About PBSO
Established in 2005, the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) helps to sustain peace in conflict-affected countries by garnering international support for nationally owned and led peacebuilding efforts. The office assists and supports the Peacebuilding Commission, administers the Peacebuilding Fund, and supports the Secretary General's efforts to coordinate the UN System in its peacebuilding efforts.Assistant Secretary-General For Peacebuilding Support
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) meets Judy Cheng-Hopkins of Malaysia as she takes up her post as Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support.
UN Photo/Mark Garten
Judy Cheng-Hopkins was appointed Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support (heading the PBSO) on 17 April 2009 by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Before joining the PBSO in New York, Ms. Cheng-Hopkins had a long and successful UN career spanning over 30 years covering development and humanitarian work in Africa and Asia, with a 10 year stint in the field in Africa. Ms. Cheng-Hopkins was the UN’s Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees from February 2006 to August 2009 where she helped develop UNHCR’s policies on IDPs as well as refugee/IDP return and reintegration.
Previously, Ms. Cheng-Hopkins served as the Director of the World Food Programme’s Office Asia and Eastern Europe Bureau from 1997-2000, where she supervised some of WFP’s largest and most significant operations of that period, in DPRK and Kosovo, and conceptualized and managed a smooth and innovative exit from China.
Prior to that, she served UNDP in Africa for 10 years, first in Zambia (1982-1988), then in Kenya (1988-1992). She was also Deputy Assistant Administrator for Africa (2002-2003) and Deputy Executive Secretary of the UN Capital Development Fund from 1993-1997.
Ms. Cheng-Hopkins received a Master of International Affairs degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (1978), USA. She has also received diplomas from Universitè d’Haute Bretagne in Rennes, France and the Business School at Harvard University.
Ms. Cheng-Hopkins is Malaysian and is the first Malaysian to be listed in Forbes magazine's list of “The 10 Most Powerful Women at the UN”. She is married to Dr. Thomas J. Hopkins and is the mother of two daughters.
Support to the Peacebuilding Commission
General Assembly Debates Peacebuilding Commission and Fund.
UN Photo/Sophie Paris
The Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), established in 2005 during the World Summit, is an intergovernmental advisory body of the United Nations that supports peacebuilding in countries emerging from conflict. The Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) acts as a secretariat to the PBC.
The PBC consists of the Organisational Committee (OC), the Country Specific Configurations (CSC) and the Working Group on Lessons Learned. The OC consists of 31 Member States drawn from the Security Council (7), the General Assembly (7), the Economic and Social Council (7), the five top financial and troop contributors, as well as EU, World Bank, IMF and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Administering the Peacebuilding Fund
The Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) is the Secretary General’s Fund – launched in 2006 to support activities, actions, programmes and organisations that seek to build a lasting peace in countries emerging from conflict. The Fund addresses immediate needs in countries emerging from conflict at a time when sufficient resources are not available from other funding mechanisms and will support interventions of direct and immediate relevance to the peacebuilding process and contribute towards addressing critical gaps in that process. The PBF is managed by the Peacebuilding Support Office.
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