PEACEBUILDING ARCHITECTURE REVIEW INFORMAL INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE
STATEMENT DELIVERED BY H.E. JAMES LARSEN, AMBASSADOR AND PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO THE UNITED NATIONS
8 May 2025
Thank you for the opportunity to provide input into the co-facilitators’ elements paper.
Australia supports its broad objectives, and wishes to make four key points:
First, the Sustaining Peace agenda, established through the 2016 twin resolutions which Australia proudly co-facilitated with Angola, provides an important foundation for us to build upon.
In this regard, we do not need to re-design the house, but instead build upon its existing foundations.
Second, we support initiatives aimed at strengthening the role of the Peacebuilding Commission.
We particularly support using the Peacebuilding Commission as a knowledge hub with analytical and evaluative functions.
In our view, this would also require an adequately resourced Peacebuilding Support Office and strengthening the capacity of the Peacebuilding Impact Hub to become a publicly accessible, evidence-based platform.
Collectively, these measures will better equip the Peacebuilding Architecture to demonstrate the impact of its work.
We also support strengthening the Commission’s partnerships with civil society and local peacebuilders, including women, youth, persons with disabilities and Indigenous Peoples, as well as with regional organisations.
More frequent and structured engagement between key stakeholders and the Commission would strengthen both its advisory and convening roles.
Third, we recognise financing for peacebuilding remains a systemic challenge.
In this regard, we welcome the focus on implementing previous financing for peacebuilding resolutions as a first step.
Fourth, we welcome the Peacebuilding Commission providing support to Member States’ nationally owned and led prevention strategies, upon request.
This reaffirms that efforts to address root causes of conflict must be nationally owned and led.
National prevention strategies can also advance engagement and coordination between the UN and IFIs, which are both supporting these strategies.
Australia is pleased to be supporting the creation of voluntary guidance material to support Member States in developing effective National Prevention Strategies.
This can also complement the Peacebuilding Commission’s work in providing structured, evidence-based support in this regard.
Australia looks forward to engaging with all Member States on the guidance material as it develops.
We re-affirm our full support to the co-facilitators and look forward to engaging constructively in upcoming negotiations.