UNSC meeting: Conflict prevention: women and youth

UN Security Council Open Debate on Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding

The UN Security Council convened an open debate on conflict prevention and peacebuilding, addressing key issues in global peace and security. The session highlighted the critical importance of preventive diplomacy, inclusive participation, and comprehensive approaches to addressing the root causes of conflict. Speakers from various nations and organizations emphasized the need for strengthening international cooperation, empowering women and youth, and adapting to emerging challenges such as climate change.

Prioritizing Conflict Prevention

A recurring theme throughout the debate was the urgent need to shift focus from crisis management to conflict prevention. Many speakers, including representatives from Japan, France, and Italy, emphasized that prevention is more cost-effective and saves lives compared to responding to ongoing conflicts. The United States highlighted the disproportionate impact of conflict on women and girls, using the example of Sudan to illustrate the devastating consequences of civil war.

Several nations, including Spain and Switzerland, called for the Security Council to make better use of Chapter 6 tools for peaceful dispute settlement. The European Union stressed the need for a more coherent and better-resourced UN support system for conflict prevention, suggesting this as a key deliverable for future summits and reviews.

Comprehensive Approaches to Prevention

Speakers advocated for holistic approaches to conflict prevention that address root causes. Rwanda emphasized the importance of understanding these causes for effective prevention, while Azerbaijan stressed the need for respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. Many nations, including Colombia and Croatia, highlighted the interconnectedness of peace, development, and human rights.

The Philippines shared its experience with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao as an example of successful conflict resolution through comprehensive approaches. Mexico supported the new Agenda for Peace’s focus on person-centered and inclusive resolution of conflicts.

Inclusive Participation in Peace Processes

A significant focus of the debate was the importance of inclusive participation in peace processes, particularly emphasizing the roles of women and youth. Kenya advocated for enhanced collaboration between the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission to support nationally and regionally-led conflict prevention efforts. Many countries, including Luxembourg and Canada, stressed the need for women’s full, equal, and meaningful participation in all stages of peace processes.

The United Kingdom highlighted that gender equality is a strong indicator of sustainable peace, while Uganda shared its implementation of the National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security. Youth involvement was also emphasized, with Indonesia promoting initiatives like Youth Connect to engage young people in peacebuilding efforts.

Strengthening International Cooperation and Governance

Numerous speakers called for enhanced collaboration within the UN system and with regional organizations. Brazil supported strengthening the role of the Peacebuilding Commission in developing national prevention strategies. The African Union emphasized the need for predictable and sustainable financing for peacebuilding efforts.

Malta advocated for a more robust role for the Peacebuilding Commission and stronger interaction between the PBC and the Security Council. Several nations, including Georgia and Croatia, supported the systematic inclusion of peacebuilding components in Security Council mandates.

Addressing Emerging Challenges

Climate change emerged as a significant concern, particularly for small island nations. Tonga and other Pacific nations declared climate change as the single greatest threat to their security, calling for urgent action and the appointment of a Special Representative on Climate and Security. The European Union also highlighted the need to address climate-related security risks.

Several speakers, including Denmark and Poland, emphasized the importance of countering disinformation and manipulation through education and critical thinking skills. The use of new technologies for conflict prevention and peacebuilding was also discussed.

National Ownership and Contextual Approaches

Many nations stressed the importance of national ownership in peace processes. Sierra Leone shared its experience with the Peace-Building Commission, adhering to the principle of national ownership. Ecuador emphasized the need for inclusive dialogue and social cohesion for sustainable peace.

Switzerland highlighted that local actors are best positioned to analyze and prevent conflicts, advocating for prevention strategies that create networks linking local, national, and international efforts.

The debate underscored the complex and multifaceted nature of conflict prevention and peacebuilding in today’s world. It highlighted the need for collaborative, inclusive, and adaptive approaches that address root causes while respecting national sovereignty. The session demonstrated a growing consensus on the importance of preventive diplomacy and the need to strengthen the UN’s capacity to support member states in these efforts. As the international community looks towards future summits and reviews, the insights shared in this debate will likely shape the evolving landscape of global peace and security initiatives.

President – Japan:
The 9,574th meeting of the Security Council is called to order. The provisional agenda for this meeting is peacebuilding and sustaining peace, promoting conflict prevention, empowering all actors, including women and youth. The agenda is adopted. I would like to warmly welcome the distinguished ministers and other high-level representatives present in the Security Council Chamber. Your presence today underscores the importance of the subject matter under discussion. In accordance with Rule 37 of the Council’s Provisional Rules of Procedure, I invite the of Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Chechya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Egypt, Fiji, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Rwanda, El Salvador, Spain, South Africa, South Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, and Yemen to participate in this meeting. In accordance with Rule 39 of the Council’s Provisional Rules of Procedure, I invite the following briefers to participate in this meeting. Ms. Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. His Excellency, Mr. Sérgio França Danese, Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations in his capacity as Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission. Mr. Dr. Abiodun Williams, Professor of the Practice of International Politics, Tufts University, and Ms. Sharon Bhagwan Rolls, Program Manager of the Pacific Women Meditators Network and International Steering Group Gender Liaison of Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict. It is so decided. In accordance with Rule 39 of the Council’s Provisional Rules of Procedure, I also invite His Excellency Mr. Stavros Lambrinidis, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations to participate in this meeting. It is so decided. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of Item 2 of the agenda. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to Document S-2024-210, a letter dated 1st March 2024 from the Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, transmitting a concept paper on the item under consideration. I now give the floor to Ms. Rosemary DiCarlo.

Under – Secretary General:
Thank you, Mr. President. I’d like to express my gratitude to Japan for hosting this important open debate. The prevention of conflict to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war is the very purpose for which the United Nations was founded. We are witnessing an upsurge in armed conflict around the world, with the highest number of conflict-related deaths in three decades. Humanitarian needs continue to break new records and far outpace our ability to meet them. We need more prevention. Prevention saves lives and safeguards development gains. It is cost-effective. Prevention is a priority in the Secretary-General’s policy brief, A New Agenda for Peace, on three levels. First, the prevention of conflict at the international level to guard against the onset and escalation of violent conflict among countries. Second, the need for stronger global regional partnerships given the increasingly regionalized nature of conflict and the importance of regional actors. Third, the prevention of conflict within countries to shore up development gains, protect advancements in human rights, and help guard against the impacts of global shocks. Mr. President, at the international level, the Charter of the United Nations provides a clear direction. This first article refers to the obligation to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace. For nearly 80 years, the United Nations has given the world a home for dialogue. Chapter 6 of the Charter enshrines the mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of disputes, from the judicial dimension of prevention provided by the International Court of Justice to arbitration, negotiation, and mediation. Ultimately, at the international level, prevention is about the use of diplomacy for peace. As the Secretary-General noted, A New Agenda for Peace is diplomacy to bridge the growing divides in the world and to ensure that unmitigated competition does not trample humanity. The good offices of the Secretary-General can play a critical role in this regard. In A New Agenda for Peace, the Secretary-General reiterated his commitment to deploying his good offices to help member states manage deepening divisions in global politics. Mr. President, regional arrangements and organizations are crucial to prevention. They can bring credibility and legitimacy to develop – to diplomatic efforts, increase trust, and provide mechanisms for crisis management. Regional actions have successfully prevented conflicts and escalation throughout history, as was the case with the Helsinki process in Europe, as well as the regional integration efforts in Africa and its subregions. The United Nations regional offices in Central Africa, West Africa, and the Sahel, and the Secretary-General’s Special Envoys for the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes all work closely with regional counterparts, helping to resolve issues that transcend borders, such as former herder disputes. Mr. President, prevention begins at the national level. Regional actors have the ability to build the necessary mechanisms to manage disputes peacefully in their societies and to enact the structural reforms needed to address the underlying drivers of conflict. A New Agenda for Peace recognizes that prevention must be approached as a universal goal. Every single country, whether rich or poor, has an obligation to address the drivers of conflict in its own society and to make the necessary political and financial investments to that end. We have seen countries successfully invest in national infrastructures for peace. Such initiatives play a key role in building societies that are more inclusive and able to manage tensions peacefully. International actors, in particular the United Nations, can play an important role in supporting these national efforts. Through the joint UNDP-DPPA program on building national capacities for conflict prevention, we provide such support to dozens of countries. The Peacebuilding Commission is ideally placed to bring international actors together in support of national priorities, helping marshal resources and providing a platform for experience sharing. We note with great appreciation the increasing engagement by member states who have come to the Peacebuilding Commission to show how they are advancing peacebuilding goals in their societies. For example, Timor-Leste has spoken at the PBC of its peacebuilding journey and reflected on efforts to address challenges such as economic development and women and youth empowerment. Canada, Colombia, and Norway have shared their experiences in promoting indigenous voices in peace and reconciliation processes. These cross-regional experiences demonstrate the universal nature of prevention. Mr. President, our new Agenda for Peace places inclusion at the center of prevention efforts. It focuses on how women’s full, meaningful, and effective participation is closely connected to our efforts to prevent conflict and build sustainable peace. Simply put, without half the population participating in decision-making, there cannot be sustainable peace. But almost 25 years after the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1325, women’s full, equal, and meaningful participation in building peace and preventing conflict remains the exception, not the rule. Women must be able to exercise their full rights. They must be able to generate their livelihoods and participate in the economy, have access to education, health, and legal protections, and enjoy safety and security online as well as offline. The Women, Peace, and Security Agenda can only be fully realized through national action. Over 100 countries from all regions have developed national plans to implement Security Council Resolution 1325. We commend them for their leadership and call on others to join them. It is essential that international support is made available for these efforts. For our part, we have supported women’s advisory groups in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, for example, to enable women’s voices to be heard in political and peace processes. We must also prioritize inclusion and empowerment of youth. They are a great source of resilience, hope, and innovation in every society. To achieve this, we have increasingly deployed new technologies to organize digital consultations with youth constituencies. These dialogues have helped us better understand their views and aspirations and to reflect them in our work. Mr. President, let me end by being clear. We have an obligation to chart a path through these uncertain times by prioritizing the prevention of conflict at all levels – global, regional, and national. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank Ms. DiCarlo for her briefing. I now give the floor to His Excellency, Mr. Sérgio França Danese

