progress is far off track. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many millions more people — more than 200 million more  — have fallen into poverty. An additional 820 million people  — families, mothers, fathers and children — are going hungry. More women and girls are having their rights trampled on, erased from public life and constrained in private life. The global financial system is failing developing countries, and economies are failing to serve the vast majority of their citizens, except for a small elite. Those challenges are not just development issues. They pose a threat to our peaceful coexistence. Development deficits drive grievance. They corrode institutions. They allow hostility and intolerance to flourish. When we fail to meet the development needs of our time, we fail to secure peace for our future. The triple planetary crisis of biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution does not merely threaten our environment. It also threatens to unleash destructive forces that drive wedges in our societies, erode social cohesion and ignite instability. As we embark on this discussion of peacebuilding and sustaining peace, I urge everyone to consider the fundamental role of sustainable development in securing peace for current and future generations. May I impress upon the Council four observations for building and sustaining peace that is built on a bedrock of inclusive, sustainable development. First, our efforts at achieving peace must be based on a shared understanding of peace and its pathways. The follow-up discussions on the Secretary-General’s Our Common Agenda (A/75/982), scheduled for 2023, under the preparations for the SDG Summit and the Summit of the Future, open key opportunities to further a shared understanding of the pathways to peace. The New Agenda for Peace will provide a unique opportunity to articulate a shared vision for how Member States can come together to address those challenges and to honour the commitment they made in the declaration on the commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations: “we will promote peace and prevent conflicts” (General Assembly resolution 75/1, para. 9). Prevention and peacebuilding therefore will be at the core of the New Agenda for Peace through a comprehensive understanding of prevention, linking peace, sustainable development, climate action and food security. The New Agenda for Peace will be aimed at identifying additional ways to support national prevention and peacebuilding priorities and to channel the international community’s support to nationally owned violence-reduction initiatives that are human- centred, with a comprehensive prevention focus, that are grounded in the core notion of human security and that seek to build more resilient societies that can address existing and new forms of risks. Allow me to stress that all Member States are exposed to risks, and no country lives in a vacuum. All Governments must be prepared to take measures that address grievances and prevent violence. Inclusion will also be at the centre of the New Agenda for Peace. We know that inclusive processes are more likely to be effective and to bring about sustainable peace. Inclusion involves the meaningful participation of all constituencies and communities, particularly those traditionally underrepresented in peace and security processes, but also in the social, economic and political life of a country. That adds up to recognizing and ensuring, in the broadest possible way, that human rights are pivotal in the New Agenda for Peace. Secondly, investing in inclusion is not only right, it is wise. Inclusion leads to more public support and greater legitimacy. It strengthens societal resilience and addresses structural inequalities, which are major risk factors for violent conflict. Among other things, inclusion means addressing fundamental gender inequalities. I have just returned from Afghanistan where I conveyed those messages to the de facto authorities. A society based on exclusion and repression can never flourish. A society in which the rights of women and girls are trampled on is no society at all. Women’s full participation in politics and the economy makes a society more likely to succeed. Sustainable peace cannot be built where the rights of women are ignored. On the global stage, we have made some progress on inclusion, but that progress is still far too slow. Women remain largely shut out of local, national, regional and international decision-making. In the Secretary-General’s most recent report on women and peace and security (S/2022/740), he warned that the world is currently experiencing a reversal of generational gains in women’s rights. The percentage of women represented in political forums and peace processes has decreased in recent years. Military expenditures are growing, while funding for women’s human rights organizations is falling. We need transformational change to break that cycle, halt the erosion of women’s rights and ensure gender equality in order to build and sustain peace. Young people also play a key role in promoting peace, security and stability worldwide, as recognized by resolution 2250 (2015). To that end, all those involved in peace should support the establishment of dedicated regional and national frameworks for youth engagement in peacebuilding. Youth, peace and security should be more widely reflected in the mandates of special political missions and peacekeeping operations. We also hope that the Council will consider hosting an annual open debate dedicated to youth, peace and security, as a platform for engagement with youth-led civil society and young peacebuilders, especially our women. Conflict prevention and conflict resolution efforts must be shaped through inclusive processes, involving the leadership of women and youth and reflecting their priorities. It is essential that all peacebuilders, including women and young people, are protected against reprisals and attacks resulting from their work. Thirdly, I underline the importance of the peacebuilding architecture, in particular the need to explore how the Security Council can further leverage the role and advice of the Peacebuilding Commission, which forges crucial partnerships and collective responses to peace and security threats, representing a valuable complement to the work of the Council. Increasingly, it provides advice on important thematic and cross-cutting agendas and it highlights country- specific and regional peacebuilding needs in countries and regions, including the Central African Republic, Colombia, the Great Lakes region and West Africa and the Sahel. I urge the Council to capitalize on the Commission’s comparative advantages in order to integrate crucial prevention and peacebuilding lenses more squarely into our work. Finally, the success of our collective efforts to advance sustainable peace worldwide will depend on adequate investment in peacebuilding. I am heartened by the unanimous adoption of resolution 76/305, on financing for peacebuilding, by the General Assembly in September 2022. The resolution emphasizes the need for greater political, operational and financial investment in prevention and peacebuilding efforts in order to sustain peace. The resolution also underscores the need to invest in local initiatives and in stakeholders active at the local level. That is essential for building societal resilience. I commend the commitment of Member States to achieving sustained, adequate and predictable financing for peacebuilding, including through the consideration of assessed contributions for the Peacebuilding Fund. The Secretary-General’s Fund remains the Organization’s leading instrument to invest in peacebuilding and prevention, in partnership with the wider United Nations system and together with national authorities. We cannot allow crises, of which there are so many, to divert funding away from these core efforts. I very much look forward to today’s debate.

I thank the Deputy-Secretary- General for her briefing. I now give the floor to Mr. Muhith. Mr. Muhith: I wish to thank you, Mr. President, in my capacity as Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission, for the opportunity to brief the Security Council at this important meeting. At the outset, I wish to commend Japan for focusing today’s debate on peacebuilding and sustaining peace and on the importance of further strengthening how we collectively respond to the multifaceted and often interlinked challenges that we face today. The challenges to peacebuilding and sustaining peace have multiplied, particularly in the context of the prevailing global pandemic and resulting economic downturn, exacerbated by climate change and the changing nature of conflict dynamics. It is imperative to enhance the ability of individuals, societies and nations to cope with the challenges specific to our times. That has led to an increased interest on the part of countries and regions in engaging with the Peacebuilding Commission to expand and strengthen their capacities for peacebuilding and sustaining peace. Last year alone, the Commission engaged with several new contexts for the first time, including those of Timor-Leste, South Sudan and the Central Asian region, in order to learn from their experiences in building peace. A critical lesson that has repeatedly emerged from the Commission’s engagement in various parts of the world is that it is important to support nationally owned and nationally led efforts to build effective, accountable, inclusive and responsive institutions at the national and local levels aimed at reducing vulnerability and protecting and empowering citizens. In view of that, the Peacebuilding Commission recognizes the need to increase investments in strengthening effective, accountable and inclusive public service institutions that deliver for all citizens, within the framework of the rule of law, cutting across all the Sustainable Development Goals, in an integrated and coordinated manner. As recognized in the twin resolutions on peacebuilding and sustaining peace (General Assembly resolution 75/201 and Security Council resolution 2558 (2020)), which are also relevant to today’s discussion, inclusivity is key to advancing national peacebuilding processes and objectives in order to ensure that the needs of all segments of society are taken into account. In that regard, the Commission continues to underline the importance of the full, equal and meaningful participation of women, and to call for the inclusion of both women and young people in capacity-building efforts at the local, national and regional levels. As the demand for peacebuilding support continues to grow, both in terms of the number of requests for support and in terms of the complexity of the multifaceted and often interlinked challenges that need to be addressed for sustainable outcomes, it is clear that our responses need to be strengthened. We need to place greater emphasis on efficiency and coherence, in addition to leveraging our comparative advantages and ensuring that our actions can have an impact on the ground, helping societies achieve lasting peace and sustainable development. That requires the full commitment of all of us to finding agreed and often innovative solutions, while working with full respect for national ownership and existing United Nations mandates. I am pleased to note that the synergies between the Peacebuilding Commission and the Security Council represent a good practice in that regard. The Commission has considerably strengthened its advisory role to the Council, at the Council’s request. The number of submissions from the Commission to the Council has continued to grow, reaching a total of 17 in 2022. The timeliness of the advice of the Peacebuilding Commission has also improved, enabling the Council to take decisions while benefiting from the broader peacebuilding perspectives shared with it by the Commission. That progress was achieved thanks to a number of informal arrangements that allowed the Council to make a better use of the advisory, bridging and convening role of the Peacebuilding Commission. To mention only a few examples, those arrangements included the convening of informal interactive dialogues, which offered an additional opportunity for the Council to seek the informal advice of the Peacebuilding Commission, including in preparation for the Council’s visits to the field in contexts facing peacebuilding challenges; the appointment by the Peacebuilding Commission of an informal coordinator for the interactions between the Council and Commission, which contributed to a better alignment of the Peacebuilding Commission’s programme of work with that of the Council, thereby improving the relevance and timeliness of its submissions thereto; and the decision, taken by the Council in 2022, to share with the Peacebuilding Commission the advance copies of relevant reports of the Secretary-General, which allowed the Commission to make its advice more substantive, complementing — and not duplicating — the content of those reports. Based on those best practices, I would like to take this opportunity to encourage all of us to further explore innovative ideas on how the Council could make use of the Peacebuilding Commission to complement its work. Those joint reflections could also be useful in developing guidance for the Peacebuilding Commission when it prepares written submissions for the Council’s consideration. The Peacebuilding Commission is also open to exploring the provision of other forms of advice to the Council on relevant countries, especially those in which a peace operation is present, building on the Commission’s interactions with the countries in question and the updates it receives from the United Nations system on the ground, and leveraging the PBC’s convening role vis-à-vis regional and subregional organizations, international financial institutions, regional development banks and civil society organizations. We just heard the Deputy Secretary-General’s update on the Secretary-General’s commitment to developing a New Agenda for Peace, as a contribution to the Summit of the Future to be held in September 2024. With a view to strengthening the United Nations response to the multifaceted challenges we are facing, the Commission looks forward to further discussions on the outcomes of the Secretary-General’s Our Common Agenda (A/75/982), which echoes the need to enhance support for national peacebuilding priorities and the importance of the full, equal and meaningful participation of women, as well as the inclusion of young people, in peacebuilding processes. The Commission also reiterates its call for adequate, predictable and sustained financing for peacebuilding with a view to reinforcing efforts to build and sustain peace at the national and local levels. I am pleased to inform the Security Council that the Commission will convene a dedicated discussion on a New Agenda for Peace next Monday. That meeting will provide an opportunity for the Peacebuilding Commission members to complement the ongoing consultation process with peacebuilding-specific ideas, including on a strengthened and more strategic role of the Peacebuilding Commission for better and more sustained peacebuilding outcomes.

I thank Mr. Muhith for his briefing. I now give the floor to Ms. Ndiaye.

