President, distinguished colleagues
I am pleased to deliver this statement on behalf of the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and my own country, Norway.
This year’s debate on peacebuilding and sustaining peace takes place at a challenging time for the UN - geopolitically, financially and normatively.
But these challenges also represent an opportunity to rethink how we collectively best can address peacebuilding.
Inclusive peacebuilding is a uniting force that can transform into effective, collective action.
As the Pact for the Future states, the sustaining peace agenda and the peacebuilding architecture should play a pivotal role in supporting peace through nationally owned and locally driven initiatives.
Peacebuilding is in high demand, demonstrated by the close engagement that many countries wish to have with the Peacebuilding Commission, and by the strong demand for support from the Peacebuilding Fund.
This demand should guide us in today’s debate.
Let me emphasize two points, which are of importance to the Nordic countries:
First: Invest in effective peacebuilding.
Declining funding and an increasing number of entrenched conflicts mean that we have to refocus available resources.
Every dollar spent on prevention has immense returns in terms of saved lives and saved costs on conflict management, recovery and humanitarian responses.
We need to prioritize resources to nationally owned peacebuilding efforts and preventive diplomacy.
From catalytic instruments like the Peacebuilding Fund and the DPPA’s Multi-Year Appeal and the UNDP-DPPA Joint Program to structures under regional organizations and IFIs, it is clear that the tools are available.
Second: Foster inclusivity.
Exclusion is a root cause and driver of conflicts in many contexts.
Promoting inclusiveness in both multilateral and national efforts for peace is therefore critical.
We are celebrating 25 years of the women, peace, and security agenda – and the full, equal, meaningful, and safe participation of women undeniably delivers more robust and sustainable peace.
Leadership of youth is equally critical and in line with the youth, peace, and security agenda, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.
Strong and vivid civil society involvement, including through the annual UN-CSO Dialogue on Peacebuilding, gives depth and breadth to peacebuilding efforts, making them more sustainable.
And moving peacebuilding efforts into the online domain is vital in an ever-more digitally connected world.
Excellencies,
This annual debate is an important opportunity to recommit to the principles of sustaining peace.
We have learnt through decades of painful experiences that sustainable peace must be built bottom-up through inclusive processes.
Peacebuilding must be at the center of our minds when we engage in the coming UN80 reform discussions on developing and strengthening the UN’s peace and security pillar.
Now, more than ever, national governments are seeking support from the PBC and the PBF.
We must therefore ensure that our collective efforts in the Peacebuilding Architecture Review leads to tangible, lasting impact where it matters most — on the ground.
The Nordic countries stand fully committed to reinforcing and strengthening the Architecture to meet the challenges of today and sustain peace in the future.
Thank you.