Chair Peacebuilding Commission:
Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, distinguished members of the Council, on behalf of the Peacebuilding Commission, I thank you for inviting me to brief the Security Council. The Commission commands Japan for organizing this open debate. Conflict prevention is a part of the comprehensive approach to sustaining peace. peace that invites close cooperation between the Peacebuilding Commission and the Security Council. We should never lose sight of the fact that prevention is part of the efforts to maintain international peace and security, and to pursue our common goal of saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war, as expressed by the preamble of the United Nations Charter. As our shared reflection on the importance of prevention has evolved, we came to recognize the centrality of a comprehensive approach to sustaining peace. The twin resolutions of the Security Council, S-2282, and the General Assembly, A-70-262, and of the year 2016, and also Resolutions S-2558 and A-75-201 of 2020, are documental proof of this understanding. Among several aspects, along with prevention of conflict, they recognize the importance of addressing its root causes, promoting sustained and sustainable economic growth, poverty eradication, and building accountable institutions, all of that based on national ownership and the strictly voluntary adherence by states that seek the Commission’s support. The PBC and the Security Council are essential parts in supporting member states in their paths towards implementing this vision. The Commission recognizes that conflict prevention, as part of sustaining peace, requires a cross-pillar approach and reaffirms that development, peace and security, and human rights are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. As the concept note for this event rightly points out, resilience comes from the combination of stable and coherent social fabrics supported by institutions that uphold human dignity. To achieve that goal, a nationally owned and inclusive approach is crucial. Conflict prevention should be inclusive and take into consideration… perspectives of all segments of the society, including of women and youth. In this regard, the Commission reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peacebuilding, underscoring that their full, equal, and meaningful participation is widely recognized as an important factor for achieving sustainable peace and social stability. As recognized by Security Council Resolution 1325 of 2000 and Resolutions 70-262 from the General Assembly and 2282 of 2016 from the Security Council, participation of women in political processes and decision-making and their full involvement in prevention strategies should be increased. Sustainable prevention strategies, to be effective, should seek to incorporate the understanding that women’s participation can significantly contribute to the maintenance and promotion of peace and security. The Commission has also recognized the role youth should play in successful prevention strategies. Conflict and social instability have a considerable impact on the opportunities young people will have in their lives, both in economic and political terms. Furthermore, the lack of opportunities and proper social protection to young people make these individuals more vulnerable and exposed to violence. Therefore, their social and economic protection, coupled with their inclusion in peacebuilding processes, are necessary steps to ensure that any strategy takes into account their needs and ensure that their short- and long-term interests are represented. The PBC has consistently valued this inclusive approach and recognizes that the adoption of Resolution 2250 of 2015 by the Security Council has encouraged this body to incorporate this relevant angle in its considerations. As an inherently political process aimed at preventing the outbreak, escalation, recurrence, or continuation of conflict, peacebuilding encompasses a wide range of political, development, and human rights programs and mechanisms and must be inclusive. In this sense, the Commission, in its advisory role, stresses the importance of bringing this comprehensive approach to the Security Council. We recall that more than to keep its focus on managing conflicts, this body has also responsibility to prevent them and strive for promoting, building, and sustaining peace. The PBC is committed to generate and bring to attention good practices and success stories in conflict prevention as a means to show that good political will, coupled with generous support and guidance by the international community, can work. As we prepare for the Summit of the Future in September and to the Peacebuilding Architecture Review in 2025, the Commission hopes that the role of the Security Council on Prevention is strengthened. The Peacebuilding Commission is ready to continue to provide to Member States the political space to discuss their prevention strategies and to work as a bridge for the Security Council in its considerations on countries that are undergoing conflict or transitioning from conflict. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank His Excellency Mr. Danese for his briefing. I now give the floor to Mr. Abiodun Williams.

Abiodun Williams:
Mr. President, let me first express my profound appreciation to Japan for inviting me to brief the Security Council on conflict prevention. Conflict prevention is an urgent imperative in our times. Conflicts devastate societies. Their costs can be counted in human suffering, economic collapse, and the instability they provoke within and beyond the borders of countries. Conflict prevention is not a field for the faint of heart. Yet preventive action is possible and, when properly conceived, effective – a belief that originated during my service in the UN’s first preventive deployment mission on PRDEP in North Macedonia. The heart of the challenge before us is to apply the lessons provided by successful cases of prevention and to marshal the political will to act. Prevention must be a strategic priority at all three stages. of the conflict cycle, preventing its outbreak, preventing its continuation, and preventing its recurrence. For effective conflict prevention, it is critical, first, to understand the causes of conflict, which are always context-specific. There are no one-size-fits-all solutions. Second, it is important to understand the conflict prevention toolbox. This includes interventions for long-term structural prevention and operational measures. Both types of interventions require a combination of diplomatic and political tools, economic and social tools, legal and constitutional tools, and military and security tools. Third, prevention requires a commitment from governments and intergovernmental organizations to provide the requisite resources. Peacemaking to prevent the continuation of conflict entails dedicating significant diplomatic resources. It also entails recognizing that peacemaking is a process, not a singular event, such as the signing of a peace agreement. Preventing recurrence requires understanding that conflict triggers in the post-war environment may be different from those that caused the initial conflict. For example, ethnic divisions may be stronger in the post-conflict stage. It is necessary to pursue multiple objectives simultaneously establishing physical security is important, as is addressing rule of law and justice issues and economic governance, which, when carried out together, make the recurrence of conflict less likely. Effective conflict prevention and peacebuilding are built on national and local ownership. Peacebuilding works when local people are involved and feel that it is their idea. The long-term legitimacy and viability of peacebuilding depend on sustained commitment by local leaders and communities. Mr. President, the Security Council has an essential role to play in preventing disputes from opening the Pandora’s box of armed conflict. Let me offer six ideas for enhancing the Council’s vision. First, the Council could make greater use of fact-finding missions at much earlier stages of a dispute, as set out in Article 34 of the Charter. Second, it could encourage states, including neighboring countries, to promptly bring the risk of conflict to the Council. conflict to the council’s attention. Third, the council could give urgent attention to states suffering severe economic, environmental, and security strains because they’re hosting large refugee populations. Fourth, the council could organize a high-level discussion on conflict prevention during the summit of the future. Fifth, it could support the establishment of a group of friends of conflict prevention. This informal group of member states would reflect the growing consensus on the importance of conflict prevention at the United Nations. And sixth, the council could adopt a resolution updating Resolution 2171, reflecting what we have learned about conflict prevention during the past decade and highlighting the priorities for the future. Mr. President, preventing conflict and building peace requires a concerted, consistent effort by all concerned. When the lessons of experience are suitably applied, sustainable peace is within our grasp. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank Mr. Williams for his briefing. I now give the floor to Ms. Sharon Bhagwan Rolls.

Sharon Bhagwan Rolls:
President, excellencies, civil society colleagues, thank you for the opportunity to brief you today, drawing on the work of the G-PAC network in the Pacific Island region in advancing inclusive and comprehensive prevention of all forms of violence. We live in a time of glowing global securitization and militarized responses to all types of crises, including armed conflict and climate change impacts. This trend redirects resources away from conflict prevention damaging the gains achieved by local peace builders. In 2000, when women peace builders collectively advocated for the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda at the Security Council, it was for a new, gender transformative approach to peace and security that requires making conflict prevention a priority on the council’s agenda. To end conflicts, the 2015 Global Study on UNSCR 1325 raised the urgency, one, to reduce military expenditures and control the availability of armaments in coherence with countries’ commitments to human rights and gender equality. Two, to promote non-violent forms of conflict resolution and strengthen comprehensive early warning systems. And three, to foster a culture of peace through peace education and inclusion because the WPS agenda is about ending conflict, not about making conflict safer for women. The Global Study emphasized that as long as harmful gender norms, traditional gender relations, and gender inequalities persist, conflicts, crises, and violence will continue. Only transforming our approach from militarized security towards prioritizing human security with a gender lens can build lasting peace. The Security Council has a unique responsibility in advancing this transformation, relying on the experiences at the local level. Practically, learning from local peace builders, including women and young women, through regular ARIA formula events and briefings, can provide the council. Council with concrete ideas for what peace operations, peacekeeping missions, integrated offices, as well as UN country teams should do in practice. Grounded in local communities, the work of G-PAC Pacific operationalizes inclusive human security approaches through conflict and gender-sensitive programming across the triple nexus. This enables us to collectively meet the human security priorities of diverse people who experience intersecting crises, disasters, COVID-19 and climate change, conflicts, intercommunal violence, and political crises. Using traditional and local knowledge, peace builders develop locally appropriate strategies to prevent and address the resurgence of conflict. As first responders, we address threats comprehensively and inclusively, without differentiating between development, humanitarian, or peace and security issues. Yet we continue to be constrained by short-term project funding of specific projects, while resources for prevention are increasingly drying out in favor of securitized approaches. We rely on volunteer work to build connections between diverse projects, but our common peace and security is not a project and can’t be achieved through traditional securitized approaches. Normatively, we also have an inclusive and comprehensive human security framework that can guide the Council’s norm-setting towards human security. Through the adoption of a dedicated peace and security pillar in the Blue Pacific Strategy to 2050, in addition to the Boeing Declaration on Regional Security, Pacific leaders have affirmed the call from Pacific peace builders to embrace an expanded concept of security that includes human security, economic security, humanitarian security, and peace and security. humanitarian assistance, environmental security, to build resilience to disasters and climate change, and that peace building requires a partnership with non-governmental organizations to enhance collective capacity, including for prevention. The Revitalize Pacific Leaders’ Gender Equality Declaration of 2023 reflects Women Peace Builders’ call for the implementation of the WPS agenda by ensuring the full, equal, effective, and meaningful leadership and participation of women and girls in all their diversity at every stage of peace processes, conflict prevention, conflict resolution, and peace building for peace and security. Mr. President, in the follow-up General Assembly resolution to the report of the Secretary General entitled Our Common Agenda, member states pledged to strengthen global governance for the sake of present and future generations. This highlights the urgency for the Security Council to strengthen its role in the global prevention ecosystem. Drawing lessons from GPAC Pacific and GPAC’s global network of local peace builders, we offer the following suggestions. First, prevention requires both a short-term and long-term approach. Short-term approaches include the Security Council leadership in sharpening norms and practices for the full, equal, and meaningful participation of all actors in all aspects of peace and security, as well as encouraging the development of national prevention strategies and effective early warning and early response measures. Long-term approaches include structural approaches to address root causes of conflict, including inequality and harmful gender norms, and emerging sources of conflict, including the impacts of climate change and competition over natural resources. Second, in its resolution 1366, the Council highlighted the absence of a comprehensive UN conflict prevention strategy. However, this strategy requires a more coherent implementation plan to adequately support member states and their people in advancing their prevention priorities. We see it clearly at the field level. The Council should request the Secretary General to appoint a group of experts to develop guidelines on what effective national, regional, and global prevention strategies look like for member states to draw upon as appropriate and conduct an assessment of the UN system’s capacities for conflict prevention, with concrete recommendations being operationalized through a dedicated process. Third, as a result of the leadership of Pacific Women Peace Builders, the 2050 Security Council Resolution 2242 on Women, Peace, and Security also noted the changing global context of peace and security, in particular relating to the impacts of climate change. The Council recognized the adverse effects that climate change makes on peace and security in many situations. We encourage the Council to provide normative and operational guidance to the UN system for addressing peace and security risks and opportunities posed by climate change. Fourth, with the launch of the Pacific Women Mediators Network in June 2023, the process of women’s engagement in the Pacific can become more streamlined across various government priorities, including climate action, development, peace and security, and human rights. We encourage the Council to request the Secretary General to develop concrete policy guidance on how the UN could support specifically Women Mediators Networks, including those locally led. Fifth, a more comprehensive approach to conflict prevention requires inclusion. The Council should prioritize consistent engagement on the YPS agenda in its work. This entails regular inclusion of YPS and ensuring young women have the opportunity to brief this Council, as well as hosting an open debate to discuss the Secretary General’s report on youth peace and security upon its release. Finally, the Council should build on the gains achieved by the General Assembly resolution on financing for peacebuilding, and adequately operationalize its provisions on financing for women, youth, and local peacebuilders, as well as adequate and sustainable financing for prevention and peacebuilding. Mr. President, conflict prevention works. Our recent research found that investing $30,000 in women-led prevention can bring a return on financial investment of up to $1 million. If our collective goal is to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, it’s imperative that we shift from reaction to prevention and inclusive human security, grounded in the analysis and practice. practices of local communities. We encourage the Council to consider our recommendations and offer our support in advancing prevention priorities across the conflict cycle and the triple nexus. I thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank Ms. Bhagwan Rolls for her briefing. I shall now make a statement in my capacity as a representative of Japan. I sincerely thank Ms. DiCarlo, Ambassador Danese, Professor Williams, and Ms. Bhagwan-Rolls for their insightful briefings. Peace can be sustained when we can prevent conflicts from erupting and prevent their resurgence once they end. If a conflict is prevented, we can avoid the human tragedy and the devastating political, socioeconomic, and financial impacts that it brings. By contrast, it is far more difficult to manage conflicts once they break out and restore peace. That is one of the reasons why the Security Council is determined to enhance the effectiveness of the UN in preventing conflicts. Conflict prevention requires comprehensive approaches that are tailored to each context and reflect the needs and opinions of all people on the ground. In his new Agenda for Peace, the Secretary-General emphasized the importance of conflict prevention and recommended all states, not just conflict-affected or fragile ones, to invest in national prevention capacities involving the whole of society and formulate national strategies for prevention. Today’s open debate is dedicated to hearing ideas from member states on what role the Security Council can play in effectively supporting nationally-led efforts in prevention and in contributing to discussions for the Summit of the Future and 2025 Review of the Peace Building Architecture. Colleagues, Japan would like to raise three points on how the Security Council can more effectively prevent conflict and its recurrence. First, the Council should recognize that sustainable peace cannot be achieved just by seizing violence, but by building resilience on the ground and upholding the human dignity of every individual. This can be realized through a long-term, comprehensive, and inclusive approach that covers mid- and post-conflict stages, ensures the humanitarian development peace nexus, and empowers all people, including women and youth, by making sure of their full, equal, and meaningful participation. The mandates of peace operations should include support for capacity building for the host country and its people to prevent recurrence of conflict. At the 68th Annual Commission on the Status of Women has started, the Council should also reaffirm our commitment to uphold the women, peace, and security agenda. Second, the Security Council must enhance collaboration to fully utilize the UN toolbox. The Council can promote the empowerment and participation of all actors through collaboration between peace operations, other UN agencies, and beyond. Such closer coordination will enable the Council to translate early warnings of potential conflicts into decisive preventive action and prepare for feasible and concrete transition plans for peace operations well ahead of their withdrawals. Japan is currently discussing with the relevant UN bodies on how to effectively implement collaborative support for nationally-led prevention initiatives on the ground. Third, the Council must utilize the Peacebuilding Commission to discuss nationally-led prevention in detail, since the PBC is both an advisory body to the Council as well as a hub of convened national authorities and actors, other UN bodies, regional organizations, IFIs, and more. Japan’s informal coordinator between the PBC and the Council this year will contribute to their strengthened cooperation together with the members of both bodies. To conclude, I’d like to reiterate Japan’s continuous commitment to utilizing the capacities of the United Nations to advance prevention and peacebuilding for sustainable peace. I resume my function as the President of the Council. I now give the floor to Her Excellency Ms. Kaoutar Krikou, Minister of Solidarity, the Family, and the Status of Women of Algeria.