Let me first extend my warm greetings to all the Ambassadors here today, especially the President, Mr. Ishikane, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Japan, as well as the Deputy Secretary-General, Ms. Amina Mohammed, and all the members of the Security Council. I have been asked to participate in this open debate, and it is therefore my privilege and honour to address the Council today to answer two questions. I will begin by responding to the first guiding question for today’s open debate (see S/2023/19, annex): how can the Security Council better address emerging threats and risk multipliers in order to achieve peacebuilding and sustaining peace? That is to say, which areas of concern should be considered, whose voices shall be heard and how can constructive synergies be created among various stakeholders? We came up with several answers, the first of which concerns how we respond to conflict. Internal conflicts are related to the problems of governance, poorly organized elections and a lack of respect for constitutions. The Security Council, in our opinion, should also find ways to prevent those situations from happening. Furthermore, we believe that it is important to broaden the scope of discussion by involving non-State institutions in consultative and discussion-based frameworks. For example, the Security Council could listen to other voices, including, as Mr. Muhith just said, the voices of civil society, especially those of women and young people, and of trade unions and political organizations. Secondly, we need to respond to social inequalities and exclusion on the basis of regional, religious and ethnic differences, which are often the sources of conflict in many African countries. The Security Council should seek approaches to rectify such trends in countries with high levels of inequality and discrimination. Furthermore, we believe that approaches promoting collaborative security should also be encouraged, now that the limits of all-military strategies have come to light. There is also a need to systematize approaches to disseminating the provisions of certain Security Council resolutions that are sometimes ignored by stakeholders, including resolution 1325 (2000); resolution 1820 (2008), on sexual violence in wars; and resolution 2242 (2015) and resolution 2250 (2015), on women and peace and security, and youth, peace and security, respectively. The second question is as follows: What needs to be done to build resilient and effective institutions; to invest in people, especially women and young people; and to guarantee societal inclusion? We believe in the need to support countries that have decided to adopt innovative approaches to building certain State institutions through inclusive citizen-led dynamics. Such approaches allow those institutions to be owned by the populations they serve and who will therefore be able to guarantee their functioning and effectiveness. We also underscore the need to stand alongside States in advocating respect for democratic processes and free and transparent elections, as well as in the fight against corruption, which are often sources of conflict in our States. Enrolling girls and keeping them in school, even in times of conflict, remain key in the empowerment of future generations of women and should be a priority for our States and partners. Thousands of girls have had to drop out of school in the Sahel region. The recent abduction of some 50 women and girls in Burkina Faso is just one example whereby the promotion and empowerment of women has suffered a setback. It is vital to invest in capacity-building, in addition to ensuring funding, for institutions working on gender and the women and peace and security agenda at all levels — from UN-Women, at the United Nations level, which does not have many offices in Africa due to a lack of resources, to the ministries in charge of the promotion of women and young people and the protection of children, which cannot always function effectively due to a lack of funding, despite budgetary allocations from States and development partners. A greater presence of women is also essential in mediation and peacebuilding teams across all regions of the world. The involvement of women and young people in formal peace processes should be ensured so as to prevent them from resorting to parallel or informal processes. Civil society, young people and women should be afforded their rightful spaces in the peacebuilding agenda, including in conflict prevention and inequality components. As the Secretary-General said: “Efforts to build and sustain peace are necessary not only once conflict has broken out, but long beforehand through preventing conflict and addressing its root causes. We must work better together across the peace continuum, focusing on all the dimensions of conflict.” The establishment of basic infrastructure, such as health-care clinics, schools, daaras for religious education — an aspect of education that must nevertheless be managed — community infrastructure and tools that will contribute to easing the burden of women’s labour, are important tools for the empowerment of women and young people. The empowerment of women through functional literacy programmes  — which, to be frank, our States no longer provide  — contribute to the awareness and development of rural and urban entrepreneurship as sources of income. When women can actively participate in their children’s education and become self-reliant, more just, equitable and stable societies can be achieved for inclusive sustainable cohesion. Our States must also strengthen the provision of basic social and community infrastructure to respond to the needs of vulnerable groups. If I may, I will now refer to some elements of the recommendations I have mentioned that should be included in the New Agenda for Peace in the context of peacebuilding and peacekeeping. The first element is the impact of climate change. We know that in the Sahel and all over the world, especially in Africa, women are suffering termendously from the effects of climate change. They are also suffering from emerging security threats that affect women  — I mentioned kidnapping and rape earlier  — and from emerging health insecurity, in particular with respect to the spread of dengue fever, the Ebola virus, which we are all too familiar with, and, more recently, the coronavirus disease pandemic, which continues to plague us still today, as well as other crises to be prevented. The economic, energy and food crises must also be dealt with, as has been said. In fact, Senegal has been hosting, since yesterday, a major international meeting on food security, and we await its recommendations and conclusions in order to contribute to their implementation. Another element is the governance of natural and environmental resources, in which, we know, women already play a very important role. While they may be contributors to environmental degradation, they also have the potential to be drivers of change. They can thus make their voices heard to promote change on that issue. An additional element is new technologies, their ramifications for peace and the opportunities, but also the dangers, they present. Lastly, there is the issue of migration, which must be dealt with not from a perspective of exclusion, but from one of development. I was given eight minutes to speak, and I believe I have reached the end of my allotted time. I remain at Council members’ disposal for any further information or questions they may have.

I thank Ms. Ndiaye for her briefing. I shall now make a statement in my capacity in the representative of Japan. I thank Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, Ambassador Muhammad Abdul Muhith and Ms. Diago Ndiaye for their informative and insightful briefings. In every corner of the world, we face increasingly complex challenges that make peace vulnerable and fragile. Each situation is unique, with its own context, and should receive equally close and constant attention. In particular, we should raise awareness about the various emerging risk multipliers. Those requiring our close attention include food and energy insecurity, health emergencies, climate change and human rights violations and abuses, to name but a few. We have recently witnessed how easily peace recedes and the humanitarian situation deteriorates in some countries and regions, despite strenuous efforts over time. An integrated and tailored approach to build and sustain peace, consistent with emerging risks, is more important than ever. To take on the daunting challenges of our time, how can we further strengthen the Council’s engagement? Let me share the following two points. First, the Council should play a leading role in achieving sustainable peace through the establishment of resilient institutions by investing in people. It is crucial that institutions be established to ensure that people can live in a secure environment based on the rule of law. Institutions should be able to offer basic socioeconomic services and development in order to protect and empower people so that they can cope with multifaceted challenges. Services such as health care and education are fundamental for establishing a resilient society and thereby ensuring human security, as we just heard from Ms. Ndiaye. Such a society will nurture a stronger trust of people in their Governments and the communities to which they belong. Solidarity built on such trust is the indispensable ingredient for sustaining peace. For its part, Japan’s New Approach for Peace and Stability in Africa has placed its focus on institution- and capacity-building. Investment in people within all segments of society is also crucial. In order for institutions and society to be resilient, all national stakeholders, including women and young people, should be able to proactively participate in peacebuilding. We all have to keep in mind that the people in whom we invest should be the agents to shape and promote more effective, accountable and resilient institutions and societies. The Council can strengthen the humanitarian-development-peace nexus in the mandates of United Nations peacekeeping operations by articulating it clearly in its resolutions. The Council can advance such efforts by further promoting inclusivity through thematic agendas, such as the women and peace and security and the youth, peace and security agendas. We believe that the concept of human security should be mainstreamed in the work of the United Nations in order to help to promote an integrated and coherent approach by all relevant actors. Secondly, the Council should make more effective use of other United Nations entities, in particular the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC). Here are some tangible proposals for enhancing the PBC’s advisory role to the Council. It is commendable that the PBC’s briefings and written advice to the Council have dramatically increased over the past year under the leadership of Bangladesh as the PBC Chair and Kenya as the informal coordinator between the two bodies. However, the communication channel between the two bodies has remained a one-way street. The Council should make substantial efforts to provide feedback to the PBC. Japan advocates for convening a meeting in which all PBC and Security Council members gather and engage, possibly through informal interactive dialogue. The Council should also seek and consider the PBC’s advice in the context of mandate renewals of United  Nations peacekeeping operations and special political missions. For instance, the Council could request the PBC to provide advice before a penholder starts working on a draft resolution on a mandate and could request the Head of a United Nations peacekeeping operation to brief the PBC to help it formulate advice. The Secretariat should be further strengthened to support the PBC’s work. It is our firm belief that peacebuilding through resilient institutions is the best way to prevent conflict and violence. The Security Council and the PBC could expand their roles in the field to convey necessary information and issue alerts before conflicts arise. The process to develop a New Agenda for Peace is now under way. That is therefore a historic opportunity for the United Nations, its Member States and all other partners to rebuild a common vision on peacebuilding and conflict prevention and to upgrade the United Nations toolbox to that end. We should mobilize our collective wisdom now. Let me conclude by reiterating Japan’s unwavering commitment to promoting peacebuilding and sustaining peace efforts in the United Nations and beyond. I now resume my functions as President of the Council. I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements.

I begin by thanking Japan for organizing today’s open debate on peacebuilding and sustaining peace. The focus of the debate on the investment in people to enhance resilience mirrors, in part, our signature event of 3 November 2022 (see S/PV.9181) and takes forward the Security Council’s need for further engagement on how to effectively address the many powerful drivers of instability. We are grateful to Deputy Secretary- General Amina Mohammed for her insightful statement and thank the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), Ambassador Muhammad Abdul Muhith, and the representatives of international and regional organizations for their perspectives. With the increase in the number of incidents of intra-State conflict since the early 1990s and the growing threat of cross-border terrorism and violent extremism, the international community has had to deal with diverse and mutually reinforcing drivers of instability, which make prevailing conflicts complex and difficult to resolve. The dynamics of such conflicts today are aggravated not only by the proliferation of small arms and light weapons but also by the reach and lethality of terrorist groups and transnational criminal networks. Whether by forcibly taking control of huge parts of States, launching assaults on States’ authority and presence, looting natural resources or destabilizing society through disinformation, radicalization and recruitment, especially of young populations, those groups seek to displace established States and Governments. Moreover, poor governance deficits  — including the inability of developing countries to deliver essential public services, create inclusive opportunities and promote participatory governance — undermine the effectiveness of traditional responses for addressing such conflicts. That often leads to protracted conflicts with dire consequences, including large-scale humanitarian situations. As we consider the challenges related to resolving conflicts in the Sahel, including Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Somalia and others, the Council must recall resolution 2282 (2016) on the review of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture and recent reports on that subject in order to consider additional instruments and enhanced relationships upon which it could draw to adopt a people-centred approach towards maintaining international peace and security. In that context, Ghana would like to make four specific points in relation to today’s open debate. First, the best guarantee for sustaining peace is to prevent conflicts and address their many underlying drivers. The Council’s decisions should therefore seek to reinforce actions in fragile contexts that support programmes which build the resilience of systems, institutions and individuals, and which incorporate projects for economic revitalization, employment creation and opportunities for livelihoods, in particular for young people and demobilized former combatants. In the Sahel for instance, the impact of climate change, including displacement and food insecurity, as well as endemic poverty and exclusion, low levels of education and youth unemployment, have created fertile ground for radicalization and recruitment by extremist groups. In order to break the cycle of violence and the southward expansion of terrorist activity into coastal States, it is important to agree on urgent actions to strengthen support for building the economic resilience of vulnerable communities as part of nationally and regionally led peace and security initiatives. It is important to note that one feature of the complexity of terrorist-driven conflicts is the interplay of physical insecurity and insecurity fuelled by weak community resilience. Prevention in that regard must go hand in hand with effective Security Council counter-terrorism support for regionally led peace and security initiatives. Secondly, in its efforts to build peace, the Council could work more closely with other organs and bodies within the United Nations system to ensure coherence and effectiveness in the implementation of peace objectives, especially with the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), which plays an advisory role for both the Security Council and the General Assembly. As we have seen over the years, the PBC has a cross- sectoral convening ability and has shown its ability to create, through its work, synergies across international, regional, national and local dimensions. In addressing the causes of conflict in fragile countries, as well as those in transition, the Council should leverage the resources of the PBC in bringing the actions of other international actors, such as the Bretton Woods institutions and bilateral donors, closer to the objectives of sustainable peace on the basis of locally developed and context-specific processes. In that regard, we stress the need for strategically timed joint meetings with the PBC, beginning at the mandate generation phase and in relation to common country situations that are up for renewal in the Council. We also urge PBC consultation with the Security Council in support of a coherent all- of-United-Nations-system strategy to build and sustain peace in fragile contexts, especially in the Sahel. Thirdly, a lot has been said about the role of early warning in preventing conflicts. However, we believe early-warning mechanisms are more effective if they are anchored in such regional arrangements as the African Union and its regional economic communities, for example, the Economic Community of West African States, which are closer to the conflict settings and usually have an institutional memory and keen awareness of sensitivities that help to better defuse conflict triggers. We therefore urge the United Nations to work closely with these regional organizations and for their capacities to be strengthened through increased funding for early-warning analysis and assessments. This must include supporting fragile countries in implementing appropriate interventions to remove identified threats to peace and security. As we have often said, a dollar spent in preventing a conflict saves the millions required in the phase of conflict resolution. We should therefore not only act early to stop conflict and violence from escalating, but also be proactive in dealing with early indicators of conflicts and violence before they get out of hand. Fourthly, in investing in people for resilient societies, women’s active and meaningful participation in peace processes, dialogues and peacebuilding efforts remains vital to achieving just, inclusive and long- term peace. We therefore continue to advocate an equal inclusion of women and generous embrace of youth-led organizations in decision-making and policymaking on peace and security at national and local levels. Youth and women should be actively empowered through local peace initiatives, as local ownership of peace processes is key to the success of every peace mission. The emphasis on the resilience of individuals and communities is a more practical and effective peacebuilding strategy for addressing protracted crises. Failing to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals exposes the fragilities of countries and reinforces the drivers of conflict. We have stated in the Security Council before, and we repeat it today, that integrating effective resilience-building into peace operations must be a central priority, if we are to remain a credible guarantor of peace and security around the world. As a long-standing troop-contributing country, Ghana has observed for some time now the need to balance military approaches aimed at restoring peace and peacebuilding measures focused on the resilience of the conflict communities to prevent relapse into violent conflict. As resilience involves multiple risks, sectors and systems, we would continue to encourage coherent actions across the United Nations system that are targeted at the resilience-building agenda for sustainable peace.

