PRESS RELEASE : The costs of conflict are self-evident on sustainable peace [November 2022]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 3 November 2022.

Statement by Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the Security Council open debate on integrating effective resilience-building in peace operations for sustainable peace.

Thank you, President. And I thank, as others have done, the Secretary-General and our very distinguished and thought-provoking briefers this morning.

Excellency, the United Kingdom is grateful to Ghana for your longstanding role in tackling armed conflict, and your significant contributions to UN peacekeeping. Ghana’s leadership has resulted in a safer world for many. We deeply value our close partnership.

At the outset, I also want to congratulate the African Union and African colleagues on the promising step towards lasting peace in Ethiopia following the agreement announced yesterday, and we offer our continued support.

President, as we have heard, conflicts are becoming increasingly complex.

For UN Peace Operations to operate effectively in this environment, they need to adapt and better coordinate with wider UN and non-UN peacebuilding work.

Specifically, I’d like to underline three points:

Firstly, peace operations need the capabilities to understand conflict drivers and feed that analysis into the wider UN strategy and approach. The UK is proud to support UN Peace and Development Advisers, whose expertise could be used in Mission settings to support greater strategic and operational join-up across the UN’s work.

Secondly, we need to incentivise and deliver a more integrated UN system to enable a more holistic approach as others have also said this morning. Integration scorecards piloted in Haiti, Somalia and Sudan, with UK funding, have made progress, but we need to scale this up. The Council can also drive this commitment; in the mandates it sets, and by encouraging the full use of the UN’s strategic planning and operating frameworks, and instruments such as the Global Focal Point for the Rule of Law.

Thirdly, co-ordinated investment in peace is crucial. The Peacebuilding Fund, which the UK continues to support, is a key tool for bringing together different parts of the UN system. But it also needs strong leadership in Missions that encourages the wider UN Development system to step up investment in peace, and promotes partnerships with regional and international financial institutions. Both the Council and the Peacebuilding Commission can help drive this.

Colleagues, the costs of conflict are self-evident.

Investing in prevention is essential, as is strengthening women’s roles in conflict prevention and resolution for lasting peace and security. The UK is also proud to support the African Union’s Network of African Women in Conflict Prevention.

President, a system-wide approach to sustaining peace is critical.

The UK remains thankful to Ghana for this debate today, and remains committed to realising the promise of the 2016 “twin resolutions”.

Thank you.