Algeria:
Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, Your Excellencies, Honorable participants, at the outset, I would like to thank Japan for holding this open debate in light of a catastrophic situation where women and girls in conflict areas, especially in the occupied Palestinian territories, are subjected to flagrant and systematic violations of their dignity. It’s a clear trampling of their simple rights which necessitates a firm stance from the international community. Protecting women was one of the first priorities of Algeria since it gained independence. It proceeded from its belief in the equal rights between men and women. It was also a sign of appreciation of the important role played by the Algerian women along the different stages of the history of Algeria, especially during the Great Liberation Revolution. Algeria is today upholding those rooted traditions through the empowering of women at different levels. Promoting women has been continuing at the highest levels of the authorities in the country. Mr. President, we meet today at crossroads when conflicts are igniting in different parts of the world. The levels of violence are on the rise. Meanwhile, it seems that the settlement of prolonged crises is far-reached. Thus, we are in dire need to adopt a more effective approach that prevents conflicts. and address its root causes. Algeria has long and continued to advocate for a proactive and comprehensive approach that takes into consideration the multidimensional reasons for conflict, especially those related to development, for there is no security without development and no development without security. We cannot reach such an approach without the participation of all vital segments of society in relevant tracks, especially women and youth. Women is the backbone of societies. She is the national coherence element that promotes dialogue. She favours the peaceful solution of all conflicts. Despite the above, her voice is usually disregarded in decision-making, especially when it comes to the settlement of conflicts. Therefore, we must ensure that women will gain their adequate place on the sustaining peace table. We reiterate the determination of Algeria. This was stressed by the President of the Republic, His Excellency Abdelmadjid Tebboune, when he stressed that we must promote her role in peace and security and her stance in the different areas of life on the national, regional and international levels. We are committed to promote the role of women in conflict resolution and prevention in line with the principles of our foreign policy. This was clearly exemplified in preparing a pragmatic national scheme in July of 2023 in line with the implementation of Resolution 1325. This scheme will promote the role of women in peace and security. It will also allow Algeria to address more effectively all the pillars of the above-mentioned resolution. The youth are the pillar of the present and future. They are the foundation of the building and prosperity of every society. They are, unfortunately, also the ignition of conflicts, and they are the first who fall victim of such conflicts. Therefore, we must benefit from their aspirations since it is a driving force for positive change. In this vein, the review of the peace-building architecture of the United Nations in 2025 is an opportunity to evaluate and amend the toolbox of conflict prevention. It could also enhance its performance in peace-building while ensuring a genuine and effective participation of women and youth. Mr. President, we cannot address today’s theme without tackling the suffering of the Palestinian people. They are facing the killing and destruction machine by the occupation force. This is especially so for the Palestinian woman who is still suffering since the occupation of its territory. Her suffering has aggravated by the recent aggravation on the unarmed Palestinian people, especially on the besieged Gaza Strip. We fall short of words. Expressions are stifling us as we are trying to… draw on the challenges facing Palestinian women in Gaza and the level of pain and fear. How not if 9,000 women and girls have fell martyrs since the start of the aggression? 63 women fall martyr, 37 of them are mothers, two women die every hour, 75% of the total number of injured are from women. This is a war against the Palestinian women and the Palestinian children. All those who advocate for the just cause of women must not remain with their lips sealed. They have to call for an end to this barbaric killing machine against the Palestinians. To conclude, Mr. President, achieving the objectives of Resolutions 1325 and 2250 necessitate the concerted effort on all levels with international solidarity. This solidarity, unfortunately, has proved its limited capacity to address the socioeconomic aspects to prevent conflicts and achieve sustainable peace. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank Her Excellency Ms. Kuriko for her statement. I now give the floor to Her Excellency Ms. Arianna Tanca, Minister of Women and Human Rights Affairs of Ecuador.

Ecuador:
Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to highlight Japan’s work during its presidency of the Security Council and the timely discussion of this item, given the spiral of of violence resulting from the vacuum created by inequality, mistrust, and exclusion. I thank Rosemary DiCarlo, USG, for political and peacebuilding affairs, and Ambassador Sergio Franca, chair of the Peacebuilding Commission, whose advisory role to the Security Council is central. I also thank the representatives from civil society. Peace, development, and security are interdependent. All it takes is for one pillar to be absent, and crisis and conflict will be on the rise. The current world scene has deteriorated due to the high number of people living in conflict situations, and this has led to an exponential increase in humanitarian needs. Humanitarian development is backsliding, and the hopeful slogan which we coined when we adopted Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development to leave no one behind is now unlikely. The comprehensive approach in Resolution 2171 on conflict prevention and peacebuilding refers to the need to address the root causes of conflicts, including by strengthening the rule of law, economic and social development, eradicating poverty, ensuring national reconciliation, good governance, democracy, gender equality, and respect for human rights. Regrettably, figures show that women and girls are those who suffer disproportionately from the impact of violence, and a small percentage of financing is earmarked for organizations to protect their rights. This has reduced the key role which we women can play in building peace and development. Security Council actions in peace operations and in special political missions are key for promoting greater inclusion and significant participation of women and youth. The Peacebuilding Commission has a central role to play in the exchange of good practices and lessons learned where there is room for acknowledging examples where the leadership of women has been recognized and their voices have been heard in peacebuilding, because without women, structural change leading to equality, reconciliation, and non-repetition cannot take root. But that situation is the exception. More common are situations where women have been left outside the policy-making process in their countries. In addition to that, their fundamental rights have been denied and violated, undermining the economy and the social fabric of their countries. The robustness of actions aimed at guaranteeing their protection and increasing their participation have been laid out in Resolution 1325, and that resolution guides the way. We therefore encourage states to adopt specific measures to ensure the full implementation of this resolution. The Peacebuilding Commission and Fund are catalysts for building bridges with regional and international financial institutions in order to fulfill national planning, in particular in developing countries. The Pact for the Future, currently under negotiation, and the review of the UN Peacebuilding Architecture, which we will address in 2025, are an opportunity to renew and to strengthen the contribution of the Peacebuilding Commission. This can be a proactive message of support provided to countries in conflict or post-conflict situations on the basis of their needs. Preventive diplomacy and mediation will play a prominent role. A chapter in the pact is devoted to youth. My delegation believes that the time has come to improve the way in which we interact with youth. We must further intergenerational solidarity and support their significant and fair participation taking a gender approach. This will allow for a transition to a more inclusive, peaceful, and safe world. Mr. President, Ecuador believes that the path towards sustainable peace is built through inclusive dialogue, promoting social cohesion. It is our commitment and priority as members of this Council. We are developing our national plan with inclusiveness at the heart to ensure the full, fair, meaningful and safe participation of women in the mediation efforts and in peacebuilding and sustaining peace, working closely with the competent UN bodies, regional organizations, and local fora. The government of Ecuador has strong participation by women and youth, and their inclusion as drivers of change is necessary for peacebuilding and equality as pillars that are needed for development. Just a few days ago, we commemorated International Women’s Day. The time has come now to understand that we can no longer just be mere observers in forging change. We must lead the change, because peace wears the face of a woman. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank Her Excellency Ms. Tanca for her statement. I now give the floor to Her Excellency Dr. Vindhya Persaud, Minister of Human Services and Social Security of Guyana.

Guyana:
Thank you, Mr. President, for convening this open debate on a very important issue. I also thank the briefers for their presentations. In our increasingly volatile world, marred by conflict that is exacerbated by climate change and multifaceted insecurity which threatens the socioeconomic development of millions of people, the root cause of conflict must be examined with emphasis on its prevention. Prevention must be our collective priority. Countries have the primary responsibility in conflict prevention through poverty reduction, inclusivity, good governance, and national peace-building strategies. These efforts should be bolstered by regional and international collaboration. The UN, through its agencies, funds, and programs, can support Member States through context-specific capacity-building, knowledge-sharing, and resource mobilization. Preventative diplomacy and resource mobilization should be our primary priority. course to the peaceful means of settling disputes listed in Article 33 of the UN Charter should be emphasized. As the primary body charged with maintaining international peace and security, the Security Council must prioritize prevention and recurrence of conflict, paying due attention to early warnings. We also recognize the critical contribution of the Peacebuilding Commission in promoting this endeavor. When crafting comprehensive conflict prevention strategies, the empowerment of, investment in, and participation of those disproportionately affected in conflict and post-conflict settings must be considered. In this regard, it is imperative that all actors, including women and youth, are key players in conflict prevention. Evidence shows that when there is meaningful participation of women in conflict prevention and resolution, the agreements are more likely to succeed. Higher levels of gender equality in countries are associated with lower rates of conflict in and between states, yet women’s representation in peace and security processes continues to lag. We must do more to ensure international and national policies guarantee women’s inclusion in decision-making processes. Mr. President, it is also imperative that we address the challenges faced by youth, including the lack of opportunities and resources, as we seek to unlock their full potential in conflict prevention and peacebuilding. They too must be involved in decision-making processes, as we leverage their energy and creativity to address the root causes of conflict and promote peace. The women, peace, and security in youth peace and security agendas are mutually reinforcing, and the priorities therein should be reflected in products of the Council. In an interconnected world, the challenges faced by one country can impact others. Enhanced collaboration and innovative solutions strengthen the synergies between peace-building actors in addressing the complex challenges of conflict prevention. As the primary organ mandated to maintain international peace and security, the Security Council, in collaboration with the Peace-Building Commission, IFIs, and other UN agencies can garner a broader perspective and an increased scope of experience to address the root causes of conflict and support sustainable peace processes. This requires aligning development and peace-building ideals. Additionally, as peacekeeping operations withdraw from host countries, maintaining and building on the progress achieved is paramount. International development strategies should include the sustained delivery of essential services, political and national engagements, and the strengthening of local security and economic sectors, ensuring the inclusion and commitment of all stakeholders is vital. Finally, Mr. President, the intrinsic link between peace and sustainable development must be underscored. The achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals must remain a foremost priority for all. Guyana continues to do its part in this pursuit to improve the lives of all its people. I thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank Her Excellency Dr. Passol for her statement. I now give the floor to Her Excellency Ms. Huang Xiaowei, Minister and Deputy Head of the National Working Committee on Children and Women of the State Council of China.