China welcomes the initiative of the Japanese presidency to convene today’s meeting. I thank Deputy Secretary- General Amina Mohammed and Ambassador Muhith for their briefings just now. I also listened attentively to the briefing by the civil society representative. Peacebuilding is an important part of efforts to realize lasting peace. Under current circumstances, the importance of peacebuilding is growing and becoming more pronounced. China supports the Security Council in conducting in-depth discussions on this subject and in making joint efforts with the Peacebuilding Commission and other relevant United Nations bodies. In connection with today’s topic, I would like to share the following observations. First, peacebuilding requires insisting on giving priority to development. In her briefing just now, Deputy Secretary-General Mohammed deeply elaborated on the nexus between peace and development, with which China fully agrees. Indeed, for many developing countries, development is the ultimate solution to the myriad challenges they face. Lack of development is an important root cause for many long-lasting unresolved hotspot issues on the Security Council’s agenda. In some extremely poor areas of South Sudan, livestock raiding has occurred from time to time and become a flashpoint between communities. In the Sahel, terrorist forces have exploited massive unemployment and poverty among youth to spread radicalism and recruit combatants. Many least developed countries bear the brunt of climate change, which, in essence, is an issue of sustainable development. Conflict-afflicted people are eager to rebuild their homes and long for a better life. Peacebuilding needs to correctly identify their aspirations, prioritize development and tilt resources in favour, inter alia, of poverty elimination, people’s livelihoods, wider access to education and public health. We support industrialization and the modernization of agriculture and infrastructure. Developed countries should truly honour their official development assistance and climate-financing commitments and make up for historical deficits. International financial institutions should fulfil their due responsibilities and be deeply involved in peacebuilding so as to form synergies. Secondly, we must uphold a people-centred approach. The Charter of the United Nations begins with the words “We the peoples”. The United Nations is committed to promoting State-to-State cooperation. The fundamental goal of that is to ensure everyone’s enjoyment of the dividends of peace and development. United Nations peacekeeping and peacebuilding should remain committed to the original vision of the United Nations Charter, our code for a people-centred philosophy, and strive to safeguard people’s interests, advance their well-being and support their pursuit of a better life. United Nations peacebuilding should fully support the sovereignty and leadership of the countries concerned. It should also support their in-depth exploration of a development path suited to their national conditions. In particular, United Nations peacebuilding should create enabling conditions and an encouraging international environment for a country’s development. Thirdly, we have to do a good job in capacity- building. Post-conflict countries have a great deal on their plates. An outside blood transfusion on its own is not sustainable. We have to pivot from blood transfusion to blood generation, so strengthening capacity-building across the board is an imperative. China has made tireless efforts in this regard. China’s cooperation with Africa is always action-oriented and aimed at supporting capacity- building. Since the beginning of the new century, China has built over 6,000 kilometres of railways, 6,000 kilometres of roads, close to 20 ports, more than 80 major power facilities, and helped to build more than 130 hospitals and clinics, more than 170 schools, 45 sports stadiums and more than 500 agricultural projects. These projects have effectively helped Africa to address such development bottlenecks as lacking infrastructure and a dearth of talent and capital, and enhanced Africa’s capacity for blood generation for its countries’ independent growth, which has brought tangible benefits and opportunities to the people of the continent. In East Africa, the Mombasa-Nairobi railway and the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway have changed the lives of local young people, and many people have used the business opportunities of convenient logistics to make a fortune. Some people, having mastered driving skills and developed management expertise thanks to training by China, have become their countries’ first train conductors and flight attendants. We also have many agricultural cooperation projects in Africa, which have led local farmers to develop rice plantation and, as a result, many agricultural demonstration households have learned advanced planting techniques. In Gabon, we established the International Vocational Education and Training Centre. Hundreds of young people have received professional training in electronics and electrical technology and machining and welding technology and are the future mechanics and engineers of their country. Fourthly, we must promote inclusiveness and unity. Post-conflict countries have the important task of ensuring that people of all walks of life participate equally in State governance so that the people are truly the masters of their own country. Just now, Deputy Secretary-General Mohammed also mentioned the situation in Afghanistan. I would like to underscore that the right of women and girls to education and employment should be guaranteed during the peaceful reconstruction of Afghanistan. We hope that the Taliban authorities will make positive efforts to that end. We also call on the international community to continue to support the national reconstruction of Afghanistan, which will lay the groundwork for the protection of the rights of women and girls. For many developing countries with internal conflicts, while respecting diversity and inclusiveness, all parties must overcome communal and partisan differences to jointly maintain lasting peace and security. External forces should play a constructive role and refrain from recklessly interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. Pitting one faction against another will only exacerbate division and confrontation, while making the situation increasingly complicated and turbulent. China will continue to support peacebuilding with concrete actions and contribute to the realization of lasting peace.

I thank Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed for her briefing. I also thank the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission and the President of the Network on Peace and Security for Women in the ECOWAS Region for their briefings. I thank Japan for organizing today’s debate, which raises the extremely important question about resilience, conflict prevention and peacebuilding. To meet those extremely complex challenges, as the briefers quite rightly highlighted, I should like to focus on three priority goals. First, the Security Council must be in a position to prevent and respond to new threats. It is therefore important to support the peace efforts of regional organizations. African initiatives must be supported to prevent and resolve conflicts on the continent. The commitment of the African Union to settling the conflict in the north of Ethiopia, the commitment of the East African Community in the Great Lakes region and the commitment of the South African Development Community in Mozambique have been and remain key. That is also why France supports financing African peace operations from United Nations assessed contributions. Secondly, the entire United Nations system must be mobilized and coordinated to address the root causes of conflict. Peacekeeping operations should participate directly in those efforts by supporting public service delivery throughout the territory and security sector reform. In some cases, those operations must also support the proper management of natural resources and combat trafficking. Special political missions, which are often tasked with supporting inclusive political processes, must also ensure the full participation of civilians, including women and youth, as our briefers reminded us. The efforts of agencies, funds and programmes, which must come together under the auspices of Resident Coordinators, are essential in responding to humanitarian crises, accelerating sustainable development that benefits people and building resilient and effective institutions. The entire United Nations system must better consider the impact of climate change on peace and security. It is with that goal in mind that France joined the Board of Directors of the Climate Security Mechanism, which it chairs with Germany this year. Respect for human rights and access to justice are preconditions for the prevention of conflicts because without justice, there will never be lasting peace. France reaffirms its support for the efforts of institutions that combat impunity. Thirdly and lastly, peacebuilding must produce tangible results. The Peacebuilding Commission has shown that it can bring together States, civil society and other regional actors and have them engage in dialogue. The Commission must focus its efforts on specific geographic locations and draft operational recommendations to be submitted to the Security Council. It must be present in transitional and post- conflict periods and support preparations for the drawdown of peacekeeping operations. Several cases come to mind but, in particular this year, the transition of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. France will continue to support the Peacebuilding Fund this year in the amount of €6.5 million. As has been recalled, we must continue our proactive efforts with international financial institutions in a coordinated manner, but we must also fully mobilize the private sector. Preventive diplomacy, the fight against the root causes of conflict and the building of sustainable peace are issues at the heart of preparations for the New Agenda for Peace. The Summit of the Future, to be held in September 2024, will be a milestone in the development of that Agenda. France will play its full part in those actions.

I thank Japan for this opportunity to address the question of resilience in peacebuilding. We also thank the Deputy Secretary- General, the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission and Ms. Ndiaye for their valuable insights. We share the assessment on the need to strengthen resilience through ownership and inclusion to better respond to the interlocking challenges that we face in preserving and consolidating peace. After all, peace is our mission, our everyday job and raison d’être here at the Organization. Because peace means life, and we strive for life in freedom, dignity and prosperity. History has proved, without a doubt, that those countries that have invested in people are far better equipped to make peace sustainable, prevent the outbreak of conflict and achieve development and prosperity. That is directly linked to designing and implementing policies that take into account and protect the basic interests of every human being. It starts by respecting their rights — all rights — civil, political, socioeconomic and cultural rights. Conversely, the systematic violation of human rights is a prelude to conflict, posing a direct threat to peace and security. A rights-based understanding of peace and security requires us to address injustice and discrimination, in particular against half of world’s population — women. Nowhere, not even in most developed and rights- honouring countries, do women enjoy full equality with men. But there should be no comparison. Democracies, with their freedoms and rights, dedicated institutions, a strong and vocal civil society and a tough and uncompromising free press seek ways to improve, do better, correct mistakes and even hold themselves to account. In other places, under the guise of local traditions and culture, regimes systematically exclude women from public life and participation in democratic Government, including by going to the extreme, as is, unfortunately, happening nowadays in Afghanistan, excluding them from education. That is why we believe that women and youth should be at the forefront of our efforts to empower people to become agents of change, emancipation and progress. That is how we increase resilience and prepare for the future. In my own country, Albania, we have made the empowerment of women a priority in internal and external policies  — not because it is trendy, but just because it is right. By ensuring their normal, full and meaningful participation at all levels, we have seen the real benefits of a society that knows how to harness everyone’s energy and creativity to contribute to development, generate progress and pursue prosperity. That is why we strive to see their role strengthened in international peace efforts, including in United Nations peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts, and will use our time in the Council to advance their cause, which should be our collective cause. No country can afford to under-invest in its human capital. Without an urgent and concerted global effort to build human capital, millions of people, entire countries, are in danger of being excluded from future prosperity and the Sustainable Development Goals will not be met. Despite the differences in context, a focus on human capital is essential for countries at all income levels, since the frontier for skills is continuously moving, and the demand for better education and health is increasing everywhere. Investing in human capital means that children go to school, learn critical thinking, develop their skills and are able to enter the job market as healthy grown-ups and become good citizens and productive adults. That is an investment in the family, society, development and peace. Governments have a critical role to play by investing in human capital, which helps to reduce poverty and fight inequality and other disadvantages and assists everyone in becoming part of the development drive. At a time when scientific and technological advances are transforming our lives, we must ensure that everyone is a net beneficiary by closing the gap among countries, including with regard to life expectancy. There is yet another key ingredient for peace and development — the rule of law at both the domestic and international levels. At the country level, a strong rule of law, which protects human rights, helps to prevent and mitigate crime, corruption and conflict by providing legitimate processes for the resolution of grievances and disincentives to crime and violence. Internationally, it generates an enabling environment for achieving the purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and provides the normative basis for friendly relations among States through dialogue, negotiations, mechanisms for dispute resolution, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement and recourse to regional agencies or arrangements, not through war or aggression. Weak economic development, inequality and human rights violations can be a trigger for tension, violence and conflict. In that context, the principle of the responsibility to protect, adopted by the General Assembly in the 2005 World Summit Outcome (General Assembly resolution 60/1), remains very relevant. That means that we must invest more, and better, in prevention — the weak spot of multilateralism. We have the tools, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the treaties and the resolutions. We just need to ensure that we seriously and genuinely abide by them, not just with words, but with deeds. That will undoubtedly help us, individually and collectively, to invest in a better future for all.

