Peacebuilding Fund Reserves ‘Used Up’, Deputy Secretary-General Tells Stakeholders, Highlighting Pressing Need for Increased Support
Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, to the Annual Peacebuilding Fund Stakeholders Meeting, in New York today:
It is a pleasure for me to open this year’s Stakeholder Meeting for the Peacebuilding Fund. It is a particular pleasure because today I have a chance to talk about something positive which works, in a troubled, turbulent and turmoil-driven world.
Last week, the Peace Operations Panel report underscored that more programmatic resources are needed to build the capacity of national institutions in post-crisis countries if we are to prevent relapses into conflict.
Yesterday, in my remarks to the Peacebuilding Commission, I noted the low levels of international investment that flow into the areas of rule of law, security sectors and the political institutions needed to guide countries through the post-conflict period.
The Peacebuilding Fund is an instrument that has proven its value in addressing these challenges.
Post-conflict countries face simultaneous challenges on nearly every front: economic, social, cultural and political. Their leaders do not have the luxury of time. They need to create economic opportunities, to invest in their youth and to unleash the creative social and economic power of their women. They need to set up working governance systems. And they need to do all this under great pressures and expectations, taking advantage of critical windows to consolidate peace.
The Peacebuilding Fund, now eight years old, is by no means perfect. But, we have learned many important lessons. Let me mention just four; I know that Oscar Fernández-Taranco will share several more with you.
First, we have learned that we need to support and help strengthen the political leadership of the nations in which we are investing. Successful peacebuilding requires tackling the toughest challenges, and this cannot be done without national political vision. Let us remember, the Fund does not invest in every post-conflict country. It works only in those countries where the leadership is actively interested in promoting dialogue, in developing institutions of democratic governance and in increasing security for all.
Second, we have learned about the critical importance of political settlements and frameworks. Agreements between belligerents are the foundation of peace. Building governmental institutions in the absence of such agreements is fraught with risk, if not outright impossible. And agreements, to be sustainable, need to have broad acceptance, even if they start off as narrow understandings between adversaries. Investing in these agreements, and the processes which broaden them, is, therefore, among the highest priorities of the Fund.
Just last month, the Central African actors agreed to a new Pacte Republicaine, as a result of the Bangui Forum, financed in part by the Peacebuilding Fund. With assistance from MINUSCA [United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic], United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other partners, they undertook pre-consultations across 16 prefectures, insisting on as much participation as possible in a tight transition schedule.
The Forum itself involved more than 500 people, was presided over by Special Representative Bathily and attended by Special Representative of the Secretary-General [Babacar] Gaye. It demonstrated the deep challenges the Central African Republic faces, as well as the power of negotiations. The Peacebuilding Fund is now preparing to invest in key elements of that Pacte. This includes demobilization and reintegration of combatants, as well as the extension of State authority.
Third, we have learned that international assistance still undervalues women’s empowerment. The Secretary-General has established a target that 15 per cent of all United Nations peacebuilding resources should focus on the empowerment of women. I regret to say that the Peacebuilding Fund is still failing to meet this figure.
Through its Gender Promotion Initiative, the Fund has implemented ad hoc measures so that countries requesting support receive a high priority. As part of this effort, the Fund approved a project earlier this year that will facilitate the networking and capacity-building of women’s organizations engaging in political life in Somalia.
Fourth, we have learned that the United Nations needs to work together if we are to provide value and retain our relevance. Peacebuilding is a creative and demanding exercise. This, not least, because it is so closely tied to the political crises that led to violent conflict in the first place. As international actors, we must be sensitive to the profound importance of national ownership. Peace must be built from the inside.
At the same time, the United Nations must understand — as any external actor must — that when it enters to assist, that assistance itself affects political relations and processes.
It is, therefore, critical that the full United Nations system — Special Representatives, peacekeeping operations, special political missions, United Nations agencies such as UNDP, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) or UN-Women, global actors such as the High Commissioner for Human Rights, everyone — is pulling in the same fundamental and common direction. This does not preclude each of them living up to their individual mandates. The “orchestra” metaphor comes to mind.
The Fund incentivizes United Nations leadership at the country level to forge coherence and identify system-wide priorities. Burundi, for example, is among the highest priorities at this time, as we accompany a country through a difficult and dangerous political landscape. The Peacebuilding Fund has been investing in synergies across different parts of the UN system, including the [United Nations] Electoral Observer Mission [in Burundi], MENUB, the Peacebuilding Commission, and the United Nations country team.
Even prior to the current crisis, the Fund put in place a dialogue calling on the skills of local civil society and international NGO [non-governmental organization] expertise. It provided bridge-funding to ensure continued presence of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). And it has indicated its readiness to adjust other programming to respond to the call by East African leaders to address the violent actions of youth in political life.
These are just a few of the lessons we have learned, and some examples of how the Peacebuilding Fund is investing in the key elements for sustainable peace.
I want to finish by focusing on a risk and challenge to the Peacebuilding Fund itself.
Ten years ago, most Member States responded enthusiastically to the establishment of the Fund. I was there at its creation, as President of the General Assembly. The Peacebuilding Support Office went to work experimenting with its first programmes. Member States fine-tuned the Terms of Reference in 2009.
In 2010, the Secretary-General’s Advisory Group endorsed an annual programming target of $100 million per year. The Group has endorsed this target every year since. And for its part, the Peacebuilding Fund is now achieving this target.
However — and this is serious — we are not raising $100 million per year. And we have used up the reserves from the initial contributions of donors. This means that we are in pressing need of an increase in support. It would be tragic and ironic if, just as the Peacebuilding Fund is finding its feet and role, the rug is pulled out from beneath it.
I am fully aware that the world has many calls on its resources. I appreciate that many Member States remain receptive to the growing number of appeals for humanitarian assistance and peace operations. But, it is short-sighted to not also be investing in conflict prevention and post-conflict programmes. Let us remember that the life of a conflict includes both a pre-conflict and a post-conflict phase.
While we do not yet know what the independent Advisory Group of Experts will recommend, I am hopeful that they will endorse increased resources for peacebuilding.
I would like to suggest, therefore, that we open ourselves to finding additional ways to capitalize the Peacebuilding Fund. We need a mechanism to provide predictable, core support for peacebuilding. Isn’t it time to consider devoting a small amount of assessed contributions for peacebuilding purposes? Wouldn’t this remind us all that we need to invest in longer-term peace stabilisation?
You have all been generous in providing resources to the Fund. You have been patient as we put our systems and our house in order. You have offered good advice along the way.
We have listened to you. We believe we have developed an instrument, built on guidelines from the General Assembly, which emphasizes speed, flexibility, national ownership and risk-tolerance. This work is now delivering results. Now is also the time, I suggest, to renew and expand that support. I thank you for your attention and understanding.