Chair,
Thank you for convening this Annual Session on lessons from peacebuilding success stories – an apt theme for the Peacebuilding Architecture’s 20th anniversary.
I also thank the briefers for your valuable contributions.
Chair,
Peacebuilding is a universal endeavor.
Many key policies that Norway – over time - has implemented to build a peaceful society are essentially peacebuilding policies.
As a PBC member, we have taken the opportunity to share our peacebuilding experiences related to our indigenous communities and preventing violent extremism.
Our broader policies on equal opportunity, universal public services, women’s rights and economic development in rural areas are peace-positive, and help prevent and contain conflict dynamics from escalating.
It is perhaps too simplistic to say that all domestic policies based on inclusion, equality and universality are peacebuilding policies. But there is more than a kernel of truth in it.
Chair,
These are challenging times for peacebuilding.
Increased geopolitical tensions and lack of accountability lead towards more protracted conflicts.
Respect for core international norms, like those in the Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is weakening.
Emerging technologies represent both new challenges and new opportunities for peacebuilding.
But an even more divided and fragile world order also means that effective conflict prevention and peacebuilding are more important than ever and.
The PBC must secure its role as the essential forum for shared, evidence-based learning on peacebuilding.
Norway has learned much from listening to other PBC members’ peacebuilding experiences, like those of Kenya in reviewing its national peacebuilding architecture. This inspires and contributes to our own effort in developing prevention strategies.
Chair,
Lasting political resolutions and sustainable development cannot take root without peace.
That’s why the Peacebuilding Architecture is essential, as the Pact for the Future clearly states.
The PBAR is an opportunity to reinforce this and lay the foundation for an even more impactful architecture.
Chair,
Looking ahead, our responsibility is clear.
We must fulfill the commitments made in earlier PBAR-resolutions, and the Pact for the future, and we must ensure that this year’s PBAR leads to more efficient peacebuilding with real impact.
People around the world are counting on us – not just for support, but for credible, political will.
This is a shared responsibility and one we must live up to.
Thank you.