Let me start by welcoming Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, Ambassador Muhammad Muhith, Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission, and Ms. Diago Ndiaye, President of the Network on Peace and Security for Women in the ECOWAS Region. I thank them for their insightful briefings. I am also grateful to your delegation, Mr. President, for the attention given to peacebuilding throughout this month, beginning with requests for the advice of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) on West Africa and Colombia and culminating in this meeting. We agree with the proponents of this debate that the importance of peacebuilding is greater than ever, given the complex challenges threatening international peace and security. It is our view that the PBC is uniquely positioned to bridge discussions across the various United Nations pillars and garner international support to tackle the root causes of conflict. Sustainable development and security are closely interlinked, mutually reinforcing and key to building sustainable peace, in line with what was said by Deputy Secretary- General Amina Mohammed so eloquently today. The Security Council must therefore adopt a comprehensive approach to conflict by taking into account the relevant political, economic and social dimensions of the crises on its agenda. Our debate today provides another opportunity for further reflection on peacebuilding and the collaboration between the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission. As Brazil underscored in previous meetings last year, such exchanges between the two bodies are very welcome, and they could in fact happen more often. Furthermore, that cooperation is necessary in order to achieve sustainable peace vis-à-vis the complexity of the challenges before us. We therefore believe that it is a key element to be included in the New Agenda for Peace, which we hope will be drafted in a transparent and Member-driven manner. The relations of the Peacebuilding Commission with the Economic and Social Council, the General Assembly and, in particular, the Security Council remain yet to be fully explored. The New Agenda for Peace should highlight the potential benefit of deepening those relations. That particular issue has a priority status for most PBC members, and that is the reason that the PBC’s relationship with other bodies was included in its 2022 programme of work. We look forward to constructive engagement by the Council in that regard. The PBC can mobilize regional organizations and international financial institutions and can foster South-South and triangular cooperation arrangements in support of national peacebuilding initiatives. The Commission can also support the implementation of peacebuilding activities by peacekeeping operations and special political missions, as well as help to mobilize political support to promote reconciliation, the women and peace and security agenda, institution-building and other nationally defined peacebuilding priorities. Nevertheless, if we wish to increase the impact of the PBC’s contribution, we must strengthen its advisory role by improving the coherence of agendas, aside from the timeliness and the quality of the advice that the Commission provides to the Council. Allow me to list a few practical suggestions for more meaningful collaboration between the two bodies: first, consultations on issues relating to peacebuilding and sustaining peace ahead of the formation, review, drawdown and transition of peacekeeping operations and special political missions; secondly, the regular submission of written advice by the Peacebuilding Commission on issues on the agenda of both bodies; thirdly, further alignment of the Security Council and the PBC work programmes; fourthly, greater interaction between the Commission and the Council penholders; fifthly, enhancing the Council’s working methods regarding interaction with the PBC; and, sixthly, at least one yearly joint session, following the current practice between the PBC and the Economic and Social Council. Without proper peacebuilding-oriented inputs, the Security Council will struggle to make significant progress in conflict prevention and resolution and in managing successful transitions to peacebuilding. In our perspective, the PBC should be empowered by the Council to take a prominent role in transition settings. In conclusion, having indicated some avenues to explore in reviewing the Security Council’s work on peacebuilding, in particular its cooperation with the PBC, I would like to underline the crucial need to foster trust. However, the collaboration can prosper only if the Council regards the Commission as a valuable partner, alongside which it works transparently.

Although she left the Chamber, let me thank the Deputy Secretary-General for her presence here and for her commitment to peacebuilding. Let me also thank Japan for convening today’s open debate and the briefers for their insights. Conflict prevention, preventive diplomacy and peacebuilding efforts are critical to responding to shared security and development challenges around the world. The United States takes our shared ambitions as part of the Peacebuilding Commission (PCB) seriously. Peacebuilding efforts can help to mitigate drivers of fragility and instability and ensure that national Governments and local communities are empowered with tools to reduce the recurrence of conflict. We have been pleased to note the increase in briefings by the Peacebuilding Commission to the Security Council in the past year, and we would encourage more ambitious and structured collaboration between the Peacebuilding Commission and the Security Council. The PBC is ideally placed to raise awareness on regional efforts and local communities’ expertise, as well as the cross-border dimension of conflicts. The United States reiterates its strong support for expanding the role of the PBC in regional settings and cross-cutting areas, including human rights and climate-related peace and security risks. Such expansion includes leveraging its convening power, particularly in its advisory role to the Security Council, in order to make peacebuilding activities integrated, coordinated and responsive. The United States sees value in a New Agenda for Peace as part of the Our Common Agenda (A/75/982) initiative to ensure that the United Nations and wider multilateral responses are able to effectively manage existing and emerging threats to international peace and security. One goal for peacebuilding is sustainability, and the gains we seek cannot be fully achieved unless they are inclusive and shared by everyone. Peace processes are often put to the test because they lack legitimacy among affected populations. International actors often cannot be the architects of peace; they should support local actors in finding their own solutions. To that end, the United Nations should shift resources to increase the capacity of local, national and regional peacebuilding entities. Women, young people, local actors and broader civil society must be actively engaged and sufficiently empowered to have a meaningful impact on the decision-making process. As we have highlighted before, history has clearly demonstrated that when women are at the table and able to participate fully and meaningfully, such processes are much more likely to achieve lasting outcomes for all members of society. Similarly, engaging young people in peace processes, as well as countering terrorism and violent extremism, is important because many of those young people in conflict settings are former children in armed conflict settings. Their positive engagement also mitigates the risk that they will be pulled back into conflict. To that end, we encourage efforts by the United  Nations to produce more detailed impact assessments of its peacebuilding work, demonstrating how and in what circumstances it can contribute to effective reductions in violent conflict. Through those efforts, our hope is to build consensus around a future in which the United Nations system is fully activated and empowered to deliver in the ways we know it can. The United States commitment to peacebuilding is demonstrated by our implementation of the Global Fragility Act and the subsequent issuance of the United States Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability, which we see as complementary to United Nations efforts. We hope that the Commission’s expanding role and increased engagement with the Security Council marks important progress towards the goal of building and sustaining peace.

Mozambique welcomes Japan’s initiative to convene an open debate on this important theme. We highly praise Japan’s presidency for bringing to the attention of the Security Council such an excellent selection of topics, including the one we are discussing today. We express our profound gratitude to Her Excellency Ms. Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General. We also extend our thanks to the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission and to Ms. Diago Ndiaye, President of the Network on Peace and Security for Women in the ECOWAS Region, for their important briefings. Mozambique, in its short history as a nation, has had its fair share of experience in peacemaking, peacekeeping and peacebuilding. In that connection, our approach to peacebuilding and sustaining peace is based on the recognition of the critical linkages between peace, security and development. We consider that in order to consolidate peace, it is paramount to address the root causes  — both internal and external — of violent conflict and instability, build a broad vision and a national consensus with regard to the present and future of the country, and formulate and implement strategies to build a peaceful future. As a peacebuilding country, the key lessons we have learned from our own processes make clear the importance of addressing development challenges in order to prevent the recurrence of widespread violence. To that end, we think it is crucial to establish comprehensive, integrated and inclusive people-centred peacebuilding policies and strategies, develop and sustain unwavering national political will, and obtain the firm commitment of the international community and sustained funding. Equally important is building effective alignments, complementarity and coordination mechanisms at the local, national, regional and even international levels. And for all the elements I have mentioned to be viable, it is of the utmost importance to have capable and wise national leadership that is fully committed to the supreme interests of national unity, peace, stability and reconciliation. Peacebuilding efforts must essentially be aimed at restoring and strengthening State authority and the governance structure. They must boost the State’s ability to deliver on the basic needs and aspirations of its people. Therefore, the affected societies need assistance to build their own peace architecture, reconstitute their social fabric, strengthen the effectiveness of social institutions and sustain investments in social cohesion. In that context, we are of the view that local communities affected by violent conflict cannot be simply recipients of peacebuilding measures or initiatives. They must be fully involved and be active participants in the design and implementation of the entire peacebuilding process. In a nutshell, they must own the process of building the peace. The United Nations and other international actors must therefore engage local and national peacebuilders in structured processes that prevent the recurrence of violence and promote sustained peace. We strongly believe that in all those processes, the participation of women and young people is critical. In that regard, we wish to highlight the gender strategy and the strategic action plan on youth and peacebuilding, both spearheaded by the Peacebuilding Commission to advocate the greater engagement of women and young people in the peacebuilding process. It is our view that, for any peacebuilding intervention to be effective, it has to be carefully planned to take into account the financial, administrative and logistical needs on the ground. Furthermore, peacebuilding requires effective institutions and must help societies develop resilience and robustness so that they can cope with, and adapt to, change and sustain their own peace processes. We all know that the United Nations political and peacekeeping missions play a crucial role in the promotion and maintenance of international peace and security. That was our experience with the United Nations Operation in Mozambique, conducted, successfully, in our own country from 1992 to 1994. We also know that their effectiveness and sustainability depend critically on the availability of funding, on the ability to address emerging threats to peace and stability, including terrorism and violent extremism, and on the capacity to generate long-term peace. What we sometimes forget is that none of that would be possible without the buy-in from key national and local stakeholders. It is in the partnership between international, national and local actors that the key to success lies. In Mozambique’s view, the New Agenda for Peace must avoid one-size-fits-all solutions to the prevention and resolution of violent conflict. It must be holistic, context-specific and include, among other things, the promotion of poverty reduction and sustainable development; the promotion of critical investments in human capital, especially women and youth; the reinforcement of investment in infrastructure, restoration and development; the prioritization of homegrown solutions and the engagement of local communities in the prevention and resolution of violent conflicts; a deeper understanding of the specificities of societies affected by violent conflicts; an increase in overseas development assistance and flows aimed at generating greater economic growth and a focus on the immediate needs of post-conflict States to prevent the return to hostilities. We wish to reiterate our belief that peacebuilding must help affected societies to tackle the root cause of violence, repair the social fabric, rebuild affected people’s lives and, finally, ensure that communities possess the appropriate tools and mechanisms to resolve conflicts peacefully and in a collaborative manner, without resorting to violence.

