- Published: 22.09.2023.
Minister Grlić Radman chairs PBC ministerial-level meeting
This was the first ministerial-level meeting of the PBC in ten years and brought together more than 30 ministers. Ministers adopted a joint statement underscoring the role of the PBC as a link between the UN bodies and other relevant stakeholders, including stronger ties with international financial institutions and mobilizing funds for peacebuilding. In attendance were also officials from the UN, the World Bank and civil society representatives.
In his address, Grlić Radman said that preventing conflicts should become a universal activity and that all the states should prepare their national strategies for conflict prevention, which could be revised periodically, in line with the good practice of voluntary national reviews of sustainable development goals and the Universal Periodic Reviews, strengthening the impact of the PBC on the ground.
The minister said that it was also necessary to encourage tackling intersectoral topics such as climate change, women, youth, and artificial intelligence. He called for considering additional roles of the PBC such as the overseeing of peace operations, and enabling it to have a say in decision-making on finances.
On the margins of the meeting, Grlić Radman held talks with his counterparts from Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Slovenia on how to speed up the implementation of the SFRY Succession Agreement. The four ministers expressed regret that Serbia had declined to attend the talks and agreed to cooperate closely on the issue of the succession and hold regular meetings.
Grlić Radman also met with Albanian Foreign Minister Igli Hasani, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN Gabriele Caccia, Kosovar Foreign Minister Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, and Nepali Foreign Minister Narayan Saud.