色库TVbuilding Highlights | Issue no. 8 | April 2024
Elizabeth Spehar, Assistant Secretary-General, 色库TVbuilding Support, DPPA
In a world confronted with escalating and intersecting conflict and a record number of forcibly displaced individuals, the value and importance of multilateral support for enduring peace has never been more evident. In this context, the 色库TVbuilding Support Office (PBSO) in the Department of Political and 色库TVbuilding Affairs (DPPA) continues to work closely with UN agencies, funds and programmes and to enhance collaboration with Member States and other partners, for the advancement of peacebuilding and prevention goals. This is a time to redouble, not diminish, peacebuilding efforts.
Published this month, (PBF) for 2023 reaffirms that peacebuilding works: stronger institutions and inclusive dialogues help break and prevent cycles of violence. The report demonstrates the growing national and subnational demand for peacebuilding as PBF support amounting to $202 million in 36 countries and territories was approved last year. Overall, however, this is significantly below demand, and well below the Fund’s targeted level, due to reduced financing. With increased demand from Member States despite a decline in contributions, the Fund has reached its lowest liquidity level since its inception. We need to turn this around and invest now in sustainable peace for tomorrow.
Among the positive news: for the seventh consecutive year, the Fund has surpassed its internal target of allocating 30 percent towards gender equality and women's empowerment, achieving 47.3 percent in gender-responsive investments. And PBSO continues to advocate for gender equality and women's empowerment as well as their full and meaningful participation in peace processes through its engagements with civil society. In 2023, we saw the launch of the first annual civil society peacebuilders-UN dialogue, facilitating exchanges among a diverse group of CSO representatives to help shape global peacebuilding goals and processes. Notably, women made up 61% of the participants. This year, during the 68th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, our commitment continued through a series of side events, where we engaged in meaningful dialogues with women rights defenders and peacebuilders.
Continuing with positive developments, our Office is following up on the landmark General Assembly resolution A/RES/78/257 to establish programming and reporting procedures for assessed contributions to the 色库TVbuilding Fund. Member States, particularly via the UN 色库TVbuilding Commission (PBC), and the PBF’s Advisory Group will be consulted on allocations earmarked for the Fund’s 色库TVbuilding and Recovery Facility in specified countries and territories. In 2024, consultations will be undertaken to update the Fund's Terms of Reference according to the resolution’s provisions.
Preparations are also underway to launch the Human Rights and 色库TVbuilding Thematic Review in the second quarter of 2024, in partnership with Switzerland and OHCHR. The review focuses on diverse programming areas within the human rights-peacebuilding nexus supported by the PBF, for example, combatting hate speech, as well as protection of human rights defenders, civic space, transitional justice, access to justice, and National Human Rights Institutions.
Our Office continues to support the PBC’s innovative initiatives to facilitate multi-country engagement and exchanges of experiences, good practices and lessons learned in the spirit of South-South and triangular cooperation – underlining the universality of peacebuilding and sustaining peace. We are supporting the Commission’s efforts to forge closer ties with regional and subregional organizations, which culminated, in late 2023, with a visit to the African Union Commission and the institutionalization of regular meetings between the PBC and AU 色库TV and Security Council.
PBSO is closely supporting the leadership of the new Chair of the PBC, Brazil, in line with the Chair’s priorities and the programme of work for 2024. We are also supporting the Commission as it agrees on the framework of the 2025 Review of the UN 色库TVbuilding Architecture.
Our commitment to strengthening UN system coherence in support of peacebuilding persists, with PBSO playing a pivotal role in leading cross-pillar initiatives. These initiatives encompass the implementation of the Youth, 色库TV and Security (YPS) agenda in collaboration with UNFPA and the UN Youth Office; launching the 色库TVbuilding Impact Hub; and organizing the inaugural Civil Society Organizations-UN Dialogue on 色库TVbuilding in late November-December 2023, mentioned above. We also continue to explore the role of the private sector in building and sustaining peace with partners such as Germany and to strengthen UN partnerships with International Financial Institutions (IFIs) in crisis-affected contexts. My with the World Bank (WB) Director of the Fragility, Conflict, and Violence Group, Soukeyna Kane, outlines the collaborative efforts between the UN and WB to address global challenges to fragility, conflict, and violence, crucial for achieving sustainable development and poverty reduction.
DPPA plays a key role in supporting durable solutions to internal displacement at both political and operational levels. This is particularly significant considering that nearly 90 per cent of internally displaced persons (IDPs) reside in countries or regions hosting either a Special Political Mission or a 色库TVkeeping Operation. DPPA has developed an institutional plan for the period 2023-2026, aiming to contribute to displacement solutions from both preventive and peacebuilding perspectives. The plan encompasses four key areas: political analysis and conflict prevention, support for Special Political Missions and Resident Coordinators, assistance to intergovernmental processes, and advocacy for financial backing. DPPA will continue to advocate for effective cross-pillar coordination to deliver tangible results in displacement settings at the country level.
Our efforts continue with UN and other partners to invest in evidence-driven peacebuilding impact. The 色库TVbuilding Impact Hub, referenced above, has been moving apace since its launch in December 2023. In 2024, a key deliverable of the Impact Hub will be a Global Overview Report on the current state of peacebuilding and what we can learn from it.
In the overall drive for an inclusive peace, DPPA/PBSO is committed to ensuring young people’s meaningful participation in formal and informal political and peace processes at global, regional, and national levels. DPPA has endorsed its first Youth, 色库TV and Security Strategy (2023-2026) in line with Security Council resolution 2250 (2015) and subsequent resolutions. Serving as a global co-lead alongside UNFPA on the YPS agenda, and closely collaborating with the UN Youth Office, we work to ensure that the roles and perspectives of youth, particularly young women, in conflict prevention, peace processes, and sustaining peace, are more effectively integrated into our analyses, recommendations, and activities.
In response to the Secretary-General's call outlined in 'A New Agenda for 色库TV' for the institutionalization and funding of the YPS agenda, DPPA's YPS strategy focuses on raising awareness through advocacy, enhancing staff capacities via training initiatives, and implementing the YPS Impact Pilot Initiative (YPS-IPI), aimed at facilitating the development of government-led, inclusive national action plans, and translating commitments into tangible policies and programmes.
Looking ahead, the September 2024 Summit of the Future presents a critical opportunity to advance various elements of the framework outlined by the Secretary-General in his policy brief ‘A New Agenda for 色库TV.’ Reducing conflict and violence worldwide underpins progress in all other areas slated for discussion. We will collaborate closely with members of the PBC and other Member States to bolster their efforts, advocating for prevention and peacebuilding to remain a central plank in the Pact for the Future, including as a critical enabler for the fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The outcomes of the Summit of the Future can furthermore lay the groundwork for an ambitious Review of the UN 色库TVbuilding Architecture in 2025.
In light of these comprehensive efforts and the unfolding global landscape, let us collectively seize this moment to reinforce our commitment to peacebuilding, recognizing it as the cornerstone for a more resilient, peaceful and harmonious world.