“Peace never settles permanently. It must be nurtured every day, every moment, no matter if we are a great politician or a simple schoolboy.” These are the words of young Franco-Colombian peace activist Léa Narjoud, delivered at the Geneva Peace Talks, which have been held in Switzerland annually since 2013. Ms. Narjoud illustrates three key conditions for sustainable peace: long-term commitment, continuous investment in trust and frank and transparent discourse at all levels. Those three elements have also long guided Switzerland’s work. Sustainable peace is a priority for Switzerland in the Security Council, and I thank you, Mr. President, for having organized this open debate. We welcome the participation of Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, Peacebuilding Commission Chair Muhammad Abdul Muhith and Ms. Diago Ndiaye in this debate and thank them for their informative contributions. I would like to further illustrate the three elements mentioned — time, trust and transparency — in view of our urgent discussions in the coming months on the Secretary-General’s New Agenda for Peace. First, building sustainable peace is a long- term endeavour, as the various causes of conflict must be addressed through a holistic approach. The Council reaffirmed, in resolution 2558 (2020), that “development, peace and security, and human rights are interlinked and mutually reinforcing”. To implement that nexus, we encourage the members of the Council to continue constructive discussions in order to strengthen the links between those elements, for example, in the field of transitional justice or in peacekeeping operations’ transitions. Secondly, we need to focus on local actors and inclusivity. That is how we can build an environment of trust. Switzerland, which is organized according to the principle of subsidiarity, speaks from its own federal experience. Local communities and authorities, in all their diversity, are always at the front lines in building sustainable peace and preventing a relapse into violence. We must build on their skills and capacities. Switzerland welcomes the pioneering work of the Peacebuilding Commission in strengthening the role of national and local actors and encourages the Commission to intensify such efforts, in close collaboration with the Council. Sustainable peace also requires strong and accountable institutions that protect and promote the rights of the people who depend on them. If those rights are violated, the responsible parties must be held accountable so as to preserve trust in institutions. Thirdly, we must promote transparency and truth as a basis for concrete action. We face an unprecedented complexity of factors underlying conflict. That includes new threats to international security and risk multipliers, from climate change to the challenges of cyberspace. To address them effectively, the Security Council must have up-to-date scientific information and data at its disposal, disaggregated according to relevant criteria, such as genre, and integrate them into its daily work. It must take into account and counter the threat to peace and security posed by disinformation. During the most recent review of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture, in 2020, eminent experts reminded us that “peacebuilding is the concrete manifestation of the commitment of the United Nations to save future generations from the scourge of war”. That responsibility to young men and women remains very important. With the women and peace and security and youth, peace and security agendas, the Council has relevant tools at its disposal and, above all, a copious pool of peacebuilders. We should now use that enormous potential. By building on the achievements and experiences of the past decades, the New Agenda for Peace must serve as a key means for leveraging and building sustainable peace. In these seemingly bleak times, we owe it to all generations, everywhere in the world, to pool our efforts together and seize this opportunity.

I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for convening today’s important open debate. I also thank Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, as well as the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) and Ms. Diago Ndiaye, for their insights and recommendations. Millions of people continue to live in conflict- afflicted countries. Increasing inequality, mistrust and political divergences continue to generate devastating wars. The world is continually faced with complex and novel challenges, which threaten to cause new conflicts or protract existing ones. We owe it to all civilians across the globe, especially victims of conflict, to reinvigorate conflict-prevention strategies and bolster the concept of peacebuilding. We must also identify ways to effectively implement national, regional and multilateral peacebuilding strategies. Malta welcomes the recent broadening of cooperation between the Peace Building Commission and the Security Council. Such an approach can be extended throughout the United Nations system. In that context, we recall General Assembly resolution 76/305, on financing for peacebuilding, which recognizes the crucial need for sustained financing for peacebuilding efforts in an adequate and predictable manner. Consistent with our belief that peacebuilding is an integral part of our multilateral project, Malta is contributing to the Peacebuilding Fund. Our contribution is also aimed at underscoring the fact that, if we all contribute to that end, we can achieve significant results. The financing and management of such operations require our utmost attention in the light of changing mandates and increasing challenges. The mere absence of violence is not the true definition of peace. Our work for peace must be a long-lasting solution, where attitudes, institutions and structures are transformed into positive cooperation and partnership. Sustainable development has an important role in conflict prevention and peacebuilding, as it empowers Governments and local communities to realize such transformative change in their societies, making them resilient to future shocks. It is evident that inclusive peace processes are more durable, sustainable and successful. The lack of access to education for people of all ages, but especially children, is a conflict risk multiplier. We stress the importance of literacy as a peacebuilding and conflict-prevention tool and highlight its holistic ability to advance peace. That can be achieved by ensuring the full participation in society of all persons, promoting human rights and dignity, advancing poverty eradication and gender equality and building more resilient, inclusive and sustainable societies, including in the digital sphere. We need to empower people with the abilities to participate in democratic systems and counter disinformation, misinformation and violent agendas. Educational environments and the literacy skills one develops in such environments holds that potential and can provide marginalized people with access to justice and legal protection, thereby reducing the potential for conflict. Identifying emerging threats and the early warnings of conflict is challenging, including due to Security Council procedures and dynamics. Informal dialogues and synergies among United Nations bodies, the PBC, civil society organizations and independent actors is a way to address the shortfall. Regional actors can serve as a strong channel of advice on peacebuilding priorities in respective regions. Women and children are too often the ones who suffer the brutalities and severe socioeconomic ramifications of conflict. They are also crucial building blocks for peace. A society cannot have peace without incorporating the well-being, inclusivity and protection of the fundamental human rights of women and children. The voices of women need to be fully, equally and meaningfully heard for an inclusive, sustainable road map for peacebuilding to be effectively drawn up. In conclusion, we cannot fail to mention that, in Our Common Agenda (A/75/982), the Secretary-General underpinned investment in prevention, peacebuilding and the Peacebuilding Commission as one of the key proposals of the report, aligned with the goals enshrined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is our responsibility to strive to address the root causes of conflict at an early stage.

We thank Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission, Mr. Muhammad Muhith, for their informative briefings. We also listened very carefully to the briefing delivered by Ms. Diago Ndiaye. We are convinced that sound policy strategies at the national level are necessary for building sustainable and prosperous societies. The laws of the State must take into account the national and religious characteristics, and its institutions must effectively protect the interests and rights of all the inhabitants of the country, without exception. Sound public policies that establish responsible decision-making authorities and build equitable relationships in society are key to ensuring the stability of States. Equally key is the creation of sustainable, independent and competitive economies and national health-care and education programmes, as well as working with young people and instilling respect for one’s history. Achievement in those areas gives States themselves the ability to ensure the well-being and security of their citizens in order to overcome the effect of conflicts and to prevent their recurrence. It cannot be overlooked that many of the States on the agenda of the Security Council, particularly those from the African continent, continue to feel the consequences of their colonial pasts. Those tragic events disrupted the traditional process of State-formation; borders were arbitrarily drawn, and many peoples ended up being divided or, conversely, arbitrarily put together into States. The long-standing imposition of languages and customs foreign to local populations has inevitably contributed to inter-faith and inter-ethnic conflicts, given the fact that it has worked against the development of cohesive societies. Some colonial empires deliberately left behind artificial dividing lines, hoping to maintain their influence in the spirit of “divide and conquer”. And all of that was also accompanied by economic exploitation. Overall, the Security Council is probably not in a position to make much of an impact in addressing those underlying problems. Nothing can replace the method of seeking political solutions and principles for State-building on the basis of national interests and priorities. However, the Security Council clearly has both an opportunity and a duty to bring to an end the most acute phases of conflicts, including through the work of peacekeeping and political missions, which, through their broad mandates and billions of dollars in resources, can contribute to ending violence and protecting civilians. The peacebuilding activities of the United Nations are an important tool for helping States in overcoming the effects of conflicts and in preventing their recurrence. In that regard, we note the role of the Peacebuilding Commission, which serves as an advisory platform for developing comprehensive post-conflict recovery strategies and for preventing conflicts from recurring. It should serve as a link between peace and security efforts and development assistance; that means it should make recommendations not only to the Council, but also to the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council. When it comes to peacebuilding, there can be no automatic one-size-fits-all solutions. Each situation requires its own delicate, impartial and assiduous approach in order to find a unique solution. The primary responsibility for both preventing conflicts and overcoming their consequences lies with States themselves. International support, if needed, should be provided only with the consent of the host Government, in line with its priorities and with unconditional respect for State sovereignty. It is unacceptable for donors to set their own preferences and make the allocation of aid conditional on political demands. Such an approach is not conducive to achieving peace. We are cautious about attempts to merge the issues of peace and security, development, human rights and humanitarian assistance under the umbrella of “sustaining peace”. We are convinced that despite some links among various aspects of United Nations activities, it is advisable to maintain a division of labour and a clear distinction between the respective mandates of United Nations organs and bodies. The use of human rights violations and other arbitrary factors as a form of conflict indicator opens the door to opportunities for abuse and interference in the internal affairs of sovereign States. It is our view that the political settlement of a conflict and the stabilization of the security situation are what lay the foundations for improving the protection of human rights and building democratic institutions in the country concerned, and not the other way around.

I thank Japan for the initiative to convene this important debate on peacebuilding and sustainable peace. I thank the Deputy Secretary-General, Ms. Amina Mohammed, for her insightful description of the relevant challenges and the trajectory of the international community towards sustainable peace. I also thank the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission, as well as Ms. Diago Ndiaye, for their enlightening briefings. Peacebuilding and the sustainability of peace are components of a multifaceted process involving a wide range of actors from the international community working together to support resilience and facilitate the national ownership of peace, including political processes to promote sustainable peace and well-being. Peacebuilding is the stage after a peace agreement has been signed or widespread violence has ended. It involves a comprehensive effort to prevent the resumption of hostilities. In that sense, it is closely linked to post-conflict reconstruction and the resilience of social, political and economic capacities to counteract the drivers of fragility. It goes without saying that investing in education and infrastructure, empowering local communities and strengthening the role of women and young people are key pillars of the sustainable peace agenda. Within the United Nations system, the peacebuilding architecture was established to act as a bridge to promote an integrated and coherent approach to advancing the sustainable peace agenda. Nevertheless, the contemporary factors of conflict and security only compound that already difficult task. It is now universally recognized that peace and security are inextricably linked to development. Indeed, many countries experiencing armed conflict also face obstacles to their sustainable development because their institutional and governance capacities are easily overwhelmed. Conversely, countries struggling with persistent underdevelopment face security challenges and remain prone to fractures in their social fabric, while negative forces such as terrorism and violent extremism, intercommunal violence and organized crime flourish in such contexts. The emergence of contemporary risk factors such as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the ever-increasing threat of climate change have added a further intractable complexity to that difficult security landscape. Those overlapping and interconnected challenges can be effectively addressed only through comprehensive and coherent strategies. The Council bears the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, but in order to fulfil its mandate more effectively, it must work closely with other United Nations organs and bodies to address the root causes of conflict in a holistic and systemic manner. Those root causes include social, economic and political inequalities; economic stagnation and decline; acute levels of unemployment and abject poverty; weak governance structures; health and environmental challenges; and the fears, uncertainties and economic drivers of conflict that emerge in crises. Given the increasing interdependence of parts of the international community and the changing linkages among political, socioeconomic, health and environmental contexts, it seems irrelevant to address the challenges of peace and security and of development in isolation from each other. It is clear that insecurity affects all nations and peoples to different degrees, as the least developed countries and the most vulnerable groups are often more prone to hardship and crisis. The United Nations must therefore remain at the centre of efforts to safeguard the fundamental principles of international law, while promoting peace and security and development for all. The Council must find responses to the security implications of the contemporary drivers of conflict and insecurity, including pandemics and the environmental challenges due to climate change. That must lead us to enhance the role of the Security Council by promoting an integrated and coherent system-wide approach to addressing those multifaceted challenges. In that indispensable task, we must be able to learn lessons from the complex and ever- worsening situations and the persistent development challenges facing many countries, while revisiting the tools of our collective security system. In the light of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and conflict-related development deficits, it is incumbent upon the Security Council to consider the prospects for closer collaboration with the United Nations development system in order to ensure that the Sustainable Development Goals remain within the reach of conflict-affected countries. Among the promising prospects to be explored is the closer collaboration of the Council with the Peacebuilding Commission and possibly also the Economic and Social Council, which could help mobilize greater global development responses to the urgent challenges of conflict prevention and post-conflict peacebuilding. In any case, and by way of conclusion, the Security Council must be able to strengthen its integrated approach across the entire spectrum of peace and security, humanitarian aid and development in order to promote human-centred solutions, without prejudice to sovereignty or jeopardizing international peace.

