Enhanced coordination, adequate resources and increased integration of women and youth are necessary for delivering on sustainable peace and development, delegates heard at a joint meeting of the Economic and Social Council and Peacebuilding Commission today.

The Peacebuilding Commission held its annual session today with a theme on partnerships and a special focus on regional development banks.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks at the Peacebuilding Commission meeting on the peacebuilding challenges in the Lake Chad Basin, in New York on 20 April:

The Peacebuilding Commission will promote global solidarity to help mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on development and peacebuilding, while continuing to focus on empowering women and youth as critical partners in paving a path to sustainable peace, its newly elected Chair said today at the opening of its sixteenth session.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks at the joint Economic and Social Council-Peacebuilding Commission meeting on “Promoting COVID-19 Recovery and Durable Peace and Sustainable Development”, in New York today:

As the world endeavours to recover from the COVID‑19 pandemic, without increased investment in development, political and peace missions will simply fail, delegates heard at a joint meeting of the Economic and Social Council and Peacebuilding Commission today.

The Peacebuilding Commission will seek to strengthen its advisory, bridging and convening roles, with a focus on engaging all actors to prioritize “impact” in support of national peacebuilding objectives, its new Chair said today, outlining the body’s work plan for 2021.

Welcoming wide participation in the 2020 review of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture, the Security Council today called on the Peacebuilding Commission to continue strengthening its advisory and liaison roles in support of the national priorities of countries emerging from conflict.

Against the backdrop of the COVID‑19 pandemic, the General Assembly adopted two health‑related resolutions this morning — one, by recorded vote, underscoring the importance of affordable health care for all and of monitoring the unfolding impact of the novel coronavirus, and another, by consensus, declaring 2021 to 2030 as the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks at the Virtual Peacebuilding Commission Meeting on Sierra Leone, today: