Briefing on SG’s Report on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace

– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, President of the 72^nd Session of the UN General Assembly, at Briefing on Secretary-General’s Report on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace

I welcome the Secretary-General and all delegations to the room. Thank you all for being here, for this briefing.

Before I give the floor to Secretary-General Guterres, I want to recall some of the calls we made – when we adopted the 2016 resolutions on peacebuilding and sustaining peace.

And, I will focus on four of them, in particular

First, we called for a new approach. For more capacity for peacebuilding and sustaining peace, on the ground. For a United Nations that is better equipped to prevent conflicts from breaking out or recurring.

We said that we would review our toolbox. That we would look at which new tools we would need to develop – and at how we could use existing ones better. In particular, we placed focus on the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission, and ongoing mediation and capacity building work in the field.

Second, we called for Sustaining Peace to be better financed.

Not for a month, or a year – but over the long-term. That is why we said financing should be sustained, and predictable. And that is why we requested the Secretary-General to propose concrete options. Not only on where these resources can come from. But also on how they can be allocated, for the greatest impact on the ground.

Third, we called for new partnerships.

Because we acknowledged that the United Nations cannot create Sustaining Peace alone. National stakeholders need to be in the driving seat. And we need the insight and expertise of other partners – from regional and civil society organisations to international financial institutions and businesses.

In the same way, we signalled an end to a time in which women’s participation and leadership is overlooked, or resisted. And we acknowledged that young people are agents and assets for peace.

And, finally, we called for all of this to take place in a comprehensive, and integrated way. We committed to breaking down silos, and divisions. And we looked towards a future, in which Sustaining Peace is not a task for one department, or office of the UN – but rather a core objective of this entire Organisation.

Excellencies,

We made these calls, loud and clear.

We have gone some way in response, already. The report we will be briefed on, today, is a strong guide on how we can go forward.

On 24 and 25 April, we will gather for the High-Level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace. It will give us a chance to reaffirm these calls – and to chart the course ahead, as we work to answer them in full.

And before I conclude, I wish to highlight that a logistics note, to help you in your preparations, will be circulated – either today or early tomorrow morning.

So, I thank you all, again, for being here. And I thank the Secretary-General, for giving his time to this platform for dialogue and exchange.

And, I now invite the Secretary-General of the United Nations, His Excellency, António Guterres, to take the floor.