I am grateful to the Deputy Secretary-General, the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission and Ms. Ndiaye for their briefings today. As we all know, the cost of conflict is unsustainable, both in terms of human suffering and the resources available for peacekeeping and humanitarian aid. The New Agenda for Peace is an opportunity to put prevention front and centre in order to save lives and greater costs down the line. We understand that the concept of conflict prevention can raise sensitivities. But nationally owned peacebuilding processes can bolster sovereignty and strengthen State resilience. That is at the heart of the sustaining peace framework articulated by the General Assembly in 2016, which emphasizes working with countries to meet their needs, shared responsibility and a whole-of-system approach. Fragilities are universal, and sustaining peace requires constant work in all countries. In working together, the United Kingdom sees potential for greater impact in three key areas. First, we should support efforts to strengthen United Nations foresight capabilities to anticipate risks and inform our responses. We can better leverage data and technology to understand conflict risks, including in places where climate change is exacerbating them. And we can ensure that the United Nations has the right mediation capabilities and wider networks to help resolve conflicts before they escalate. Inclusive approaches and investing in women and youth peacebuilders is a priority because we all know the evidence of that leading to results that are more durable. Secondly, the United Nations family, ourselves included, must fully implement the sustaining peace agenda. That includes empowered Resident Coordinators leading joined-up peacebuilding approaches to maximize the country-level impact of development, diplomatic and other efforts. The United Kingdom has long invested in the Peacebuilding Fund, with its critical role in incentivizing coherence within the United Nations and underpinning nationally owned prevention strategies. Coherence can also be better driven and modelled in New York, among all parts of the United Nations system, including the agencies, funds and programmes. Lastly, the Council can do more to support conflict prevention by being aware of emerging risks and working in cooperation with relevant United Nations bodies and regional organizations to drive integrated responses. The Peacebuilding Commission is also a critical part of the equation in its own right, and through its advisory role to the Council. The United Kingdom strongly supports a more active role for the Commission. And South Sudan’s active engagement is a welcome development and a further example of the increasing interest in peacebuilding support. The New Agenda for Peace is an opportunity to reinvigorate our shared commitment to sustaining peace. I welcome Japan’s initiative today to help move forward ideas. We all need to adapt to emerging threats and risk multipliers, while investing in and prioritizing prevention.

The Security Council can sometimes give the impression of being the world’s ambulance, as it were. It rushes from one developing conflict to another despite the fact that prevention is the most effective and efficient way to maintain peace and security in the world. That is why conflict prevention is the duty of the Organization. That is also why I thank you very much, Sir, for convening this debate. I am also grateful for the briefings by Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed; Ambassador Muhammad Abdul Muhith, Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC); and Ms. Diago Ndiaye, the civil society representative. In line with the outcome of the 2020 review of the peacebuilding architecture, we support the vision proposed by the Secretary-General on a New Agenda for Peace, outlined in Our Common Agenda (A/75/982), which emphasizes, inter alia, reducing strategic risks and investing in prevention for the sake of peacebuilding and sustainable peace. The New Agenda for Peace must include effective mechanisms to overcome the challenges represented by non-military threats, such as transnational organized crime, which feeds off the wake of transition and exploits porous borders. Investing in people is the main tool for conflict prevention, and capacity-building is a critical part of efforts to end conflict. Exclusion, poverty and inequalities, coupled with other factors that degrade the social fabric, can foster violent extremism. We therefore must be able to rely on a comprehensive and action-oriented approach to enable building the capacity of countries in conflict situations. Special political missions and United Nations country offices in countries in conflict situations are the appropriate partners to support national authorities in the development of joint transition plans, together with the use of cooperation frameworks for sustainable development, while providing a broader approach to strengthening national institutions. The full, equitable and meaningful participation of women at all stages of conflict prevention and resolution and peacebuilding processes leads to lasting and sustainable peace. In that regard, Ecuador stresses the importance of the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) and all subsequent measures related to the women and peace and security agenda. Accordingly, we underscore the gender strategy and action plan of the Peacebuilding Commission, which promote the inclusion of the gender perspective, monitors progress and identifies gaps. Similarly, resolution 2250 (2015) and measures related to youth, peace and security must be implemented, while especially taking into account women and youths. Activities oriented towards ensuring dialogue, reconciliation and demobilization must be able to rely on sufficient financial and logistical resources. In that regard, the Peacebuilding Fund is a tool that remains in need of strengthening. Ecuador has supported the Secretary-General’s efforts to achieve greater predictability and sustainability with regard to financing the Fund, including through assessments. More effective partnerships with regional organizations and international financial institutions would benefit the Fund. The fact is that countries in conflict situations lack sufficient access to concessional loans, and we encourage the countries providing official development assistance to provide the necessary lines of credit to increase their access to resources. In that regard, we urge countries in conflict situations and neighbouring countries to participate in the Peacebuilding Commission, which plays a politically supportive role and acts as a bridge between the principal organs of the United Nations to provide coherent advice with regard to national needs and priorities. We value the unique advisory role of the Peacebuilding Commission and stress the importance of its written and oral recommendations submitted to the Security Council, particularly prior to mandate renewals. As a member of the Peacebuilding Commission, having been so designated by the Security Council, Ecuador will promote in the Commission these indispensable efforts for sustainable peace.

I also would like to commend Japan for focusing our attention on this timely topic, and I would like to thank Deputy Secretary-General Mohammed, Ambassador Muhammad Abdul Muhith and Ms. Diago Ndiaye for their informative and insightful briefings. Thirty-one years after the original An Agenda for Peace (S/24111) was published, the United Nations system is still struggling to find sustainable solutions to prevent or even simply to address conflicts and growing instability. We also continue to grapple with providing adequate funding and resources for peacebuilding projects. The resolution on financing for peacebuilding, unanimously adopted by the General Assembly in September 2022 (General Assembly resolution 76/305), is a step in the right direction, but unfortunately not enough to guarantee adequate, predictable and sustained funding for the critical activities that prevent conflict and related occurrences. For the United Arab Emirates, the human element lies at the heart of peacebuilding and its components. We approach peacebuilding through a people-centred lens enabled by an institutional framework that is, of course, inclusive, responsive and adaptable to emerging needs. This adaptability is key to fostering durable peace and resilience. With that in mind, I would like to share the following three recommendations. First, to sustain peace, we need comprehensive strategies. One of the problems we hear over and over is the impact of piecemeal, incoherent approaches that do not provide the kind of ambitious solutions needed by countries facing or emerging from conflict. We do not have to reinvent the wheel, but we do need to mobilize the different tools at our disposal in the United Nations peacebuilding architecture. Institutions do not exist for the sake of existing. They exist to support communities. If we are not optimizing how we use them, we are failing the people we are expected to serve. Specific examples of the coordination that we should use better include, as others have said, the written advice of the Peacebuilding Commission to the Security Council and the participation of the Chairs of country-specific configurations in our discussions. We also support convening informal dialogues between the Council and the Peacebuilding Commission, whose contributions can enable the Security Council to improve its engagement and better support host Governments. Secondly, inclusivity is the cornerstone of peacebuilding. When local communities are empowered, they are able to de-escalate tensions and build resilience from the ground up. This means investing in women and youth. We have reiterated to the Council that women’s full, equal and meaningful participation makes peace last. As we all know, peace agreements are 64 per cent less likely to fail when civil society representatives, including women’s organizations, participate in those peace processes. Gender apartheid is a driver of conflict and instability. This morning, the Informal Expert Group on Women and Peace and Security, which is co-chaired by the United Arab Emirate, met to discuss the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan. Women’s contribution to society should never be seen as an option, but instead as a prerequisite for security and prosperity. The evidence is clear: inclusive societies thrive. Prevention, however, also means moving to conflict resolution quickly rather than accepting frozen conflicts as the norm and thinking that peace will prevail in such a context. The alarming news from the occupied Palestinian territories this morning clearly demonstrates this point. Only civilians will pay the price in the absence of a comprehensive and sustainable peace strategy. Thirdly, as we discussed the contours of the New Agenda for Peace, we need to be able to respond effectively to evolving and complex challenges, such as climate change, extremism and pandemics. Let me illustrate this with respect to climate. Instability and scarcity of resources driven by climate change can indeed amplify tensions and conflict in fragile societies. The data does show this. Between 2009 and 2019, weather-related events displaced an estimated 23 million people on average each year. Studies have shown that of the 25 countries most vulnerable to climate change, 14 are already facing conflict. We therefore need better data and analysis to better address the security implications of climate change. We have a window of opportunity to integrate climate action and peacebuilding. It is critical to seize this moment. The new Agenda for Peace must provide a framework that is nimble and adaptable, and funding must match needs. Political attention does not fix the issue by itself. It needs to be fuelled by catalytic and sustainable funding and capacity-development programming to promote rapid recovery and build the resilience we are all talking about. Finally, peacebuilding  — but also conflict- resolution efforts — are now undertaken more than ever by a more diverse set of actors on the global stage. In a world marked by global fragmentation, it is important to leverage their facilitation efforts and ensure that local, national and international initiatives complement each other. In conclusion, I would like to reaffirm the commitment of the United Arab Emirates to ensuring greater resilience and sustainability in peacebuilding. The moral argument for avoiding conflict is clear, but it is also an economic argument. According to the Institute for Economics and Peace, every dollar invested in peacebuilding could, in the long run, save $16 for humanitarian and development efforts. We look forward to working with all partners for an inclusive and invigorating new Agenda for Peace in preparation for the Summit of the Future in 2024.

I now call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary.

