Peacebuilding Commission

Organizational Committee

4^th Meeting (AM)

PEACEBUILDING COMMISSION SENDS REPORT OF FIRST SESSION TO ASSEMBLY’S

BUDGET COMMITTEE, TO REVIEW FINANCING OF FIELD MISSIONS

 

The report of the Peacebuilding Commission on its first session would be allocated to the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) for the sole purpose of having the financing of field missions considered, the Commission’s Organizational Committee decided this morning.  Members also expressed the desire to strengthen the year-old Commission’s interaction with the Security Council following the previous day’s presentation of the Commission’s first report to that body.  (See Press Release SC/9144.)

[The Peacebuilding Commission was formally established in December 2005 as an outcome of the World Summit.  Its role is to consolidate peace agreements and help war-ravaged countries keep from sliding back into conflict.  Commission reports are simultaneously considered by the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly.  Along with the Peacebuilding Fund and the Peacebuilding Support Office, it constitutes the core skeleton of the United Nations peacebuilding machinery.  Burundi and Sierra Leone were chosen as the first two post-war nations to be entered onto the Commission’s agenda.  One of the issues in the Security Council debate the previous day centred on the question of whether other countries should now be considered for inclusion.]

The Chairman of the Commission’s Organizational Committee, Yukio Takasu of Japan, told the Committee today he would present a letter to the President of the General Assembly, requesting him to allocate consideration of the Commission’s report to the Fifth Committee.  If that request were approved, the General Assembly’s General Committee could consider the request at its meeting the next day (tomorrow).  The Budgetary Committee review of the report to consider the financing of peacebuilding field missions was part of the new Commission’s evolution, since it did not have the authority to decide on financial matters.

John Løvald of Norway, as Chairman of one of two country-specific meetings, that on Burundi, endorsed the decision to make the request.  He said the question of financing field missions was an important matter.  His own experience with Burundi showed how useful field missions were as part of the follow-up mechanism for the Commission’s work.

Pavel Knyazev of the Russian Federation also endorsed the allocation of the item to the Fifth Committee, and asked that the matter be clarified on whether the financing of field missions was part of the Peacebuilding Commission budget.

On the matter of the Commission’s evolving relationship with other bodies of the United Nations system, he said he would not dwell on the matter, but the Commission’s relations with other bodies was part of a long discussion.  He supported the participation of Commission members who were not Security Council members in presentations of Commission reports to the Council.  However, each United Nations body had the right to handle proceedings in its own manner.

Angola’s representative, Tete Antonio, said the Commission’s presentation to the Security Council the previous day had gone well, but he was concerned about the manner in which some Commission members had been treated.  For example, Jamaica had not been given the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement.  In the future, the Council should make Commission members feel welcome.

France’s representative noted that that had been the first review of the Commission’s report by other bodies of the system, and it was not useful to hold the discussion in the Organizational Committee.  Chairman Takasu noted that the advantage of the Organizational Committee was the presence of both Security Council and General Assembly representatives.  The question of relationships between the Commission and other bodies was a developing situation and views expressed would be taken into consideration.

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For information media • not an official record