China:
Mr. President, I welcome your presence presiding of the meeting today. I thank you as DiCarlo and Ambassador Danese, chairperson of the PBC, and two representatives of civil society, and welcome them here. I’m pleased to attend today’s meeting as the vice-chair of the National Working Committee on Children and Women of the State Council of China. Conflict prevention and maintenance of international peace and security will not be possible without the broad participation of women and youth. Resolution 1325 and 2250, adopted successively by the Security Council, fully recognize the important contribution of women and youth to peace processes and offer important guidance to our efforts to advance their participation in peace and development. We are pleased to see that in pursuit of sustainable peace, the role of women is increasingly celebrated and the participation of youth is further deepened. Against the turbulent international situation, it is necessary to further support the empowerment of women and youth, help them to better respond to the changing world, and tap their wisdom and potential in furthering peace and development. Experience and lessons learned both show that resolving development issues such as poverty, unemployment, and income inequality as a priority can help to prevent and respond to conflicts at their roots. It is imperative to support the economic empowerment and capacity building of women and youth and ensure their education and employment opportunities and equip them with skills and knowledge necessary to change the fate of themselves and transform their families and communities. This in turn can undergird the efforts to maintain stability, promote development, and realize lasting peace. We support further explorations and efforts by the UN to advance the empowerment of women and youth. Mr. President, China always firmly advocates and actively works for the empowerment and advancement of women and youth. We are committed to implementing the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women and have adopted legislations, policies, and measures to ensure women can share the benefits of economic and social development across the board. We have consecutively implemented four cycles of women’s development outline and have lifted more than 44 million and 160,000 Chinese rural women from absolute poverty and generally eliminated gender disparity in compulsory education. Currently, women account for over 40 percent of all the workers in China, about 45.8 percent of the tech workers, and about one-third of operators of new business models such as digital trade, e-commerce, and live streaming. We attach great importance to the advancement of youth and have enacted and implemented national plans dedicated to their all-around growth, with more than 240 pro-youth policies in inter-alia education and employment. Over 187 cities nationwide have taken the initiative to explore with youth-geared urban development. More and more young people are becoming the leading force for scientific and technological innovation, rural revitalization, and international cooperation. Mr. President, as a responsible power and important member of the global South, China has been providing concrete support to the economic empowerment and capacity building of women and youth in developing countries, including in conflict areas. In Central African Republic, Chinese agrotech teams have helped nearly 14,000 villagers in seven villages close to the capital, including the village David, to build mushroom sheds, chicken farms, and sheep pens, thus setting them on the path to poverty elimination and prosperity. In the Solomon Islands, Chinese-aided fishing boats and farmers’ markets have provided new income-generating opportunities for local women and young people. In Afghanistan, the Sino-Afghan Pine Nuts Air Corridor generates tens of millions of dollars of income for the Afghans every year, thus contributing to economic recovery and social stability there. China and UNESCO collaborated to set up a prize for girls’ and women’s education. China has helped developing countries implement 100 maternal and child healthcare projects and 100 happy school projects. China has incorporated cooperation and exchanges in women’s advancement into multilateral mechanisms such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, and successfully organized international events such as the Belt and Road International Forum for Young Innovators, the World Youth Development Forum, and the World Young Scientist Summit to help foster broad international consensus and a strong synergy in support of the advancement of women and youth. Mr. President, we must not forget Gazan mothers despairing in the throes of war, or the Afghan girls living in deprivation, or young people threatened by poverty, war, and terror across the world. Let’s work together to push for greater international input and join hands in our tireless endeavor to safeguard the rights and interests of women and youth and to usher in a better world. I thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank Her Excellency Ms. Huang Xiaowei for her statement. I now give the floor to Her Excellency Ms. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Permanent Representative of the United States and member of President Biden’s Cabinet.

United States:
Thank you, Mr. President. I want to start by thanking Japan for convening today’s open debate on conflict prevention, and Under-Secretary General DeCarlo, Ambassador Danese, Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission, for your insights. I also want to thank our civil society briefers, Dr. Williams and Ms. Bakwan-Rose, and I welcome all of the visiting members, ministers who are visiting the Council today. Colleagues, we meet during the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women when leaders from around the world come together to advance gender equity, unlock economic and educational opportunities for women and girls, and protect and promote the fundamental freedoms and rights of all. Our success in all of this critical work hinges on one thing – peace. Everything we do to empower women, everything women do to empower themselves, is eroded by conflict. because we know that women and girls are disproportionately impacted by conflict, by displacement, food insecurity, sexual violence, by all of the horrors of war. If we just look at the civil war in Sudan, this horrific, senseless conflict has forced millions of women and girls from their homes. It has exposed them to rape and other forms of sexual violence. And with the destruction of health care facilities, they have almost no access to health care and psychosocial support services. And for all we know about the impact conflict has on women and girls, there’s so much that never cracks the surface. Because of underreporting, because of stigma, because of legitimate privacy and safety concerns, it is difficult to prevent and monitor the unique risk faced by women and girls in violent settings, to adequately support survivors with victim-centered, trauma-sensitive approaches, and to effectively pursue post-conflict peace-building and justice. Colleagues, we must prioritize gender issues in this Council, and we must center women, peace, and security in our work. The United States is committed to UN conflict prevention and peace-building efforts, including through our implementation of the U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability, and the U.S. Strategy and National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security. But this work requires every single one of us. It requires collective action. And today, I would like to discuss four ways we can strengthen our cooperation around conflict prevention and peace-building. First, we need to support the important work of the Peace-Building Commission. The Commission’s convening power within and beyond the UN system enables integrated, strategic, and coherent approaches to building and sustaining peace. This Council should look to the Commission’s advice – advice that reflects the expertise of civil society, governments, international financial institutions, as well as regional bodies. And we welcome efforts to establish more ambitious, structured collaboration between the Security Council and the Commission. Second, I want to emphasize that UN peace operations and peace-building efforts are only successful when they are supported by and committed and accountable host government. And as we work to achieve smoother and more sustainable transitions, we must commit to advanced and holistic planning across the UN system. Through the Peace-Building Commission and Security Council, we must also work closely with host governments to ensure missions have the resources they need to successfully transition and to plan and support for the day after. Third, this Council must view peace, development, and humanitarian issues as inextricably bound together. When one is hamstrung, all are hamstrung. And so our approach to these issues must be complementary and coordinated. As part of the Summit of the Future process and in the lead-up to the 2025 Peace-Building Architecture Review, we must consider how more inclusive peace-building can help achieve the sustainable development goals, including goals on climate. We know that climate change causes displacement, threatens economic and food security, and exacerbates conflict and instability. In short, its consequences are far-reaching and linked. And its impact is borne disproportionately by the world’s most vulnerable, including women and girls. This crisis demands a robust response, not only from our national governments and UN entities like the Climate Security Mechanism, but also from the UN Security Council within its mandate. Fourth and finally, I want to highlight the transformative impact women and young leaders can have on peace-building processes. We know that when women are at the table and able to participate fully, equally, and meaningfully, peace-building efforts are more successful and peace is more durable. The same is true with young leaders. Today’s youth population is the largest recorded, and engaging them in peace processes mitigates the risk that nations will be pulled back into conflict. These young leaders, who are already taking the baton and they’re running with it, who are already creating the change they want to see in the world, give me tremendous hope. The women I meet throughout my travels who are supporting their families and supporting peace efforts also give me tremendous hope. The women who are here this week during the 68th CSV give me hope. They’re all different. They bring different experiences and different backgrounds to the table, but they are unified in their efforts to empower women as peace builders. Colleagues, let’s look to their example. Let us lift up their voices and let us do all we can to advance peace and security for all. Thank you, Mr. President.

