General Assembly General Assembly

PBC Ambassadorial level meeting (30 March 2022)

SG’s briefing on the new report on Financing

 

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  • The new Chair of the Peace Building Commission has already outlined the ten priorities for the Peace Building Commission and we support those priorities.

  • We have noted SG’s proposal in the new report requesting for the General Assembly to approve the establishment of a funding mechanism through which assessed contributions to the value of $100 million would be appropriated on an annual basis through a dedicated special account, starting from 1 July 2022.

  • We welcome the assurances given in the new report with regard to specific modalities proposed for the supplementary funding mechanism; in particular that assessed contributions for the Peace Building Fund will not divert from resource requirements from other mandated activities, that they will be used in a transparent manner that respects the oversight role of the General Assembly, that the manner in which the funds are provided will not compromise the flexibility and responsiveness of the Fund and that the provision of assessed contributions to the Fund will strengthen programmatic coherence within the United Nations system and avoids duplication with other sources of funding, including programmatic activities financed through the budgets of peace operations.

  • There is absolutely no doubt that we need financing for peace-building.

  • Irrespective of the options chosen for funding peace building, funds must be adequate and sustainable for meeting the requirements of developing countries for peace building.

  • However, it is imperative that PBC should prioritize the different demands for projects put up for their consideration to get a realistic assessment.

  • We should do all we can to ensure that funds are available to ensure that PBC is well-funded. It is disappointing that so far the process to ensure this has not yielded adequate results as has been correctly noted by SG in his report ‘Our Common Agenda’.

  • Finally, we may also need to see whether the structure of peace-building funding needs to be reviewed to adequately reflect the concerns of the member states.

I Thank You.

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