Mr President,
Excellencies and colleagues,
I would like to begin by thanking the organisers and in particular the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office for convening this important discussion today on peacebuilding finance. Fiji is pleased to be able to deliver this statement on behalf of the fourteen members of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) with presence at the UN.
The Pacific Islands Forum is a steadfast supporter of UN peacebuilding efforts. We believe in the potential for peacebuilding to enhance political dialogues, assist in conflict prevention and resolution and allow countries to strengthen their peace dividends. We recognise that peacebuilding finance remains a critical challenge – we have a long way to go to reach the “adequate, predictable and sustained financing for peacebuilding” we set out to achieve and to meet the Funding Compact target of $500 million per year set in 2020.
In the Pacific, we have seen first-hand the importance of initiatives such as the Peacebuilding Fund’s climate security project. This peacebuilding project – implemented in conjunction with UNDP and IOM in addition to national partners Kiribati, Tuvalu and Marshall Islands – is key to enabling our region to build a more inclusive understanding around climate security and to find community solutions to the climate crisis facing our Pacific Island Nations.
Climate-related security risks are compounding and exacerbating existing security challenges and putting a strain on already limited resources. In short, an effective peacebuilding architecture should be responsive to varying climate-related security risks in a range of regions including the Sahel, Lake Chad Basin and the Blue Pacific.
The Peacebuilding Fund is also playing a crucial role in efforts to sustain peace in the Solomon Islands since the withdrawal of the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) in June 2017. Currently the Peacebuilding Fund has projects aimed at bridging traditional governance and rule of law through harnessing youth participation in developing innovative and locally-owned solutions for land management and conflict resolution.
The Pacific Islands Forum welcomes the role of the Peacebuilding Commission in financing for peacebuilding and urges the Commission to redouble its efforts to strengthen its role in resource mobilisation in support of nationally owned priorities. We support a range of sources of funding, including through assessed contributions, to address the critical funding gap. We remain open to exploring innovative mechanism for peacebuilding financing, included through a blend of public and private financial resources and partnerships with international financial institutions and the private sector.
We must also remain steadfast in supporting peacebuilding investments that seek to address women’s specific needs, advance gender equality and empower women. In this vein, local peacebuilding is key to ensuring peacebuilding dividends are sustainable in the long-term.
Finally, Mr President, the Pacific Islands Forum believes today’s discussion on peacebuilding finance should form a stepping-stone to the proposed high-level, multi-stakeholder “Summit of the Future” in 2023 during the 78th session of the UN General Assembly. We must continue our support of investing in prevention and peacebuilding activities under the UN Secretary-General New Agenda for Peace.
Vinaka - I thank you Mr President.