President – Japan:
I thank Her Excellency, Ms. Thomas-Greenfield, for her statement. I now give the floor to Her Excellency, Ms.Piagie Alghali, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone:
Secretary León wishes to thank you for convening this open debate on the very important topic, peacebuilding and sustaining peace, promoting conflict prevention, empowering all actors, including women and youth. I also want to thank the briefers, Ms. Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, His Excellency Mr. Sergio Franco Danese, Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations and Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission, Mr. Abiodun Williams, Professor of the Practice of International Politics, Tufts University, and Ms. Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls, Program Manager of the Pacific Women Mediators Network and International Steering Group Gender Liaison of Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, for their insightful perspectives on this topic. The topic for today is quite relevant and timely. We also commend the focus on women and youth, given their role and both forming the larger percentage of the global population. The Twin General Assembly and Security Council resolutions on sustaining peace adopted in 2016, A7262, and 2282 offered an opportunity for the United Nations system to rethink how to prevent and address violent conflicts in a more holistic and inclusive way, focused on addressing the root causes and using a three-pillar approach. The resolutions provide a blueprint which suggests that to prevent the occurrence and reoccurrence of conflict, the United Nations and all other regional and sub-regional bodies and national stakeholders of peace and security should move towards people-centered, comprehensive strategies that address the root causes of conflict. In that sense, there is need to invest in human development, economic opportunities and social cohesion as pillars for sustainable peace. A comprehensive approach to conflict prevention will thus involve the strengthening of governance architecture, provision of decent jobs, protection of human rights, addressing food insecurity, facilitating access to justice and equality, and a consultative participation in the political governance system. Traditional approaches to conflict prevention have often focused on military and security measures such as peacekeeping and arms control. While these measures can play a role, they are often not enough to address the root causes of conflict. Comprehensive approaches take a broader view, recognizing that conflict often arises from a complex interplay of factors, including poverty, inequality, discrimination, especially against women and youth, environmental degradation, and weak governance. In the light of this, the Secretary General of the United Nations has provided a roadmap to prevent future conflicts and achieve global sustainable peace. He has noted that in order to protect and manage the global public good of peace, we need a peace continuum based on a better understanding of the drivers and systems of influence that are sustaining conflict, a renewed effort to agree on more effective collective security responses, and a meaningful set of steps to manage emerging risks with a view to preventing conflict. In his new Agenda for Peace, the Secretary General calls for a number of specific actions. Firstly, to promote comprehensive approaches to conflict prevention, including strengthening the UN’s preventive capacities. This includes investing in early warning systems, mediation resources, and conflict resolution expertise. Secondly, promoting partnerships, including working with governments, civil society organizations, and the private sector to address the root causes of conflicts. And finally, focusing on prevention, which includes shifting resources from conflict response to conflict prevention, and investing in initiatives that build resilience and address grievances before they escalate into violence. Mr. President, as we contemplate enhancing the UN’s conflict prevention architecture and engage in discussions to shape the upcoming Pact of the Future, it is crucial to acknowledge inequalities alongside unaddressed grievances and exclusion, especially of women and youth, as strategic risks to peace and security. In our approach to conflict prevention, we must also draw lessons from past experiences, recognizing instances where early warning signs and recommendations put forward by United Nations bodies, including the Special Procedures Mandate, were not effectively implemented. These oversights underscore the imperative of heeding early warnings and implementing recommendations swiftly and effectively to prevent conflicts from escalating. This therefore begs the question, how do we empower and invest in people, especially women and youth, to promote conflict prevention? First, we must embrace inclusivity. and diversity by ensuring meaningful participation of women and youth, marginalized communities, and civil society in national and regional peace processes. In this regard, we must champion gender equality as a critical factor in preventing conflict and building lasting peace. Women as peace builders are essential in resolving conflict through effective engagement and mediation. As the Secretary General reported last year, women are still underrepresented, not just in narrow peace talks among a small set of actors, but in broad-based national and regional dialogues where inclusion should be paramount and gender parity achievable. Let us commit to making sure that the initiatives of grassroots peace builders are recognized and supported, and that more formal and higher-level peace-building efforts, including national dialogues, start taking parity seriously. Second, member states should support national and local capacities for conflict resolution, governance, and sustainable development. In view of this, we must respect the agency and leadership of local communities in shaping their own peace-building efforts, with women and youth reprising leadership roles. In Peace-Building Journey of Sierra Leone, with the Peace-Building Commission, the principle of national ownership was strictly adhered to, with the initiatives proffered by the country being fully supported by the Peace-Building Commission. Third, efforts should be geared towards promoting dialogue, reconciliation, and cross-cultural understanding to heal divisions and build trust between communities and countries with women and youth in the forefront of discussions. Additionally, addressing grievances and injustices that fuel conflict through transparency. Transparent and accountable mechanisms should be prioritized. Finally, we must integrate sustainable development into peace processes by recognizing the strong link between poverty, environmental degradation and conflict. We should thus invest in initiatives that promote economic growth, resource management and climate resilience for long-term stability. Mr. President, in Sierra Leone, we are already implementing the new Agenda for Peace. We have adopted and are currently implementing the One FAMBUL, which means One Family National Development Framework, for inclusive community-led planning and development as part of our medium-term development priority. This framework came out of 13 years peace-building fieldwork during and after the conflict in Sierra Leone by FAMBULTOC, meaning Family TOC, a Sierra Leonean NGO working in partnership with Catalyst for Peace. The One FAMBUL framework is not only a planning and development tool, but also establishes social cohesion structures in communities and gives women a strong voice in peace-building through the establishment of Peace Mothers support groups in communities. They are active in election campaigns, advocacy and education, addressing conflict situations early before they become full-blown conflagrations. The framework is a model for transformative partnerships between national governments, civil society and international donor partners. We have also established an Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion to promote peace and development in the country through dialogue while paving the way for political cohesion and also mediation of disputes. The Commission was very instrumental in facilitating the ongoing peaceful dialogue between the government and the main opposition party to address issues emerging from our multi-tier elections in June 2020. 23 elections, leading to the signing of the Agreement for National Unity and its current implementation. In conclusion, Mr. President, preventing conflict takes a multilateral effort of the UN system, the international community, member states, and civil society organizations. This collaborative effort should not only be about sustaining peace, but also to address the drivers and root causes of conflict. In all of this, national ownership remains fundamental and the meaningful participation by women and youth an imperative. I thank you for listening.

President – Japan:
I thank Her Excellency Ms. Alhari for her statement. I now give the floor to the representative of the Russian Federation.

Russian Federation:
Mr. President, we thank the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Ms. DiCarlo, the Permanent Representative of Brazil as Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission, Mr. Sergio França Danese, and the other briefers for their substantive briefings. Conflict prevention, undoubtedly, is the main task of the Security Council, according to the UN Charter. Although it has so far been possible to protect the planet from another large-scale war, the world is in the worst crisis situation for many decades. Symptomatic of this is the erosion of the international security system, a loss of confidence between key players, and a worsening of conflict around the globe. In large part, these unfolding processes are signs of cracks in the unipolar world, which should be replaced by a new world order. What that will look like will depend on us. The Secretary-General’s new agenda for peace calls on the United Nations to take a more comprehensive approach to the issues of peace and security. member states to form an international system on the basis of restoring confidence and strengthening solidarity through the more complete use of tools of diplomacy and political dialogue. An extremely important place in this is set aside for conflict prevention. While we fully support these noble aspirations, we also have to note something of a divergence of the real situation from those declared aspirations, which in our view lowers the effectiveness of the World Organization’s efforts in this area. On paper, we all share the argument that the priority in preventive and peace-building actions should go to national plans and priorities. At the same time, donor countries directly influence where the resources that they provide go. And ultimately, the funding goes often not to the real needs of the recipient country, but rather to the priorities of Western donors. And those priorities include the securitization of combating climate change and an imbalance in favor of political and human rights aspects of the women and youth agendas. At the same time, real factors of instability, such as the socioeconomic situation of the population, including women and young people as vulnerable groups, don’t receive enough attention. Instead, an approach is used according to which certain human rights, gender, and climate metrics are taken as universal indicators of conflicts. Apparently, then, international civil servants are supposed to be guided by them when determining the need for preventive activities by the World Organization. This sort of approach could not only violate the division of labor between the Security Council and other UN organs, but could also increase the likelihood of abuses and increase the unreasonable pressure on sovereign states under the cover of the organization. Unfortunately, the consequences of such intrusive practices are also visible when the UN presences interact with host states. Often, a lack of understanding of the political and peace-building priorities of host states and flirting with civil society and non-governmental organizations to the detriment of contacts with governments leads to a crisis in communication between international civil servants and country authorities. In some circumstances, the UN is able to restore government’s trust, but in others, an unwillingness to take a flexible and balanced approach leads to a complete breakdown in relations. And naturally, that is not in the interests of resolving or preventing the repetition of conflicts. We believe that nobody has the right to tell sovereign states how they should build their states and prevent conflicts, how or what percentage of women should be included in political processes, and how to organize a legal system. That sort of approach is a hangover from the colonial past, and it cannot form the basis of truly effective preventive efforts. We are convinced that the role of the UN and the international community as a whole is to provide support to states that independently determine their strategy for responding to security challenges within their national borders and bear primary responsibility for that. Mr. President, as regards the discussion’s focus on strengthening the role of women and young people, the Russian Federation completely shares the opinion that women and young people make and are able to make an even greater contribution to the work of the organs and agencies of the UN system, including when it comes to conflict prevention and resolution. At the same time, we note that characteristics such as age and sex can in no way be decisive criteria. for involving individual people in the process of arriving at and taking decisions, particularly on such sensitive issues as the maintenance of peace and security. Of primary importance in this context is a person having professional knowledge and skills. Disregarding this aspect for the sake of ensuring the appearance of diversity is unacceptable because it puts people’s lives in danger. Another equally important aspect is the absence of an intergovernmentally agreed definition of the concept youth. As is known, that age category often also includes people who have not yet turned 18, who are, according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, children. We believe it is justified to protect young people that are still minors from any political activity due to their physical and intellectual immaturity. In that regard, efforts are also needed to prevent young people being instrumentalized and to combat attempts to present the interests of individual political groups as the view of the young generation. And lastly, in the context of international efforts to maintain peace and security, the greatest importance should be paid to combating poverty, unemployment and social exclusion, the negative consequences of which disproportionately affect women and young people, more so than they do the rest of the population, and which are at the root of social instability. Thank you for your attention.

President – Japan:
I thank the representatives of the Russian Federation for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Switzerland.

Switzerland:
Thank you, Mr. President, for organizing this debate on a subject which we believe is essential, and I also thank the briefers for their enlightening contributions. A month ago, in Colombia, this Council followed the footsteps of a sustainable peace cycle from prevention to mediation to peace building. The three stages of the cycle were all present and visible, often overlapping. In the south of the country, we met former combatants who are now working in mine clearance. In Buenaventura on the Pacific coast, we listened to the testimonies of young people from the Afro-Colombian minority who were confronted with violence. In Bogota, we met women who are anchoring peace at the heart of local communities and political leaders who are committed to consolidating the 2016 agreement through dialogue. In Colombia, we saw firsthand that lasting peace is built by motivated and empowered individuals whose actions are enhanced by networks and guided by a broader strategy and who require international support. As each society and community is unique, so too must be the approach to prevention. National and regional prevention strategies based on human rights are therefore an instrument of first choice. In this respect, Switzerland refers to the caucus’s joint declaration on human rights and conflict prevention. But what makes a good prevention strategy? How can we prevent violent conflicts and promote peace in each situation? It’s a question of looking at the specific risks that lead to violence and identifying their root causes in order to prevent their recurrence. And no one is better placed to carry out this analysis than the men and women who are the agents of change. The parliamentarian. the farm worker, the local police officer, the student, the school child, and the young people who are fighting against the odds for a better future. But these individuals must not remain isolated, and their capacity to defend peace must be strengthened. That is why effective prevention aims, as the Secretary-General calls for in his new agenda for peace, to provide information, accessible tools, and safe spaces for the participation of women, young people, and marginalized groups, but also to invest in local prevention initiatives. Because at the local level, civil society, and women in particular, often create their own islands of peace. A prevention strategy, therefore, must link these islands to make them national, even international, archipelagos. It is necessary to create a genuine network of change to catalyze national efforts. A network that links the public and private sectors, the humanitarian sector, development cooperation, and civil society, extending from the smallest village to the conference rooms of the UN. It is only in networks that we can learn from each other and draw lessons, for example, from national action plans on the Women, Peace, and Security agenda, while mobilizing the resources needed for prevention. Within these networks, the role of the Peacebuilding Commission must be strengthened. Its resources increased, and our commitment to it grown tenfold. The Pact for the Future and the review of the peacebuilding architecture in 2025 give us the opportunity to do so. The Security Council, for its part, must fully integrate this network by systematically taking account of the Commission’s opinions in the contexts on its agenda and by lending its support to national preventive actions, such as in Colombia. The Council can and must act through Chapter 6 of the Charter and make more skillful use of the tools at its disposal for the peaceful settlement of disputes. The resolutions and missions that we mandate are a support for the country concerned. Mr. President, as we have seen in Colombia, peace is built in a cycle that begins with prevention and links all the actors for change. As Colombian peace activist Rosa Emilia Salamanca said during our visit, we will always be here to build peace. peace. We are a force for peace. Let us do our part as well. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Switzerland for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Mozambique.

