Joint PBC and ECOSOC meeting at the inaugural UN Peacebuilding Week
Statement on behalf of MIKTA (Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Türkiye and Australia)
Statement delivered by H.E. James Larsen, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations
22 June 2026
Thank you Chair, President,
I am pleased to deliver this statement on behalf of MIKTA—Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Türkiye and Australia.
It is particularly timely that this joint meeting takes place during the inaugural Peacebuilding Week.
Bringing together the UN Peacebuilding Commission and ECOSOC reinforces that there can be no peace without sustainable development and respect for human rights. Close cooperation across the UN’s three pillars is essential to addressing the root causes of conflict.
Colleagues, the MIKTA group offers three reflections today.
First, advancing inclusive job creation must be central to our efforts to prevent conflict, build stability and sustain peace.
Lack of access to decent work, particularly for women and youth, is a key driver of instability.
Conversely, inclusive and sustainable employment and economic development opportunities support families, restores dignity, and fosters trust between communities and institutions.Expanding economic opportunities is therefore not only a development imperative, but a peacebuilding priority.
Second, we reaffirm our support to strengthening the UN’s peacebuilding and development architectures, including through adequate, predictable and sustained financing.
More must be done to ensure coherence and strategic alignment within the UN system as well as between peacebuilding and development actors on the ground.
This includes better aligning political, development and financing tools to support nationally-led priorities, including to support job creation and inclusive economic recovery.
ECOSOC, the Peacebuilding Commission, Peacebuilding Fund and UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinators all have distinct but important roles to play in bridging these efforts.
They play complementary roles in providing expertise, mobilizing support, and ensuring that peacebuilding and development approaches are coherent and mutually reinforcing.
Strengthening the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator systems through UN80 reforms will be critical to improve coherence and better align the UN’s work with national and regional priorities.
Third, we emphasize the importance of conflict prevention as a shared and continuous responsibility.
Effective prevention requires sustained investment across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.
In this regard, voluntary nationally-led conflict prevention strategies are an important tool for aligning support for national efforts, including through policies that promote inclusion, opportunity and resilience and reduce vulnerabilities to radicalization and violence by expanding access to education, fair employment and development.
And while we make all efforts to prevent conflict, MIKTA countries are also committed to protecting those who protect others.
As signatories to the Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel, we are taking practical action to ensure greater respect for, and protection of, humanitarian personnel.
MIKTA partners stand ready do all we can to prevent conflict, build peace and support countries transition from risk to resilience.
Thank you.