Pakistan had contributed to the Fund for the last several years, reflecting its confidence in the peacebuilding architecture.                       — Photo by AP

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has called for strengthening the UN Peacebuilding Commission financially in a bid to bolster the 31-member intergovernmental body’s peace efforts in countries emerging from conflict.

“(The) success of UN Peacebuilding endeavours requires adequate financial resources,” Raza Bashir Tarar, Pakistan’s deputy permanent representative to the UN told the General Assembly on Monday.

Speaking in a debate on the Secretary-General’s report on the activities of the Commission, he noted that the Peacebuilding Fund was therefore an essential component of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture.

The target of allocating $100 million each year for the next three years was “commensurate with the task ahead”, and in that regard, Tarar said Pakistan had contributed to the Fund for the last several years, reflecting its confidence in the peacebuilding architecture.

Member States and the Secretariat must provide the Commission with the necessary resources to carry out its work, he stressed, voicing his hope that the Peacebuilding Commission and the Peacebuilding Support Fund would become “true beacons of hope” to “conflict-ridden members” of the United Nations family.

The Pakistan delegate also said the 2010 review of the Peacebuilding Commission’s efforts put focus on three key concepts:    local capacity-building and related issues; the developing element of peacebuilding; and the intersection of peacekeeping and peacebuilding.

The review had also concluded that it was important to align the work of the Commission with national priorities. Progress had been made towards consolidating peace in Burundi and Sierra Leone, he said adding that those ‘templates’ should now be applied in Guinea-Bissau and Guinea, since countries on the Commission’s agenda should learn from each others’ experiences.