Mozambique:
Mr. President, Mozambique would like to commend Japan’s presidency for convening today’s important meeting. We thank Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peace-Building Affairs, Ms. Rosemary DiCarlo. We also thank the chair of the Peace-Building Commission, His Excellency Ambassador Sergio Danese. We extend our gratitude to Professor Abiodun Williams and Ms. Sharon Bagwa-Rolls for their insightful briefings. Mr. President, we embrace the view that preventive diplomacy should be at the center stage in present-day’s interaction between states and peoples. We are witnesses to high geopolitical tensions worldwide that are increasingly testing the boundaries set in the Charter of the United Nations, which mandates all member states to settle their differences by peaceful means. The pursuit of military solutions has been a prominent feature of recent conflicts. conflicts, even when dialogue and negotiations have not been exhausted or experimented. As a consequence, civilians and mostly children and women are paying a heavy toll. Furthermore, non-state actors pose everywhere in the world a formidable challenge, rendering conflict resolution an increasingly difficult endeavor. We are confronted with these global challenges, and we are therefore called upon to pull together our collective efforts in order to address the root causes of conflicts before they erupt. Conflict prevention should guide our collaborative action all the time. We believe it is essential that we do more to maximize the use of preventive diplomacy. In retrospect, important lessons can be drawn from some devastating conflicts that could be averted if preventive diplomacy was the preferred instrument in relations between states or within states. As a President, we wish to emphasize the importance of national ownership of conflict prevention. It is the duty of each state to hold the primary responsibility for preventing conflicts, addressing their causes. causes, and preventing their recurrence. We also think that leadership and statesmanship are important in building bridges of dialogue and cooperation. We believe states must invest more in the development of strong democratic institutions, respect for and protection of human rights, as well as the implementation of post-conflict recovery programs and sustainable development policies to promote collective security, peace, and stability. The involvement of all sectors of society in conflict prevention is of paramount importance. This includes women and youth in particular. They play a crucial role in preventing and resolving conflicts and building sustainable peace. In the light of Chapter 8 of the UN Charter, close collaboration between the United Nations and the regional and sub-regional organizations must be encouraged in early warning in the involvement of national networks and the coordination of regional responses. Mr. President, according to our own national experience in Mozambique, peace-building is by its nature a preventive mechanism. In this context, The Peacebuilding Commission plays an important role in advising, directing, and supporting the United Nations efforts to prevent conflicts and preserve the maintenance of international peace and security. To conclude, Mr. President, we would like to emphasize that in the face of escalating geopolitical tensions, the United Nations, regional, and sub-regional organizations must further strengthen their coordination and cooperation, promoting the full use of diplomatic tools and mechanisms outlined in the Charter of the United Nations is crucial for preventing conflicts and resolving conflicts in a peaceful manner. I thank you, Mr. President.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Mozambique for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of the United Kingdom.

United Kingdom:
Thank you, President, and let me join others in thanking our briefers, USG DiCarlo, Ambassador Danese, Dr. Williams, and Ms. Bhagwan-Rolls for their briefing today. In 2014, the United Kingdom led the development of Security Council Resolution 2171. That resolution, unanimously adopted, underlined the moral, political, and humanitarian imperatives and the economic advantages of preventing conflict. It called for intensified efforts to prevent conflict, drawing on a range of tools. Ten years on, that call is even more relevant, so the UK is grateful to Japan for convening today’s debate. President, I will make three points on how this Council and the wider international architecture can better promote conflict prevention, empowering all actors. First, we can do more to empower women as agents of peace. Gender equality is a strong indicator of sustainable peace, and peace processes are more durable when women are at the table. This Council could be even more robust in advocating for women’s full, equal, safe, and meaningful inclusion in peace, development, mediation, and decision-making processes. We need to do so from Afghanistan to Sudan. And globally, we should continue striving to increase the proportion of women peacekeepers and peacebuilders. Second, we can help generate broad, inclusive national ownership of conflict prevention and peacebuilding. Peace is not organic. The need to nurture it is universal. Yes, states have that primary responsibility. But the evidence shows that inclusive, nationally led, and locally rooted efforts deliver more sustainable results. Young peacebuilders are often best placed to break the cycle of violence in local communities, a principle we apply to our own violence reduction strategies in the UK. So this Council can throw its weight behind inclusive national processes. forces to build and sustain peace, as we have in Colombia. We can empower the Peacebuilding Commission to play its part as a space to mobilize political and financial support. And we can advocate for the Peacebuilding Fund and the UNDP-DPPA Joint Program on Strengthening National Capacities for Conflict Prevention, both of which the United Kingdom is proud to support. Finally, we can empower the wider international architecture as a companion in conflict prevention by working to deepen partnerships and advance integrated approaches. We should insist on application of the Secretary-General’s integrated assessment and planning policy in UN mission settings. We should pursue closer cooperation with regional organizations, and we should continue to encourage collaboration between the UN and the World Bank in countries affected by fragility, conflict, and violence. This partnership is increasingly generating peace dividends from The Gambia to Somalia and beyond. President, the Summit of the Future and the 2025 Peacebuilding Architecture Review are opportunities to reinvigorate our collective efforts to prevent conflict. Let us seize them. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of the United Kingdom for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Republic of Korea.

Korea:
Thank you, Mr. President. I’d like to begin by thanking Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo, the chair of the Peacebuilding Commission Ambassador Sergio França Danese, and Dr. Williams and Ms. Bhagwan Rolls for their insightful briefing today. Republic of Korea aligns itself with the statement to be delivered by Guatemala on behalf of the Human Rights Conflict Prevention Caucus. Now I’d like to deliver the following statement in our national capacity. The world is facing the highest number of violent conflicts since the foundation of the United Nations, with two billion people, one quarter of the humanity, living in conflict-affected areas. The meeting comes at a critical time to ensure that efforts towards preventing conflicts and their recurrence are not sidelined while the Security Council is immersed in addressing multiple ongoing conflicts. In a bid to strengthen preventive diplomacy, I’d like to highlight the following. First, resilient institutions are the very foundation for conflict prevention, with inclusivity being its cornerstone. An inclusive peace process increases the chances of success. Multiple studies show the peace agreements that include women are approximately 35 percent more likely to be lasted at least 15 years. To ensure women’s full, equal, meaningful, and safe participation in conflict prevention and peace processes, women peace builders and human rights activities should be provided with the necessary resources and protections. The Republic of Korea is committed to supporting women’s participation in the peace process with our newly launched Action with Women Peace Fund and our annual conference that provides a global platform to advance women’s peace security agenda. Second, well-planned transitions are key to preventing the recurrence of the conflict. We should ensure that gains made during the UN peace operation are safeguarded and the host country is on a path toward sustainable development. Transitions should be planned well before the drawdown to formulate plans based on the host country’s preparedness and capacities of UN country teams and agencies. We should also draw lessons from the best practices, such as the case of the UN mission in Liberia during its transition. When the Security Council discussed the withdrawal, PBC contributed to the Secretary General’s peacebuilding plan developed at the request of the Council by identifying potential sources of instability and proposing a division of work among the UN regional organizations and the World Bank. The Council should utilize the PBC’s complementary role in transitions by continuing its request for advisory opinions in considering mandate renewals and working closely with the PBC before withdrawal. This will ensure political and financial support are maintained after departure of the peace operations. Finally, we should enhance our support for national and regional prevention strategies. Conflict prevention is inherently a nationally owned process and should be adapted to the local and regional context to effectively address root causes and new risk multipliers, such as climate change. The new Agenda for Peace recommended a creation of a mechanism within the PBC to support national and regional prevention efforts. Security Council, for its part, can strengthen such a mechanism by providing political support to the PBC and mandating special political missions and then peacekeeping operations to support the development and implementation of national and regional prevention efforts. Mr. President, at this critical moment ahead of Summit of the Future and 2025 Peacebuilding Architecture Review, we should continue to refine our strategy for sustaining peace. The Republic of Korea reaffirms its commitment, underscored by the substantial increase in our financial contribution to the Peace Building Fund, to support the collective effort to this end. I thank you, President.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of the Republic of Korea for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Slovenia.

Slovenia:
Thank you very much, Mr. President. I want to thank the Japanese presidency for convening this meeting. The topic is all the more relevant in light of the Secretary-General’s new Agenda for Peace, which we support. I wish to thank the briefers, Under-Secretary-General Di Carlo, Chair of the PBC, Ambassador Sergio Danese, as well as the academia and civil society representatives, Professor Williams and Ms. Rolls. Thank you very much for your insights. Preventing conflicts is far more cost-effective than responding to them and their consequences. With the highest number of violent conflicts since the Second World War, it is time to put conflict prevention and peace building front and center of our priorities. Many conflicts could be avoided by strict compliance with international law. When it starts with us, we, the Security Council members, have the responsibility to lead by example. We need to uphold the Charter, the international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights law. We also need to promptly respond to crisis situations as they erupt, as well as to engage in horizon scanning for emerging conflicts. The Security Council is the strongest when united, and unity can help prevent conflicts and it can save lives. Second, the efforts on a global, regional and national level should be complementary and should mutually reinforce each other. National prevention strategies, as proposed by the New Agenda for Peace, should be comprehensive and should follow a holistic approach. It should be a comprehensive and holistic approach. should tackle all the root causes and drivers of conflict and violence in a society. Effective prevention means equal opportunities, reducing the inequality and poverty, respect for the rule of law, protection of human rights in their entirety, promoting full, equal, and meaningful participation of women and youth, addressing structural gender inequalities, and it should be climate sensitive. Today, no crisis or conflict in the world can be effectively addressed without inclusion. One of the surest ways to address sustainably the underlying causes of conflict is to fully implement the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda and the Youth, Peace, and Security Agenda. Women and youth are particularly affected by conflicts, whether as civilians in directly affected areas, refugees, and internally displaced persons, or as persons directly targeted. However, they also can substantially contribute to conflict prevention and resolution, as well as long-term peace building. The UN system, too, would need to strengthen its capacity to deliver early warning and early action in countries that are vulnerable to conflicts over natural resources and environmental issues. Other international organizations, such as International Organization for Migration, could also contribute with their innovative tools. Mr. President, in the context of one of the deadliest conflicts that is taking place today, to paraphrase my minister, behind the political and media landscape, most people want peace and a normal, decent life and a peaceful, safe future for their children. They should be given space to present their ideas and give us the energy to continue to advocate for peace. That is why in Ljubljana on March 8, on International Women’s Day, my minister hosted Israeli and Palestinian women, representatives of two sister non-governmental organizations that advocate for a political solution in the interest of an inclusive, sustainable, and just peace. These women are. As women have been many times in history, a ray of hope for positive change, a ray of hope for peace. On the basis of that hope, we will continue striving for peace in the Middle East and elsewhere. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Slovenia for the statement. I now give the floor to the representative of France.

France:
Mr. President, I would like to thank Japan for organizing this extremely important open debate. I would like to thank the Under-Secretary-General and the briefers for their presentations. And for my part, I’d like to stress three points. Firstly, the new agenda for peace presented by the Secretary-General provides an opportunity for the collective re-engagement on the subject of prevention. The proposed vision that we fully support articulates conflict prevention, crisis response, and peace building. France contributed to the elaboration of this strategy and calls upon all member states to fully take it up. Conflict prevention and peace building cannot be a uniform response to threats to international peace and security. And we, of course, have the responsibility to react when crises emerge, and that is also the reason for being of this Council. Secondly, the entire UN system must mobilize to address the root causes of these conflicts and to prevent the emergence and recurrence of them. The Security Council must be seized of situations that could constitute threats to international peace and security by supporting preventive diplomacy efforts and promoting mediation capacities. Peacekeeping operations help address the root causes of conflicts by supporting the renewed engagement of the state over its territory and also the proper management of natural resources or the fight against trafficking. Keeping the peace has never been so important to create the space needed for a lasting political settlement to conflicts and to prevent them re-emerging. The legitimacy of the UN in this regard must be defended at a time when the grip of mercenaries is spreading to the detriment of the principles and values of the UN. Mr. President, the work of the agencies, funds, and programs of the United Nations are absolutely essential when it comes to prevention, and their efforts need to converge. to accelerate sustainable development for the sake of populations and to build effective institutions. Responding to populations affected by humanitarian crises also remains a priority. The Peacebuilding Commission has demonstrated its ability to convene a dialogue among states, civil society, international financial institutions and regional actors. It should fully implement its mandate, supporting transition contexts and supporting preparations for the withdrawal of peacekeeping operations. Lastly, the full, equal and significant participation of women and young people in conflict prevention and the restoration of peace increases the chances of achieving lasting peace. There are many examples of this, and we can see that, for example, in Colombia, where women negotiators and women from civil society are playing a key role in all of the peace processes and negotiations and talks. We can also see this in the Philippines, where young people are at the forefront of negotiations and awareness-raising campaigns to promote peaceful coexistence. And we are very pleased to see that an increasingly large proportion of women are invited each month to come and bear witness to their role and to brief the Security Council. It is essential that we support actions in favor of the rights of women and young girls before, during and after conflict. And in that regard, my country has committed to significantly increasing its financing for feminist organizations around the world. France will continue to conduct active feminist diplomacy and to specifically implement the women peace and security and youth peace and security agendas of this Council. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of France for this statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Malta. Thank you, President.

