Statement
by
H.E. Mrs. Mirjana Mladineo, Ambassador
Permanent Representative of the Republic of Croatia to the UN
at the open debate of the Security Council in connection with the agenda item
“Post-conflict peacebuilding”
Mr. President,
At the outset let me thank you for organizing this meeting to discuss our experience in the work of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) and explore ways of cooperation between the work of the PBC and the Security Council. I would also like to say that Croatia aligns itself with the statement by Germany on behalf of the European Union. However, as Croatia has been elected to the PBC from among those countries who have considerable peacekeeping and peace building experience, I would like to say a few words from this particular angle.
The PBC has been established by both the General Assembly and the Security Council resolutions in order to fill a gap in the peace building area of the UN system. Croatia has strongly supported this effort as, in our view the improvement in this respect is much needed. Therefore, we have to bear in mind that the PBC is a new body which is not meant to proceed in the “business as usual” way, but it is supposed to adopt innovative ways in resolving post-conflict recovery. We consider it to be work in progress.
The PBC, as stated in the resolutions S/1645(2005) and A/60/180, has been established to bring together all relevant actors, to marshal resources and to advise on, as well as, to propose integrated strategies for post-conflict peace building and recovery. It is aimed to help reconstruction and institution-building efforts and lay the foundation for sustainable development. It also needs to provide recommendations and information to improve the coordination of all relevant actors within and outside the United Nations. These are very concrete tasks. The country specific meetings on the two countries, which are currently on the agenda of the PBC, have so far shown that the PBC is on the right track in this regard. However, more needs to be done. The PBC needs to make sure to contribute to further stabilization of peace in other fragile states as well.
In this regard, there should be a stronger connection between peacekeeping and peace building. Therefore, the cooperation between the Security Council and the PBC is of utmost importance. Thus, establishing of a United Nations integrated office, similar to ones established in both Burundi and Sierra Leone, is an important step in the right direction. There should not be a gap between peacekeeping and peace building efforts in peace consolidation process. Some peace building activities can be undertaken even while the peacekeeping mission is still in place. However, we have to bear in mind that each country is a unique case and that the in-depth knowledge of the situation on the ground is a crucial prerequisite for our actions. We are, therefore, very much encouraged by the fact that the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) has started to fully function. Its support is indispensable to the members of the PBC in providing them, among other things, with in-depth information from the ground, which would enable substantial and knowledgeable discussions about countries in question.
To this end, we believe that discussions on peace building activities both in the Security Council and the General Assembly are exceptionally useful. They have to ensure effective and productive basis for programs which, should guarantee that a country in question will successfully emerge from conflict and will be put on a sound and irreversible path to recovery and sustainable development as soon as possible.
This debate in the Security Council is particularly useful for the two countries that are both on the PBC and Security Council agendas. We believe that the PBC needs to produce a strategy and a roadmap with concrete, achievable and realistic benchmarks. National ownership of the peace building process of the countries in question is of the utmost importance and should be the basis for this strategy. We believe that a continuous contact with these countries is an extremely important feature of the work of the PBC. In this regard, Security Council may judge the PBC findings useful for its own consideration.
Let me conclude by saying that the value-added role of the PBC will be measured, as has been already said and repeated many times in different UN and other fora, by its impact on the ground. It is, therefore, important to work further on consolidation and rounding-up of its practices to which Croatia, as its member, is fully committed.
Thank you, Mr. President
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