I thank you, Mr. President, for including me on the list of speakers. I would also like to express my appreciation through you, Sir, to the Government of Japan for convening today’s meeting on peace, which is more timely than ever, and which, unfortunately, is not only timely but also unique. If we look at international political discourse today, war is usually on the agenda, not peace. The rhetoric of war is very loud, and the rhetoric of peace is hardly being heard. I represent a country that is an immediate neighbour of Ukraine, a country that is extremely interested in creating peace, given that the impacts of the war have been severe immediate for us as neighbours. More than a million refugees have entered Hungary, which has obligated us to carry out the largest humanitarian operation in our history. Our national energy importation costs have increased from €7 billion to €17 billion within a single year. Inflation is skyrocketing, which has had a very negative impact on food prices. Moreover, not only have Ukrainian died in this war, but Hungarian nationals are also dying, given that there is a Hungarian community in western Ukraine, whose members are being recruited into the Ukrainian army, many of whom are dying in the war. Hungary and the Hungarian people have already paid a high price for this war, despite the fact that they never wanted the war. Hungary and its people are absolutely not responsible for this war. In our most recent parliamentary elections, last year, the Hungarian people made it very clear that since this is not our war, we do not want it. We do not want to be involved in a war against anyone. The Hungarian people made it absolutely clear that Hungary must be left out of this war. Indeed, everything that has been happening has come with tragic consequences. Thousands are dying, millions are fleeing their homes, families are being torn apart, and the sanctions are putting tremendous challenges in the way of European economies. I can imagine that hundreds or thousands of kilometres away, or an ocean away, that might look a bit different. But believe me, we live in the neighbourhood and must underline that it is very serious. I ask members to receive, from someone who lives in the direct neighbourhood of the war, the message that the war must be stopped immediately, because we are in the twenty-fifth hour and we must concentrate on peace. We urge the international community to replace war rhetoric with peace rhetoric. We also urge the international community to avoid any decisions, measures or statements that could risk the escalation or prolongation of the war. I ask members not to forget that the escalation and prolongation of the war will bring more suffering and lead to more people dying. We believe that instead of deploying more and more weapons, we should now start to concentrate on establishing a ceasefire and launching peace talks. As I look around the table, it reminds me that the United  Nations was not created as an integration of like-minded countries. It is a platform for discussion, including discussion with countries that are not very happy to be sitting around the same table. But believe me, if channels of communication are being cut, it means that we are giving up on our hopes for peace, and that is a very irresponsible way of behaving. I therefore humbly ask the representatives of large and strong countries, the representatives of the so- called super-Powers, to sit around the negotiating table and negotiate how peace could be created in our neighbourhood, instead of prolonging the war, as that would have extremely adverse impacts that I think all of us should avoid. Once again, I would like to express my appreciation to the Japanese Government, which was brave enough to put the issue of peace on the agenda. I hope that in the future there will be more international events, platforms and organizations with peace on the agenda — how to finally make peace.

I wish to remind all speakers to limit their statements to no more than three minutes in order to enable the Council to carry out its work expeditiously. Flashing lights on the collars of the microphones will prompt speakers to bring their remarks to a close after three minutes. I now give the floor to the representative of Egypt.

At the outset, I congratulate you once again, Mr. President, on Japan’s assumption of the Security Council presidency for the current month and I thank you for holding today’s pivotal debate on peacebuilding and sustaining peace. Egypt has long stressed the need to focus on that issue because it has a special importance for our African States. We appreciate Japan’s prominent role in international cooperation for peace and its active participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations, while supporting efforts for peacebuilding and reconstruction in post-conflict situations. My delegation aligns itself with the statements made by the representatives of the three African members of the Security Council — namely, Mozambique, Ghana and Gabon — and by the Arab member of the Council, the United Arab Emirates, on the need to promote the United Nations peacebuilding system by providing appropriate sustained financing. Peace is not achieved when wars and conflicts end. Instead, it requires capacity-building in States and their institutions, while in particular prioritizing people’s aspirations for sustainable conflict prevention. The high-level meeting of the General Assembly on peacebuilding financing, which was held in April 2022, found that we still have a dire need to focus international efforts on peacebuilding and providing adequate and sustained financing for it. In that context, I would like to highlight the following points as the basis for a future general framework for peacebuilding and sustaining peace. First, we must pay greater attention to including the components of peacebuilding in the activities and duties of peacekeeping operations. We must provide sustained and adequate financing to build peace as a precondition for ensuring success in our joint efforts. We must look seriously at supporting options for building peace, especially in the light of the current challenges, for which financing allocations have been reduced for peacebuilding programmes. That does not provide the minimum level required to build the capacity for resilience in the countries that host peacekeeping operations. We urge Member States to allow peacebuilding efforts to access the assessed contributions of the United Nations budget, including the Peacebuilding Fund. Second, it is important to promote the linkage between peacekeeping and peacebuilding activities in order to address the root causes of armed conflicts and enhance peace, security and development systems. Egypt attaches a high priority to that matter, under the leadership of the President of the Republic of Egypt, as he deals with the dossier of post-conflict reconstruction and development in Africa. Cairo also hosts the African Union Centre for Post-conflict Reconstruction and Development Third, we need to support the efforts of States in building their institutions and national capacity and promoting good governance to prevent the recurrence of conflicts in national contexts, in which national authorities identify, plan and implement their priorities in order to ensure the sustainability of development, security and stability. Fourth, we must mobilize the necessary resources to ensure the right environment for economic growth, foreign investment and job creation, in line with national priorities and the principle of the national ownership of solutions. Fifth, it is important to support all efforts aimed at ensuring the participation of women and young people in peacebuilding. Empowering women and integrating young people in various fields must be reflected in executive policies to overcome economic, social and security challenges. Sixth, it is important to promote the partnership between the United Nations and the African Union (AU), especially by holding frequent consultative and coordination meetings between the Security Council and the AU Peace and Security Council in order to enhance the African vision for reforming peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations, achieving more synergy and ensuring more coherence and complementarity between the two Organizations. Seventh, the Security Council must continue to give enough attention to African issues, spare no effort to prevent conflicts from arising in the first place and prevent the current global geopolitical situations from diverting attention away from African issues. Egypt is at the forefront of countries that support investment for capacity-building by establishing national institutions that are capable of protecting peoples’ resources and promoting the national ownership of peace-building efforts. In conclusion, I would like to stress the importance of the upcoming intergovernmental consultations on a New Agenda for Peace and the valuable suggestions of the Secretary-General contained in his report Our Common Agenda (A/75/982), including the promotion of conflict prevention efforts and the sustained financing of such efforts, with a view to developing multilateralism and promoting its effectiveness in sustaining peace. In that regard, we look forward to the Secretary-General’s report to be issued in June on a New Agenda for Peace, which will be a new endeavour for enhancing efforts aimed at sustaining peace and security under the auspices of the United Nations.

I now give the floor to the representative of Poland.

Let me begin by commending Japan for organizing today’s timely and important debate. Poland expresses its appreciation to all the briefers for their insightful and thought- provoking remarks. I would like to underscore the importance of investing in development in order to effectively tackle the structural drivers of conflict and unlock the untapped potential of human capital. That can be achieved only through resilient and accountable State institutions, inclusive economic growth, social cohesion and trusted connectivity. In the light of that, I wish to mention that Poland has initiated a formal discussion on a General Assembly draft resolution on building global resilience through regional and interregional infrastructure connectivity. We strongly believe that infrastructure connectivity can be used as a tool for building resilience to future shocks. That will make an essential contribution to the overall resilience of societies by ensuring that the vital services that infrastructure provides are less vulnerable to extreme events and disruptions. In that regard, infrastructure connectivity constitutes an essential component of social cohesion, and social cohesion is central to building peace. We must also remember that, in the aftermath of conflicts, there can be no peacebuilding without addressing grievances and divisions. That is why we are convinced that the peacebuilding infrastructure must incorporate the concept of transitional justice, with its four pillars, namely, criminal prosecutions, truth-seeking, reparations and institutional and legal reforms. Full reconciliation is the only way to prevent the recurrence of conflict and attain lasting peace and stability. When it comes to sustainable peace, the role played by the young generation cannot be overstated. It is therefore essential to constantly engage young people in all dimensions of peacebuilding processes. The most constructive way to empower young people and ensure that they are not radicalized in situations of conflict is to invest in high-quality education, vocational training and employment opportunities. While, in times of peace, education is generally treated as a significant investment and fundamental right, it is unfortunately often sidelined in times of war. Against that backdrop, Poland continues to provide assistance to students from developing and conflict-affected countries. Among those is Ukraine, which continues to reel from Russian aggression. Speaking of that conflict and aggression, we must remember that one day, just peace will be achieved. When that happens, Ukraine may need reconstruction on a similar scale to that after the Second World War. It may also need to draw on the full range of processes and mechanisms associated with peacebuilding in order to minimize the risk of the recurrence of conflict. We commend the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) for its work in bringing together international, national and local stakeholders to examine and address complex peacebuilding challenges. We strongly support collaboration between the PBC and various United Nations bodies, including not only the Security Council, the General Assembly and United Nations missions in the field, but also the Economic and Social Council. Poland also endorses the work of the Peacebuilding Fund. It has proved its unique ability to address peacebuilding challenges and work with all relevant actors on the ground. Being aware of the critical importance of sustained, adequate and predictable financing for peacebuilding processes, we welcome the adoption of General Assembly resolution 76/305, on financing for peacebuilding. We would like to stress our full political and financial commitment in that regard. In conclusion, let me stress that every country deserves peace and security. That is why conflict prevention and peacebuilding remain among our top priorities. We believe that investment in people, combined with strengthening State institutions, can truly contribute to building resilience in situations of conflict and fragility. The Security Council can therefore count on Poland’s active support in any initiative aimed at advancing that goal.

I now give the floor to the representative of Rwanda.

Special thanks go to your delegation, Mr. President, for convening today’s open debate, which has relevance to international peace, stability and development. Investing in mechanisms to sustain peace is important, especially as we have seen how emerging and systemic threats, such as the pandemic, can exacerbate conflict and undermine peace. In the same context, building and sustaining peace requires addressing the root causes of conflicts and crises, including poverty, exclusion, inequality and discrimination. Reacting to cycles of violence is unsustainable. Rwanda believes that peace is a long-term investment. Our commitment to peacebuilding is informed by our strong belief in our common humanity and the dignity of all people. In that regard, lasting peace can be built only from within. Rwanda remains committed to sharing its experience in peacebuilding and sustaining peace through bilateral mechanisms and with our United  Nations family. Our journey to sustaining peace has shown us that inclusive and effective national ownership is key to sustaining peace. It is our view that we need to support that, while devising future programmes for sustaining peace. Talking about building peace and sustaining it means nothing unless it is accompanied by concrete steps and actions. In that spirit, fulfilling Sustainable Development Goal 16 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, on building peaceful, just and inclusive societies, is now more imperative than ever before. Rwanda’s journey to sustaining peace has focused on a people-centred approach, ownership, inclusiveness and accountability. Strengthening institutions has become a core value in our system. That approach has influenced us in designing bottom-up, home-grown solutions, such as Imihigo, or performance contracts between local leaders and their constituencies. Such home-grown solutions are customized to the aspirations of citizens, ensuring that no one is left behind in contributing to overall development. Governments have a responsibility to protect their citizens. When we discuss socioeconomic development, human rights and humanitarian issues, Governments should therefore be core actors in ensuring that their people lead a dignified life. When Governments exhibit political will and honour their duties and commitments, peacebuilding and investing in peace become both achievable and sustainable. Sustaining peace in the Great Lakes region is a desire of all the countries of the region, including Rwanda. It is in that regard that Rwanda reiterates its deep concern about the evolving security situation in North and South Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which remains a serious threat to the hard- earned peace and security of the region. The endemic cycle of violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, specifically against Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese, results from structural failures, with the absence of State authority to guarantee safety and security for its people and spillover effects to neighbouring countries. Persecution, discrimination, insecurity, consistent threats and violence against a section of Congolese citizens forced almost 80,000 Congolese to seek refuge in Rwanda and many others in neighbouring countries, including Burundi, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. Resolving the refugee issue and preventing future internal displacement crises are inextricably linked to achieving lasting peace in the region. In order to resolve the refugee crisis and achieve sustainable peace, the root causes must be addressed without delay. Disregarding the root causes of the refugee crisis further exacerbates instability, which threatens peacebuilding and peacekeeping efforts. Indeed, to achieve sustainable peace, the plight of the Congolese, facing perpetual internal displacement and indefinite exile without a viable prospect of returning home, must be categorically and structurally addressed. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is home to more than 130 armed groups, including the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR), a United  Nations-sanctioned armed group, which committed genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, and which wields significant authority in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. As a consequence, the FDLR and its splinter groups continue to pose a serious threat not only to the Congolese people, but also to the sustainability of Rwanda’s peace. Rwanda cannot sustain its hard-earned peace with that looming threat on its doorstep in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In that regard, the Security Council must genuinely assist the region in bringing about lasting peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by tackling the root causes and the drivers of conflicts. The Security Council should stop highlighting the symptoms of insecurity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo while evading the root causes. Double standards and scapegoating only embolden those who should be responsible for peacebuilding. In conclusion, Rwanda believes that a holistic and coordinated approach to promoting peace is grounded in effective national ownership, cooperation and partnerships. Inclusive peacebuilding requires the empowerment and the active involvement of stakeholders from all segments of society, including at the grass- roots level. Rwanda also believes that building peace is more than just ending conflict. It is about building trust and harmony and strengthening the social contract between the State and its people. Yet sustainable peace can be achieved not only at the national level, but also through regional and international efforts.

