Today’s event provides a welcome opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to multilateral cooperation for preserving peace, preventing conflict and realizing the Sustainable Development Goals. Like most developing countries, Pakistan has been severely affected by COVID-19 pandemic, stretching our healthcare systems, contracting our economy and constricting our fiscal space. Yet despite our ongoing financial difficulties, I am pleased to announce a token contribution of 25,000 dollars to the Secretary General’s Peace building Fund.
The pledge underscores Pakistan’s longstanding political, human and financial commitment to UN’s endeavors in peacekeeping and peace building. As a major Troop and Police Contributing Country, Pakistan takes pride in its rich UN peacekeeping history. Over the last 60 years, our peacekeepers have represented the blue flag in 46 UN Missions across 4 continents of the world.
Let me also take this opportunity to welcome the UN Secretary General’s Peacebuilding Fund Strategy 2020-2024 which focuses on the imperative of conflict prevention. I hope the strategy will galvanize actions to address the root causes of conflicts: which arise from injustices and inequality as well, as the suppression of the fundamental rights of peoples especially the right of self-determination of peoples under foreign occupation, colonial oppression and alien domination.
Excellencies,
Together with a ‘quantum leap’ in support for the Fund, an effective strategy is required to optimize its scope and impact. While the Fund may continue financing projects directly in conflict-prone countries, its resources could also be utilized to prepare viable projects for seeking investment from other sources, including multilateral Development Banks as well as Private Equity and Sovereign Wealth Funds. A major handicap of developing countries in mobilizing international investment is their inability to prepare commercially viable projects. Let us leverage the Peace building Fund to support these countries in bringing projects to a bankable feasibility status.
Finally, it bears repetition that ‘national ownership’ must remain the core principle of peace building and determine all PBF investment decisions. Durable peace within nations cannot be externally imposed.
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