H.E. Neven Jurica, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Croatia to the United Nations, gave a statement on Security Council Debate on Peacebuilding Commission.
Mr. President,
Mr. President, I thank you for organizing this debate to consider the second annual report of the Peacebuilding Commission. Today's deliberations should help us take stock of the progress made thus far and the challenges we face, as we are entering the Commission's third year of work.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Chairman of the Organizational Committee Ambassador Yukio Takasu for his observations as well as his admirable Chairmanship of the Commission. Equally, allow me to commend the Chairs of the Country-Specific Meetings for their dedicated work.
The establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission is in our opinion one of the most important results of UN reform to date. The peace-building concept as enacted through the Peacebuilding Commission offers the best way in which we can effectively achieve as well as consolidate the three main pillars of the United Nations – security, development and the protection of human rights. Only by implementing them together can sustainable peace and long lasting stability and prosperity be achieved.
Equally, we are cognizant that chances for substantive peace are enhanced with the speedy and coordinated engagement of the UN system [as a whole] following the establishment of a ceasefire on the ground or the signing of a peace agreement. Therefore, it is imperative that all post-conflict efforts be coordinated and integrated so that they can be utilized to capacity while simultaneously reducing overlap.
It was for these particular reasons that Croatia supported and greatly valued the establishment in 2006 of the Peacebuilding Commission, and its subsequent work on country specific issues. We believe that its second session brought many positive developments that can be built upon in the future, in particular those related to the more focused approach to countries on its agenda. We hope this approach will be maintained, in particular with respect to the new countries to the Commission's agenda – Guinea Bissau and the Central African Republic – whose inclusion on the agenda of the PBC we very much welcome.
Furthermore, we see the expansion of the PBC agenda as a clear sign of the Commission's growing relevance, vitality and strength within the UN's peace-building architecture.
That being said, we would like to echo the views expressed by some Members around this table on the need to keep in mind that the Commission's evolution should go hand in hand with its flexibility. In our view, enhanced flexibility brings more responsiveness and more agility to the PBC in addressing post-conflict situations.
Equally, although we value the current interaction between the Security Council and the PBC, we do believe that room still exists for enhancing this cooperation and making more use of the PBC's input in the Council's deliberations. Croatia sees benefit to the idea put forward in previous debates with regard to soliciting the advice of the PBC on specific issues on countries that are both on the Security Council's and PBC's agenda. This in our opinion would be of benefit first and foremost to those countries being debated as well as allow other interested parties and organizations the opportunity to bring forward relevant information, which will allow the Security Council to adopt more informed decisions.
All the activities that we are talking about today are obviously not possible without sufficient, timely and flexible funding. As one of the Peacebuilding Fund's founders and contributors, Croatia hopes that the Fund will be able to further evolve into a mechanism able to respond to these needs promptly.
Mr. President,
Finally, we hope that during its third year that the Peacebuilding Commission will continue to build on the previous experience and work done thus far, taking in and applying the lessons learned, and strengthening its efficiency, flexibility and dynamism in response to the peace-building needs of the countries on its agenda.
Thank you.
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