I now give the floor to the representative of Indonesia.

We thank Japan for convening this open debate. We welcome the insightful presentation of the briefers. This open debate is timely, as we are working on the New Agenda for Peace. Today’s global challenges have become ever more complex. They have put great demands on the way we address conflicts. We must adjust our approach and alter the way we look at, manage and resolve conflicts, including their root causes. Key to that is developing preventive and peacebuilding measures that are inclusive, effective and better targeted. We must also better understand the wide-ranging impact of conflicts. Against that background, allow me to emphasize the following points. First, we need to ensure a bottom-up approach to peacebuilding. Peacebuilding efforts should place national ownership at their centre. That approach requires closer and inclusive engagement at the grass roots, including empowering and amplifying the voices and roles of women and youth. Evidence shows they can play crucial roles as mediators and peacebuilders. Their active participation not only supports peacebuilding processes but is also important in cultivating a culture of peace and conflict prevention in local communities. Secondly, we need to build strong and resilient institutions through good governance and the provision of sustainable financing and resources. Building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions would substantially increase the chance of sustainable peace and reduce the risk of relapse into conflict. Capacity- building and ensuring good governance are therefore important. Achieving strong institutions also requires accountable, sustainable and predictable financing. Broadening the sources of funding, including through partnerships with regional organizations and international financial institutions, is key. South-South and triangular cooperation also need to be fostered, particularly by supporting capacity-building and sharing best practices. Thirdly, we need to strengthen synergy within the United Nations system. We cannot afford to continue to work in silos. The United Nations must continuously strengthen an integrated strategy in peacebuilding. The role of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) is central in bridging the security aspects and development contexts in post-conflict situations. That requires the PBC to coordinate with the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council. Strong collaboration would increase aid effectiveness and accountability in peacebuilding. Finally, Indonesia reaffirms its commitment to be a true partner in supporting peacebuilding and sustaining peace.

I now give the floor to the representative of Australia.

First, I would like to thank Japan for convening this timely debate on investment in people to enhance resilience against complex challenges. There can be no greater complex challenges than modern threats to sustainable peace. Countries emerging from or at risk of conflict must grapple with multifaceted challenges. Those include the impacts of the coronavirus disease pandemic, the climate crisis, worsening food insecurity and economic shocks, including those triggered by Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine. There should be no greater investment than the one each of our countries makes in peoples’ resilience to such challenges. One of the greatest ways that can be done is through inclusive participation in peacebuilding. Peacebuilding is not just the activity of select countries; all of us are engaged in investing in our own sustainable peace. We are constantly working to build and uphold resilient and effective institutions, with the experience of individuals at their core. We must invest in people in all their diversity and ensure the full, equal and meaningful participation and leadership of women and youth in peacebuilding and sustaining peace. Sharing the lessons we have learned and continue to learn will be key to realizing those aims globally. The late Secretary-General Kofi Annan questioned: “The world today spends billions preparing for war. Shouldn’t we spend a billion or two preparing for peace?” (SG/SM/6149). Global spending on peacebuilding represents only a fraction of military spending and spending on crisis response and reconstruction. Sustained, inclusive and targeted peacebuilding results in lives and money saved in the long term — the World Bank has estimated up to $70 billion per year on average. For example, in Liberia women peace activists started peace huts shortly after the end of the civil war in 2003. The huts, among other activities, mediated local disputes, monitored police and justice services and referred victims of violence to counselling. At $1.5 million, that local women-lead intervention cost just 1.5 per cent of the $105 million spent on peacekeeping, policing and the justice sector in Liberia that year. The local police considered them key to reducing and preventing violence in the community. We cannot talk about investment in peacebuilding without talking about the gap between the finances available and those required to fulfil current needs. Despite being a core task of the United Nations, peacebuilding is underfunded, relying too often on a small pool of donors for voluntary funding. Australia firmly believes that the United Nations peacebuilding work must be adequately, predictably and sustainably financed. So, while we call on all States to consider making and increasing voluntary contributions to the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), we also support assessed contributions for the PBF. In 2022, the General Assembly made it clear that assessed contributions could be used to finance the PBF and encouraged the Fifth Committee to conclude its deliberations. More than 67 countries from every region of the world have benefited from the timely, catalytic and risk-tolerant investments of the PBF. We encourage Member States to consider their investment in peace. It is time to commit to the use of assessed contributions to support the critical work of the PBF — from election monitoring in Latin America and mapping climate security threats in the Pacific to supporting peacekeeping transitions in Africa. Our commitment to United Nations peacebuilding remains steadfast. We have been a proud supporter of the PBF since its establishment in 2006, and we are pleased to have, this month, committed to a further three-year agreement with an increased contribution of $A12 million for the PBF. That is a core part of Australia’s peace investment portfolio.

I now give the floor to the representative of Latvia.

Latvia welcomes this open debate on peacebuilding. We appreciate Japan’s leadership in facilitating an inclusive and timely discussion on this important topic. As a former member of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), Latvia fully acknowledges the key role of resilience in peacebuilding efforts. While the overall goal must remain to prevent crises, not all challenges can be adequately predicted and averted. In such cases, resilience at individual, national and global levels plays a key role in helping to absorb shocks, manage crises and prevent further disruption. Building resilience requires local ownership and determination to strengthen institutions, improve governance and address vulnerabilities. However, the international community and the United Nations, including the Security Council, has an important role to play in supporting those efforts. First, we have to acknowledge the key ingredient of strengthening resilience, and that is trust. Trust, in turn, can only be built upon universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. Therefore, to build global resilience we need full and proactive commitment by the Security Council to protecting human rights and promoting the equality of all groups, including women and youth. In that regard, I would like to highlight Latvia’s long-standing practical experience when it comes to investment in people, both at home and in other countries, with the aim of enabling equal opportunities. For example, for several years Latvian non-governmental organizations have been successfully implementing projects in countries in Central Asia aimed at strengthening women’s participation in democratic processes and public administration, as well as business. Secondly, it is important to facilitate the exchange of best practices and build networks among peacebuilders. There should be further efforts to strengthen interaction between the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission, as the PBC community has unique expertise in the field of building societal resilience. Given the lessons learned from our discussions in the PBC, we consider it important for the Security Council to better address the topic of accountability. Ensuring justice is a prerequisite for a nation — or even a region — in a post-conflict situation to reconcile with the past and to focus on building a resilient future. Thirdly, the coronavirus disease pandemic demonstrated that the information space has become another domain that requires jointly addressing complex challenges. Enhanced resilience is also required in order to deal with all kinds of harmful content  — both online and offline. Strengthening media and information literacy and working on the global code of conduct with regard to the integrity of public information are a few steps in this direction. It is important to combat the spread of disinformation and misinformation, which hamper the ability of citizens to take informed decisions and pose a challenge to better global governance. Finally, we recognize that building resilience and peacebuilding requires adequate resources. As a donor to the Peacebuilding Fund and other United Nations funds and programmes, Latvia supports initiatives to achieve more sustainable financing for peacebuilding, including through contributions from the United Nations regular budget. We believe that this can also serve as an important deliverable in the context of the New Agenda for Peace initiative.

I now give the floor to the representative of Mexico.

I thank Japan for convening this debate and the briefers for their presentations. The crises facing humankind have become increasingly complex and interrelated. The coronavirus disease pandemic and its effects on the global health situation, the economy and development are a case in point. Today’s conflicts and crises are fuelled by factors as diverse as inequality and climate change, which in turn give rise to food insecurity, competition for resources and displacement. For Mexico, the Security Council, as the main organ responsible for ensuring international peace and security, must unambiguously take into account the effects of any phenomenon, especially root causes, on its field of action. That includes, for example, consideration of the impacts of climate change in specific contexts that threaten international peace and security, as is clearly the case in the Sahel or Somalia. Similarly, social and developmental aspects must also be taken into account as underlying causes if we are to ensure conflict prevention and a transition to peace. That was precisely one of the issues we highlighted during the open debate led by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in November 2021 (see S/PV.8900). Without investment in people, prevention and resilience, the Council will, unfortunately, remain in a perpetual cycle of delayed reaction and mere conflict management. Such challenges make the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals more complex. The response of the different principal organs of the United Nations must be coherent and preventive in approach. Only then will it be possible to leave no one behind. It is not necessary to redefine the Council and the other organs, but to truly use the tools we already have at our disposal. The Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) is a key player in this work and has vast untapped potential. Coordination between the Council, the PBC and other United Nations organs should be used more frequently in order to prevent new crises and to react efficiently to avoid relapses. In our recent experience in the Council, we have found that the PBC’s advice to the Council enriches the comprehensive approach we advocate. That communication can certainly be further improved and strengthened by broadening the spaces for dialogue, both formal and informal, between the various organs. Such discussions, as well as the annual meetings between the PBC and the Economic and Social Council, contribute to that objective, but we should not limit ourselves to those spaces. Consideration of the wide range of factors that lead to conflicts must be an ongoing concern of the Security Council members themselves. In conclusion, I also stress the need for continued communication between the Council and non-members of the Council. Participation in open debates such as this is one example. It is important to take into account the observations and recommendations of non-member States in the Council’s deliberations and outputs. The Council can also improve transparency by making information about its work, including the work of subsidiary organs, more accessible.

I now give the floor to the representative of the Republic of Korea.

My delegation thanks Japan for convening today’s debate on this comprehensive and important issue. I also thank the Deputy Secretary-General, the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) and the civil society representative for their insightful briefings. Beside the fact that peacebuilding is inherently a nationally owned process, recent security landscapes forged as a result of complex interactions between the local context and diverse security threats demonstrate that the leadership of the host Government, alongside local communities, is the most effective way to build and sustain peace. Against that backdrop, I wish to stress the following three points, which also reflects our priorities for the New Agenda for Peace. First, as a long-standing member of the Peacebuild­ ing Commission, the Republic of Korea would like to highlight the PBC’s role in addressing the complex chal­ lenges we face. My delegation welcomes the meaningful developments made on coordination between the PBC and the Security Council, including a sharp increase in the Commission’s written advice to the Security Council last year. To further capitalize on the PBC’s convening and advisory functions, we support expanding interac­ tive communications, strengthening informal coordi­ nation between the two entities and better aligning the PBC’s workplan with that of the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council. Secondly, a more systematic and integrated approach is needed within and beyond the United  Nations to confront emerging security threats and the risk of multipliers, such as climate change, food insecurity and pandemics. Since those factors are also closely related to underdevelopment, my delegation calls for the strengthening of the humanitarian, development and peace nexus and expanded partnerships, including civil society, the private sector and regional and international financial institutions. Lastly, echoing the Secretary-General’s call for investing in prevention and peacebuilding, I am pleased to announce that the Republic of Korea will increase its contribution to the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) by more than 70 per cent this year, amounting to $4.3 million. We also look forward to further progress on peacebuilding financing, including the provision of assessed contributions to the PBF.

There are still a number of speakers remaining on my list for this meeting. Given the lateness of the hour, I intend, with the concurrence of the members of the Council, to suspend the meeting until 3 p.m.