Peacebuilding

“Peace is the ultimate public good,” the newly appointed Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support told the Organizational Committee of the Peacebuilding Commission today as it met to adopt its draft report for its third session.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Judy Cheng-Hopkins of Malaysia as Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support. Ms. Cheng-Hopkins will replace Jane Holl Lute.

With efforts under way in Burundi to ensure transparent elections in 2010, entrench democratic principles into national institutions and advance a pivotal ceasefire accord with Forces Nationales de Libération (FNL) rebels, the country was successfully emerging from years of conflict, the Peacebuilding Commission heard today, as it adopted the conclusions of its third biannual review of the implementation of the Strategic Framework for Peacebuilding in Burundi.

The United Nations Peacebuilding Commission has welcomed a report by the Secretary-General on peacebuilding in the immediate aftermath of conflict, delivered to the Security Council today. The report follows a request from the Security Council last year and is part of a series of related initiatives aimed at consolidating and strengthening the United Nations response in the area of peace and security.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the formal meeting of the Organizational Committee of the Peacebuilding Commission, In New York today, 13 July:

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon this afternoon spelled out five key ways to help post-conflict countries achieve sustainable peace more rapidly and effectively, as he addressed the Peacebuilding Commission’s third session.

The Organizational Committee of the third session of the Peacebuilding Commission elected Peter Maurer (Switzerland) by acclamation on Monday as Chair of the country-specific configuration on Burundi, replacing Anders Lidén of Sweden.

Seven years after the civil war, the people of Sierra Leone wanted to see and feel the dividends of peace, said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today, at an unprecedented high-level special session of the Peacebuilding Commission, which launched a Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Sierra Leone and rallied international support around the Government’s unified development strategy.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the high-level special session of the Peacebuilding Commission on Sierra Leone in New York, 10 June:

Seizing the opportunity for sustainable peace in the Central African Republic, afforded by the success of last year’s inclusive political talks and the decision by key rebel factions to disarm, the Peacebuilding Commission today endorsed an integrated strategy to steer the engagement and dialogue among the Government, the United Nations and other international partners.