Malta:
And I begin by thanking Japan for organizing this important meeting and for bringing a focus on women, peace, and security. I also extend my thanks to USG DiCarlo, the chair of the PBC, Ambassador Frank Danese, and Professor Williams and Ms. Bhagwan Rolls for their important and valuable insights that they shared with us today. President, facing an increasing number of crises, the multilateral system must adopt a proactive role in preventing conflict and tackle the root causes of conflicts. These root causes include the climate crisis, structural discrimination, and gender inequalities. Militarization and the proliferation of illicit arms continues to escalate. Shrinking civic space and weakened rule of law exacerbate worsening humanitarian crises and economic shocks. In these contexts, effective prevention requires an understanding of the gendered dynamics of the causes and consequences of conflicts. Malta supports a holistic approach to prevention and peacebuilding in which security, sustainable development, human rights, and gender equality are mutually reinforcing. Investing in people through equality education and lifelong learning and literacy skills can be transformative in building more peaceful, just, inclusive, and sustainable societies. The empowerment of women and girls and gender equality must be central to conflict prevention approaches. A society cannot have peace without incorporating the well-being, inclusivity, and protection of the fundamental human rights of women and young persons. In line with the Secretary General’s recommendations in the new Agenda for Peace, we support concrete actions to ensure women’s full, equal, meaningful, and safe participation at all stages and levels of peacebuilding and conflict prevention. By investing in gender-responsive constitutional, judicial, legislative, and electoral reforms, we can help overcome obstacles to women’s participation and other structural gender inequalities. We further support the Agenda’s call for developing national prevention strategies that provide predictable financing for women’s peace-building organizations and give priority to sexual and gender-based violence prevention. President, MOTA consistently calls for a whole-of-system approach to bolster such peace-building efforts. We welcome the Peace-Building Commission’s role in cross-cutting areas, including on human rights, the Women, Peace and Security, and Youth Peace and Security Agendas. When young persons are involved in peace-building efforts, peace processes are more durable. We also advocate for increased investment in youth-led peace-building and the institutionalization of youth participation in the Peace-Building Commission. We support strengthening synergies between the Peace-Building Commission, the Security Council, and other UN bodies. We have opportunities to enhance this cooperation further in the Summit for the Future and the 2025 Peace-Building Architecture Review. The PPC is well-placed through their cooperation with regional and sub-regional organizations to spot emerging threats and early warning signs that they can convey to the Council. This enhanced coordination will better empower us with the ability to identify root causes of conflicts and to empower communities with tools to mitigate threats. We must also ensure that the Commission engages systematically with civil society, including women’s rights organizations and young persons. This should be matched with a genuine commitment to ensuring peace-building activities are adequately supported and sustainably financed. In this context, we recall German Assembly’s Resolution 76-305 on financing for peace-building, which recognizes the crucial need of sustained financing for peace-building efforts in an adequate and predictable manner. In conclusion, these investments are essentially critical in the context of mission withdrawals and transitions. Attention to women’s protection and youth engagement with respect to staffing, financing, security, and operational priorities must be given priority. The cost of conflict far outweighs investments in preventive measures and peace-building. I thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Malta for their statement. I wish to remind all speakers to limit their statements to no more than three minutes in order to enable the Council to carry out its work expeditiously. Flashing lights on the colors of the microphones will prompt speakers to bring their remarks to a close after two and a half minutes. I now give the floor to His Excellency, Mr. Jan Lipavský, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Czechia.

Czechia:
Mr. President, let me thank Japan for convening today’s opening debate on this important. issue concerning the preserving international peace and security, and I thank the speakers for their valuable insights. Effective conflict prevention demands long-term commitment and cooperation from governments, regional and international bodies. In order to address the root causes of tensions and strengthen the resilience of societies, we must link security, human rights, and sustainable development priorities. We also need to empower all voices in the globalist security discourse, including women and young people. These groups are the most vulnerable in conflict. Sadly, we have repeatedly seen that the UN Security Council continues to struggle to effectively prevent conflict in the world. Russia, a permanent member of this Council with its devastating war against Ukraine, flagrantly violates the very purpose of the UN and its Security Council, the maintenance of peace, and puts the credibility of the whole collective security enshrined in the UN Charter at risk. Czechia believes that a reformed and more representative Security Council might therefore be better equipped to address today’s unprecedented multiple crises, including by making better use of the preventive tools already at its disposal. We also consider it necessary to apply a broader approach to system-wide coordination across the UN. We encourage closer cooperation between the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission in anticipating conflicts. Better use can be made of mechanisms of the human rights architecture in monitoring human rights violations, especially when they are widespread and systematic and they can serve as an indicator of an increased risk of conflict. We also support the emphasis on an increased focus on prevention at the national and regional level, as recommended by the Secretary General. in his new Agenda for Peace. Nationally led prevention strategies are key to building and maintaining peace and security as is the role of regional and sub-regional organization, particularly in fostering trust and dialogue. All political peace and security endeavors must have strategies for fostering alliances with civil society and guaranteeing to complete equitable and impactful engagement and leadership of women alongside the inclusion of youth and marginalized communities. It is especially crucial to advocate for secure and supportive atmosphere for female peacebuilders, human rights champions, activists, journalists and proponents of gender equality. On this note I would like to add that Czechia calls on the Russian Federation to immediately release journalist Alsu Kurmasheva from prison. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope that this debate will help to recommit us to

President – Japan:
multilateralism and to the foundation principles of the UN Charter. Thank you very much. I thank His Excellency Mr. Lipavsky for his statement. I now give the floor to Her Excellency Ms. Marie Bjerre, Minister for Digital Government and Gender Equality of Denmark.

Denmark:
Mr. President, distinguished delegates, I am delivering this statement on behalf of the Nordic countries, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and my own country, Denmark. We commend Japan for a continued commitment to prioritizing prevention and putting peacebuilding on the agenda of the Security Council and thanks to the briefers for the insightful remarks. Let me highlight three central points. First, in order to address the root causes of conflicts and to sustain peace, gender equality is crucial. Protecting and promoting human rights for all is key to addressing inequalities which drive conflict. We echo the Secretary General’s statement on 8th of March. Women’s rights are a proven path to fair, peaceful, prosperous societies. It is good for us all. Women in all their diversity must have access to decision-making. And we must give particular attention to the participation of young women. Too often, young women are disproportionately excluded from decisions on issues that affect them. Practically, national institutions should remove barriers to and promote women’s full, equal, and meaningful participation in political and peace-building processes. They should foster access to justice for all and prevent violence against women, including sexual and gender-based violence. In line with the Secretary General’s recommendations in the new Agenda for Peace, we encourage the development of regional and national prevention strategies. Human rights must be at their core. Second, we cannot overstate the importance of locally-driven and community-based initiatives as part of infrastructures for peace. In this regard, the Council can do more to support the Secretary General’s good office roles and strengthen the role of gender advisors. The Council can also do more when it comes to making sure that peace operations are mandated, equipped, and trained to foster meaningful partnerships with local communities, and to include the perspectives of women, youth, and local civil society. Furthermore, we need adequate, predictable, and sustained financing for peacebuilding, and the Peacebuilding Fund is among the essential mechanisms in this regard. Third, the UN system needs to expand its conflict prevention efforts and the mainstreaming of the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda and the Youth, Peace, and Security Agenda within these. Conflict prevention tools such as horizon scanning, situational awareness briefings, and early response should be more systematically used by the Council. And the analysis that underpin these tools must be gender and age responsive. In addition, the Council should strengthen its relationship with the Peacebuilding Commission by organizing joint briefings and requesting and making substantive use of the Commission’s advice and recommendations. We also encourage the Security Council to make the Secretary General’s upcoming third report on Youth, Peace, and Security the subject of an open debate. Excellencies, the WPS Agenda approaches its 25th anniversary, and the Youth, Peace, and Security Agenda its 20th anniversary. We are also preparing for the 2025 review of the peacebuilding architecture, making its 20th anniversary. Important efforts have been taken, but we must do even more together. We, the Nordic countries, are longstanding advocates for prioritizing prevention, promoting youth participation in peacebuilding, and putting women front and center. Thank you.

Uganda:
I thank Her Excellency, Ms. Bujere, for her statement. I now give the floor to Her Excellency, Ms. Betty Amongi, Minister for Gender, Labor, and Social Development of Uganda. Mr. President, I congratulate you on assuming the presidency of the Security Council for the month of March and thank the government of Japan for organizing this open debate on promoting conflict prevention, empowering all actors, including women and youth, and the peace-building and sustaining peace agenda. I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the delegation of Uganda. Mr. President, peace and security is fundamental and crucial in achieving sustainable development. Therefore, we need to reflect on the original purpose of the United Nations and work to resolve man-made conflicts and global insecurity through cooperation, diplomacy, and peaceful means. In this regard, Uganda has continued to work with all regional partners to support and advance peace, stability, and security initiatives in the region and beyond so as to eliminate terrorism, mistrust, and other conditions that breed conflict. We remain actively engaged in regional initiatives, particularly those under the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority of Development, East African Community, and International Conference of the Great Lakes Region. Our involvement is based on the fundamental values of multilateralism. As the international community, we must be steadfast in our resolve to support dialogue and the peaceful resolution of conflicts whenever they occur around the world. Peace-building, women, and security and development are inextricably linked. Uganda remains committed to the implementation of the women, peace, and security agenda as enshrined in the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and subsequent resolution. The government of Uganda is currently implementing the Third National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security for the period 2021 to 2025. The national plan is one of the first high-impact plans in the world to address women, peace, and security issues in relation to women’s rights. to climate change, health outbreaks, and pandemics. The overall goal of the plan is to promote sustained peace and security through meaningful participation of women in peace and development processes. The plan has outcome result areas, which include strengthening the institutional and coordination mechanism for women, peace, and security agenda at all levels. Facing a two-decade war ravaged by the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, we risk our lives as women to ensure that the LRA combatants and convince their sons and daughters to leave and end the insurgency. Through a coalition of women, peace, and security, their contribution of women in the post-conflict transformation through the Women’s National Task Force ensure that responsive peace recovery and development plan was enacted, which has been crucial in rebuilding normalcy and ensuring peace and promoting development. In closing, Mr. President, we wish to make the following recommendation. Meaningful participation of women and youth is critical in every peacebuilding initiative. Active involvement of the community is, in a country or region, raises people’s self-esteem, mobilizes their social energies, and help them to shape their own social and economic destiny. The voice of the youth, who are the biggest composition of our population, is very critical for sustainable peace. The Uganda experience has demonstrated that ownership and control of the peacebuilding processes not only require bottom-up approach, but also participation and control and top-down managerial capacity and technical skills of organizational discipline. discipline, to be sustained, and optimum use made of scarce resources. There is need to mainstream gender in early warning system, peace building, and conflict resolution processes, recovery and reconstruction programs, including disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation, and reintegration. And there is need to implement interventions that enhance women’s economic empowerment as a means to increasing their bargaining power in domestic setting and promoting self-reliance as a way of promoting peace in their home. Mr. President, I conclude and want to instead state that Uganda is a party to a number of regional and international instruments relevant to women, peace, and security, like the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Benjin Declaration and Platform of Action, the African Union Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality, and the International Conference on the Great Lake Region, Pact on Security, Stability, and Development in the Great Lake Region, and the Protocol on the Prevention and Suppression of Sexual Violence Against Women and Children. I thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank Her Excellency Ms. Amongi for her statement. I now give the floor to Her Excellency Ms. Yuriko Backes, Minister for Gender Equality and Diversity of Luxembourg.

