Annual Meeting of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform

Mr. Weber
Mr. Heckner
Dear Colleagues:

I am pleased to be with you to highlight the support of the United Nations for the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform. The United Nations Office at Geneva has been closely involved with the Platform since its inception, and we are committed to this important cooperation.

Allow me also to express our appreciation to the Swiss Confederation for the continued strong support for the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform. I see this as another important demonstration of our Host Country’s focus on enhancing the role of “International Geneva”. We at the United Nations share this priority and wish to continue working closely with Switzerland to advance this objective.

I share Mr. Weber’s view of the strengths of the Platform, as a bridge between Geneva and New York, as a bridge to the field, as a bridge between policy and research and as a bridge between sectors. This represents a unique value-added that we must build on.

The focus of this year’s Annual Meeting is indeed very timely, as it addresses profound regional changes that no doubt will influence the way we build peace across the world. The outcome of your discussions will be of great interest to the entire United Nations system.

Let me share with you a few initial observations on the role of peacebuilding in relation to the developments in North Africa and the Middle East, which I hope that you will develop during the debates today:

First, developments over the past year have shown us that peacebuilding is just as important after a political transition and transformation as it is after war. In my view, this point has been brought home very clearly by the recent events in Egypt, for example.

Second, as the Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon has highlighted, one of the most significant challenges we face today is the deficit of trust in governmental authorities. This applies globally, and also very much to the North African and Middle Eastern region. Nurturing sustainable democracy, accountable governance, respect for human rights and the rule of law must be a focus of both national and international activities.

Third, peacebuilding strategies need to place the greatest possible emphasis on socio-economic policies, not least for youth and for women to empower them and enable them to contribute meaningfully their societies. The underlying socio-economic context has been evident in many of the situations we have witnessed over the past year.

Four, with a multitude of actors engaged, recent events have highlighted the need for partnerships and for meaningful coordination, for greater agility and tighter focus to give more decisive support for peace processes.
Five, and perhaps most importantly, peacebuilding takes time. Local populations and the international community share an interest in results. But, we need patience and persistence. Lasting change can only be built over time, which is easier said than done in the face of demands for immediate solutions and tangible changes quickly.

For me, these are some of the initial key lessons that should be studied in more depth. Above all, the recent events have shown that countries or regions that we may have considered relatively calm can become volatile at rapid speed, with broad ramifications. Peacebuilding should be an ongoing process and not only a response or reaction in situations where political transformations have already taken place. Your experience and expertise is particularly valuable in this regard.

I wish you successful discussions today and look forward to our continued cooperation with the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform.

Thank you for your attention.