Csaba Kőrösi, President of the 77th session of the General Assembly
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Joint Debate on the Peacebuilding Commission and the Peacebuilding Fund
(As delivered)
Excellencies, Chairman of the Peacebuilding Commission,
Distinguished Delegates,
“Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding,” as the adage goes.
These words speak to the core of what we do here at the United Nations.
By now, we understand that joint efforts to sustain peace are needed long before conflicts erupt.
And we also understand that we can reliably prevent their outbreak, escalation, and recurrence only if we address the root causes of disagreements.
Yet, as we look around the globe today, 27 armed conflicts continue to devastate lives.
Two decades ago, about five countries each year suffered more than one simultaneous war or insurgency. Now 15 do. Three-fold increase.
The number of conflict-related deaths has reached a 28-year high and over 100 million people have been forcibly displaced.
Conflicts have become more complex, and civil wars have a significantly stronger foreign involvement.
They also tend to last much longer.
And an increase of one degree in local temperature raises the chance of intergroup conflict by more than 10%.
These realities should be a wake-up call.
Unless we place the prevention of conflict at the core of our peace efforts, our 2030 promise of a safe, sustainable future will slip beyond the reach of many of our communities.
We have the duty to ask: how can we reverse these trends?
The Secretary-General’s suggestions on a New Agenda for Peace put the right emphasis on prevention and should be thoroughly considered by Member States.
Eighteen years after its creation, the Peacebuilding Commission is strategically placed to help the UN keep pace with today’s evolving threats.
As an advisory body to two key UN institutions, it has unique chances to advance coherence and assist both the Assembly and the Council in fulfilling their mandates.
This growth in demand of assistance from the PBC is a sign of our times.
Through various reviews of the relevant UN architecture, most recently in 2020, Member States have called for more effective peacebuilding.
Peacebuilding which is better resourced and has a stronger focus on prevention.
With this in mind, I commend the Commission’s efforts to promote coherent approaches across the UN system and I encourage it to make even greater use of its advisory function.
The General Assembly could benefit from more substantive advice on specific situations, as well as on cross-cutting issues, such as the water crisis, which are major drivers of violence.
For this end, I suggest that the PGA and the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission should hold regular consultations, similar to those with the Presidents of the Security Council and ECOSOC.
Eleanor Roosevelt famously said, “It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.”
From war and violent extremism to the triple planetary crises of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, global developments are demanding that we invest more in the peaceful future we aspire to achieve.
The suffering we see – from North to South, and East to West – offers clear proof that the costs of our inaction far outweigh the price of proactive investment in prevention.
In 2022, the Peacebuilding Fund approved record levels of support to 37 countries.
And in the GA resolution last session, Member States affirmed they would consider all options for sustained financing for peacebuilding.
In this spirit, I urge you to contribute to the Fund.
To reflect that, if no progress is made today, our goal to save lives will remain elusive tomorrow.
We know we are paying too steep a price for conflict.
Let us be shocked into action.
I hope today’s debate sparks bold ideas for strengthening collaboration – among all stakeholders, and at every stage of the peace continuum.
For we all instinctively know that, to quote the ancient Greek author Aesop, even “A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety.”
I thank you.
