Thank you, Chair. And thank you to the briefers for sharing their experiences with us.
Today, more than ever, conflict prevention and peacebuilding are vital. The number of armed conflicts is increasing and becoming more complex and regionalized. Humanitarian responses, decisive as they are, only treats the symptoms of conflicts – we must work together to more strategically prevent them.
South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) can, in our view, play a crucial role in building and sustaining peace. There are many examples of this, including knowledge sharing, technical assistance, and mediation support. In particular, the SSTC principles of multilateralism, solidarity and mutual interest can help guide exchanges of best practices on conflict prevention and peacebuilding strategies.
Last year, the Norwegian Agency for Exchange Cooperation (NOREC), UNOSSC, and the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) published a joint report under the South-South Cooperation Global Thinkers Initiative. The report demonstrated how personnel exchanges are an effective, impactful, and cost-efficient way to carry out South-South and Triangular Cooperation. It also underlined the importance of jointly defined objectives and consistent beneficiary involvement as principles of such cooperation. We believe these principles are highly relevant in the peacebuilding space as well.
But South-South and Triangular Cooperation should not only be seen through the lens of capacity building and personnel exchanges. Ensuring adequate funding and fostering stronger global, regional and national institutional partnerships is also critical.
Norway has, for years, provided extensive support to peace actors in the Global South, like the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), which works extensively with Governments and organizations in all regions to promote peaceful conflict resolution and prevent conflict. They do impressive work that Norway continues to learn from in our own peacebuilding and peacemaking efforts.
Norway remains committed to enhancing our efforts to prevent conflict and explore new avenues for South-South and Triangular cooperation in the field of peacebuilding.
Thank you.