It is a great pleasure for me to speak today on behalf of the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

I would like to commend the President of the General Assembly for this initiative to discuss today’s threats to international peace and security.

In two weeks, world leaders will gather in Istanbul for the World Humanitarian Summit, to build a collective response to the unprecedented scale of humanitarian crises and needs now before us.

The magnitude of the global challenge is clear:

The number of civil wars has tripled in the past ten years.

125 million people are in grave need of humanitarian assistance.

80 percent of all current humanitarian needs are driven by violent conflict, and growingly also by climate change, drought and natural phenomena which grow ever more vehement.

The conflicts we face today are not only more severe.  They are also more complex and more intractable.

It was against the background of this deteriorating global security environment that a number of policy reviews were launched last year at the United Nations.

At their core, these reviews aimed to answer a common question: how can we make the United Nations better fit for security threats in today’s volatile global environment?

The reviews have common messages that we cannot ignore:

One: Prevention is our central mission. Why wait for mass atrocities if we can act at the early warning signs?

Two: We must place higher priority on the search for inclusive, long-term political solutions.  We must aim for sustainable peace, in the same way that you, Member States, successfully analysed sustainable development.

Three: We will not succeed without solid partnerships. The word “together” is probably the most important word in the world today.

Together, the reviews represent a forward and action-oriented roadmap towards a more effective United Nations, combining peace and security and development.  These reviews are complemented by the Human Rights up Front initiative which aims to change how the United Nations thinks and acts on the prevention and protection responsibilities assigned by the Charter and Member States decisions.

Our challenge is to translate these proposals to concrete action as quickly and effectively as possible .

Excellencies,

The Secretariat is now implementing roughly 90 percent of the recommendations in the Secretary-General’s response to the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations.

The identical and visionary resolutions on the Peacebuilding Architecture Review adopted last month by the General Assembly and the Security Council give new impetus and new tools for us to focus on longer-term peacebuilding and on preventing the lapse and relapse into conflict.

And the findings of the Global Study on women, peace and security show that women’s participation and integration of gender equality are central to peace and security efforts.

To this, I would like to add Security Council resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security, which could come to play the same role for young people as Security Council Resolution 1325 for women.

Excellencies,

We already see concrete results in a number of areas. 

Last September, world leaders gathered for the Leaders’ Summit on Peacekeeping. Their concrete pledges sent a strong signal of continued commitment to peacekeeping.

We are strengthening our partnerships with regional and sub-regional organizations.

The Peacebuilding Commission is adopting new working methods and focus of areas.

We have made progress in implementing the Secretary-General’s Seven-Point Action Plan on gender-responsive peacebuilding.

And we are putting in place strong measures to root out sexual exploitation and abuse.  This is essential in order to strengthen and in some cases, sadly, restore trust in peacekeeping.

Excellencies,

As you can see, the UN system is fully committed to this reform agenda. But we cannot achieve it alone.

Our mission must be a shared commitment between the UN and its Member States.

We need Member States to champion this change.  We need your engagement, oversight and investment in change – both political and financial.

We welcome the steps you have taken so far to support this vision.

But in some areas, rhetorical commitments have not so far translated into concrete action.

This is particularly the case for conflict prevention. Despite the unequivocal message arising from the three Reviews, we have yet to galvanize support for even modest proposals to revitalize the UN’s capacities in the prevention area.

I must similarly highlight that the Peacebuilding Fund currently faces a funding shortfall which must be redressed.  I plead with you to urgently consider financial contributions.  The Fund is an invaluable tool for practical peacebuilding.

We must eliminate the gap between rhetoric and action.  This gap is one of resources but also one of collective will. 

Let us just recall one such example: Can there be any more telling sign of our collective failure to give priority to prevention than the present deep crisis of conflict and displacement, the massive movement of refugees around the world, with its political and human repercussions?

In closing, let me state that the reform agenda, laid out by the three Reviews, is comprehensive, ambitious and promising.

The proposed measures and changes cannot be achieved overnight.  They will require continued work and commitment within the UN system, including by the next Secretary-General.   The former Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold described the future in two dimensions – the future is the vision.  But it is also the step, or steps, you take towards that vision.

These reforms will also demand the continued active engagement and a sense of urgency from the side of  Member States if we are to maintain the necessary momentum for change.

We count on your support in this shared serious endeavour both on the UN and on the regional level.

Thank you.