Bangkok--23 Jun--UNISBKK
Organizational Committee of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) will hold its first meeting. The UN Secretary-General will address the session. Other speakers include the chairman of the PBC (to be elected during the session), as well as the presidents of the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council.
In addition to electing its Chairman, the Commission will also adopt its rules of procedure. The Security Council is formally referring Burundi and Sierra Leone as the first countries to be reviewed by the Peacebuilding Commission.
Background
The creation of the Peacebuilding Commission, proposed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his In Larger Freedom report, is a critical outcome of the reform process. It will fill a major gap in the peace and security architecture of the UN system and of the international community, as it will address long-term measures to ensure sustainable peace in countries emerging from conflict.
The process of getting this new inter-governmental body operational was lengthy, since member states were engaged in complex negotiations about the selection process under the five categories from which members for the organizational committee were subsequently elected (for details on composition of the Commission, please see Fact Sheet below).
The main work of the PBC will be country-specific and it is the Organizational Committee that will set up country-specific committees. The Commission will also appoint additional members to take part in the country review. The country-specific committees are set up based on countries referred to the PBC for review by the General Assembly, the Security Council, ECOSOC, the Secretary-General or any member state (about its own situation).
The fact that the Security Council is referring Burundi and Sierra-Leone as the first countries to be reviewed by the PBC signals that the Commission will be able to move into country-specific discussions as described above.
Note should be made, however, that significant work still needs to be undertaken by the Commission to define its own rules of procedure to govern its work. The rules of procedure to be adopted at the first session will be provisional in nature.
Several post-conflict countries, in addition to Burundi and Sierra Leone, have already expressed interest in being included in the purview of the PBC. This interest indicates that potential 'clients' of the Commission, on whose behalf the whole peacebuilding architecture was designed, expect the PBC to be able to extend effective support. Recent events for example in Timor-Leste have shown that a more sustained engagement by the international community is sorely needed in helping countries emerging from conflict.
Peacebuilding Commission Fact Sheet
Background
19 June 2006
A. The Peacebuilding Commission
The newly established Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), a major pillar of the ongoing United Nations reform and one of the most significant outcomes of the 2005 World Summit, will hold its first meeting on 23 June in the ECOSOC chamber at UN headquarters in New York (from 1030-1300). Chaired by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the first meeting of the PBC's Organizational Committee is expected to adopt its agenda and terms of reference and to discuss the first post-conflict country situations it will consider.
The main purpose of the Peacebuilding Commission will be to help countries emerging from conflict from lapsing back into violence and to maintain sustained international support for countries enjoying fragile or recently-won-peace. Studies have shown that about half of all countries that emerge from violent conflict relapse into violence within five years.
Created by the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council on 20 December 2005, the Commission will fill a critical gap within the UN and the global system by providing a coordinated, coherent and integrated approach to post-conflict peacebuilding and by facilitating dialogue amongst key players concerned with countries emerging from conflict.
Functions of the Peacebuilding Commission
The functions of the Peacebuilding Commission will be to:
(a) bring together all relevant actors to marshal resources and to advise and propose strategies for post-conflict peacebuilding and recovery;
(b) focus attention on the reconstruction and institution-building efforts necessary for recovery from conflict and to support the development of strategies to lay the foundation for sustainable development;
(c) provide recommendations and information to improve the coordination both within and outside the United Nations, to develop best practices, to help to ensure predictable financing for early recovery activities and to extend the period of attention given by the international community to post-conflict recovery.
Structure of the PBC Organizational Committee
The Peacebuilding Commission is composed of 31 Members States in the
form of an Organizational Committee, which will address country-specific situations. The Organizational Committee is made up of members selected or elected as follows:
|-----------------------------------------+--------------------------------------|
| China, France, Russia, UK, US; Denmark, |Seven members of the Security Council,|
| Tanzania |including the five permanent members |
|-----------------------------------------+--------------------------------------|
| Angola, Belgium, Brazil, Guinea-Bissau, |Seven members of the Economic and |
| Indonesia, Poland, Sri Lanka |Social Council (ECOSOC), elected from |
| |regional groups, with consideration |
| |to those countries that have |
| |experienced post-conflict recovery |
|-----------------------------------------+--------------------------------------|
| Burundi, Chile, Croatia, Egypt, |Seven members elected by the General |
| ElSalvador, Fiji, Jamaica |Assembly giving due consideration to |
| |regional representation and countries |
| |with experience in post-conflict |
| |recovery |
|-----------------------------------------+--------------------------------------|
| Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Nigeria, |Five major troop contributing |
| Pakistan: |countries (TCCs), selected by |
| |and among the top 10 TCCs |
|-----------------------------------------+-------------------------------- -----|
| Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, |Five major financial providers |
| Norway |selected by 10 top financial providers|
|-----------------------------------------+--------------------------------------|
In addition, representatives of the Secretary-General, the World Bank,
International Monetary Fund and other institutional donors will be invited to participate.
PBC Country-specific Meetings
In the Commission's country-specific meetings, where the bulk of its
substantive work is expected to take place, the following representatives will be invited:
- Members of the Organizational Committee
- The country under considerations;
- Countries in the region engaged in post-conflict work, relevant regional/sub-regional organizations;
- The senior UN representative in the field and other UN representatives;
- Representatives of the Secretary-General
- Regional and international financial institutions including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and other institutional donors.
B. The Peacebuilding Support Office
The Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO), headed by Assistant Secretary-General Carolyn McAskie (Canada), will support the PBC in its deliberations. It will also provide an important link between the UN system and the Peacebuilding Commission. The office will offer to assist national authorities, through the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG), if a peace operation is present, or through the UN Regional or Humanitarian Coordinator, in formulating and implementing an integrated peacebuilding strategy. The office will not have an operational role but will rely on existing capacities. The PBSO forms part of the Executive Office of the Secretary General.
C. The Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) is a new Trust Fund established to support critical peacebuilding efforts in countries under review by the PBC. It is conceived as a flexible funding mechanism and will play an important catalytic role in seeking to attract additional resources. The Fund, which will be launched shortly, has a target of $250 million.
For more information, please visit the Peacebuilding Commission website on: http://www.un.org/peace/peacebuilding/