Luxembourg:
Mr. President, I am delivering this statement on behalf of three Benelux countries, Belgium, the Kingdom of Netherlands, and my own country, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. We thank Japan for organizing this open debate at a time where many women and youth from countries all over the world are gathered in New York for the Commission on the Status of Women. Mr. President, allow me to make three observations. First, conflict prevention would highly benefit from greater integration with the women, peace, and security. agenda. The full equal and meaningful participation of women in all their diversity and decision making is crucial for conflict prevention strategies to be successful. Almost 25 years after the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1325, there is still an urgent need, really an urgent need to step up our efforts to ensure women have a seat at all tables. Not only by taking initiatives to empower women and girls but by removing all structural, by removing all systemic barriers that prevent them from getting there. And conflict prevention can only be successful if we recognize the depth of the influence of gender norms, gender relations and gender inequalities. We need to integrate gender as a category of analysis and use women led and informed strategies of early warning and conflict resolution. Second, the importance of including youth in conflict prevention can hardly be overstated. It ensures legitimacy, it ensures local ownership and embeddedness. People and communities should be in the driving seat in identifying their needs and in identifying solutions. And there is a clear link with the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. Young women and men’s equitable involvement is crucial to building a balanced and resilient society and thus contributes to preventing conflict. The Benelux countries therefore welcome the inclusion of the Youth, Peace and Security Agenda in the UN Secretary General’s new Agenda for Peace. For an inclusive approach, it is also absolutely essential that the implementation of the Youth, Peace and Security Agenda is strengthened to the meaningful participation of youth and youth-led organizations in the conflict prevention, mediation and in peace building. This also includes concrete measures to address existing financing gaps for youth-led initiatives. Finally, more attention is needed for the devastating impact that violent conflict has on people’s mental health and psychosocial well-being. Third, the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission should play a crucial role in supporting a country’s comprehensive approach. The interaction between the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission is instrumental in the pursuit of sustainable peace and security. In light of the ongoing negotiations on the Pact for the Future, to be adopted during the Summit of the Future this September, the Benelux countries support a more robust role for the PBC and further strengthening of its advisory function to the Security Council. We fully agree that UN peacebuilding and a focus on prevention should be strengthened. Both the Summit of the Future and the 2025 review of the UN peacebuilding architecture will provide us with opportunities to strengthen and to update our toolbox for conflict prevention. I thank you, Mr. President.

President – Japan:
I thank Her Excellency, Ms. Backes, for her statement. I now give the floor to Tonga

Tonga:
Thank you, Mr. President, distinguished members of the United Nations Security Council, excellencies and delegates. I wish to congratulate Japan for taking the presidency of the United Nations Security Council for the month of March. I acknowledge the briefers, including Ms. Rolls from the Pacific region. I am pleased to address the Security Council on the importance of preventing conflict and its reoccurrence, thereby realizing a world where the human dignity of every individual is upheld and no one is left behind, specifically within the context of the CSW-68 currently underway. Our statement is in line with that to be delivered by Fiji on behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum. Mr. President, multiple conflicts are indeed further exasperated by risk multipliers such as climate change, for which leaders of Tonga and other Pacific countries have declared as a single greatest threat to the security of our peoples. The global inflation as a negative spillover effect of these conflicts have weakened our already vulnerable, small, open economy and has further widened gender wage gap. But to avoid conflicts from occurring in the first place, we ought to put certain mechanisms in place that support us maintaining peace and security. Speaking of which, the Pacific, through the adoption of Pacific leaders of the Boyd Declaration in 2018, and the 250 strategy for a blue Pacific continent reaffirms our commitment to promoting peace and security. These were premised upon good governance and respect for indigenous rights and cultural values. It is critical in this process that we continue the dialogue by including all sectors of the community, such as women and girls, faith-based organizations, persons with disabilities. Tonga’s national women’s empowerment and gender policy as well as the Pacific Platform for Action for Gender Equality and Women’s Rights support the aftermentioned through the creation of enabling environment for mainstreaming. gender across government policies, programs, and services. We further endeavor to do so in climate crisis, for which women and children are often the most vulnerable and prone to being hit the hardest. We therefore call for urgent action while we still have the opportunity to react to these most imminent peril. Accordingly, we emphasize the need for the appointment of a special representative of the Secretary General on Climate and Security, and the deployment of dedicated staff, such as the Climate Security Advisors. Mr. President, we appreciate the opportunity afforded in this open debate to highlight challenges we face, which we think will help the Security Council in their vital role of preventing conflict and its recurrence. I thank you.

President – Japan:
I now give the floor to Her Excellency Ms. Doreen Sioka, Minister of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication, and Social Welfare of Namibia.

Namibia:
Thank you. Mr. President, allow me to congratulate Japan on presiding over the Security Council this month. I equally wish to thank you for the timing of this open debate, which coincides with the Commission on Status of Women, the largest annual UN gathering on gender equality. Mr. President, this open debate takes place against the backdrop of a world that is in turmoil, a world which struggles with the challenges of development, a gender that is off track, a world. in which wars are raging and a world in which the face of hunger and poverty is predominantly characterized by a woman and a girl child, with most of them being youth. Striving to do better for the women of the world, we must genuinely commit to promote conflict prevention and working towards durable and lasting peace, because peace is the foundation upon which development is built. Without an environment that supports peace and development, our agenda for the empowerment of women will be neglected. We are all aware that we are significantly behind in our quest to achieve the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in all spheres of life. The Security Council has an instrumental role to play and should collaborate with the Peace Building Commission and other components of the Peace Building architectures, including regional and sub-regional organizations, to support peace building and enforcement. It is only when we work together towards a common objective of creating a conducive environment for peace to strive and to be sustained can we see tangible progress on the development agenda, including commitment to accelerate the empowerment of women. Mr. President, Namibia stands, promotes conflict prevention through our implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and has continued to build on this not only in our context, but to render our support to strengthen the prevention and peace building agenda. We continue in this endeavor in our current role on the African Peace and Security Council as we consider this among many humble contributions we make to the maintenance of our international peace and security. Our commitment is anchored in the knowledge that the path of peace lines the route towards development and before we can achieve meaningful. development for girls and women, everywhere we must advocate for peace, everywhere we must advocate for peace. With these few remarks, I thank you for your attention.

President – Japan:
I thank Her Excellency Ms. Sioka for her statement. I now give the floor to Her Excellency Ms. Juana Herrera Araúz, Minister of Women of Panama.

Panama:
Thank you very much, Mr. President. Twenty-three years ago, the former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, proposed that conflict prevention be the cornerstone of the collective security system for the United Nations in the 21st century. The current political context is characterized by increasingly more frequent, complex, and protracted conflicts, threatening the lives of countless people and undermining human security, disproportionately affecting women and youth. Beyond being underrepresented, they could play a key role in defending their own rights and interests. The unanimous adoption of Resolution 1325 reaffirmed the critical role of women in the prevention, mediation, and resolution of conflicts. That notwithstanding, they continue systematically to be excluded from political leadership and from peace processes, despite evidence proving that they represent an essential link in actions related to effective prevention and resolution of conflicts. Similarly, Security Council Resolution 2250 recognized for the first time the importance of the role that could be played by youth in preventing and resolving conflicts and as crucial agents for the success and sustainability of initiatives to ensure the maintenance of peace and peacekeeping. And yet they remain excluded from all decision-making processes and from policymaking. It is widely known that we women represent 50 percent of today’s global population. Today we also have the greatest number of youth in the history of humanity. It is essential for us to ensure that everyone can fully exercise their rights and take part in the decision-making process and contribute to reforms in laws and in public institutions in their respective societies. Including the various views, experiences, and skills of women, along with the critical and innovative view of youth, as well as their determination to contribute actively to resolving major global challenges, these are powerful instruments of change. Their inclusion in peace efforts is not just a moral imperative, but it is also an effective strategy for addressing the root causes of conflicts and promoting stability and social cohesion. Mr. President, we are at a crucial turning point. development, where the prevention of conflicts is not just a desire but rather an urgent necessity. In a world where challenges are interlinked and the focus on humanitarian action, development and peace is more relevant than ever before, we recognize how vulnerable people are before, during and after crises. In this context, we must strengthen multilateralism and ensure more robust international cooperation. We need greater support from international financial institutions for member states affected by conflicts and violence, not just to address crises and the immediate aftermath of crises but also to promote long-term sustainable development, prioritizing investment in peace. Current events on the international scene are reliable proof of the need to strengthen the efficiency and the functioning of the Security Council so that it can fulfill its responsibility and its mandate to safeguard international peace and security, but also so that it can address emerging risks which traditionally have been considered to be under the purview of other fora. Similarly, and with the understanding that without peace there can be no sustainable development, the Security Council could benefit from the views and recommendations coming out of the ECOSOC Youth Forum and, without a doubt, from the outcome of the Summit for the Future. These can be addressed in the new Agenda for Peace by taking a multidimensional approach to conflict prevention, by building more robust collective security and prioritizing diplomatic mechanisms for resolving disputes. Mr. President, the UN Charter establishes key principles which we must maintain in this ever-changing world. Gender equality and youth participation are essential catalysts for maintaining the integrity of the principles established in the Charter, and in this way we can promote a more just and fair world. For Panama, promoting gender equality and empowering women has become a basic pillar in our foreign policy and our approach to sustainable human development. We recognize that equality, development, and peace can only be achieved if women and youth participate fully at all levels of society. There cannot be any lasting peace without their participation. As candidates for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council during the 2025 through 2026 period, our country is committed to being a staunch ally of women and youth within this multilateral forum. And we will continue to support the implementation of efforts and initiatives which will allow more voices to be heard, ensure leadership opportunities, and the participation of youth and women in the peace and security agenda. Panama reiterates its strong belief in the transformative potential of women and youth in maintaining and building international peace and security, as well as in fulfilling Agenda 2030. And we will continue to work to give them a voice and a leading role in building peace and sustainable development. Thank you very much, Mr. President.

President – Japan:
I thank Her Excellency Ms. Juana Herrera Araúz for her statement. I now give the floor to Her Excellency Ms. Elizabeth Taylor-Jay, Vice Minister for Multilateral Affairs of Colombia.

Colombia:
Mr. President, Excellencies, one of the main challenges youth face is the lack of skills training which would allow for their effective and significant participation in the area of prevention. The Youth Peace and Security Agenda, which Colombia is firmly committed to, is essential for promoting a long-term intergenerational approach which will contribute to preventing divisive political conflicts. states, and ensuring that violence does not recur. With particular emphasis on its territories, Colombia is one of the three countries which along with the youth office, the UN Youth Office, is part of the Partnership for Inclusive Peace Processes with Youth. In 2022, the Five-Year Strategy was launched. This document includes the implementation of initiatives to bolster the capacity of youth to prevent conflicts, to ensure mediation and negotiation, and has given them other technical capacities so that they can have a more significant participation. The experience of my country with the 2016 peace agreement has given us a number of elements we’d like to underscore. It was the first agreement in the world to include a gender approach. This should allow for the empowerment of women so that their voices can be heard, the empowerment of women in all their diversity, so that women can serve as agents of change and be involved in conflict prevention. We also had participatory involvement in the National Plan of Action on the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. We were able to identify networks and women’s organizations and movements and make spaces available so that their actions could be seen at the local and regional level, and so that they could take ownership of initiatives such as building truly sustainable and lasting peace. Today, we know that when we speak of preventing new violence, we must act decisively in sustainable plans for former combatants, for their families. Any strategy to include former combatants must recognize the differentiated role played by women and youth in armed conflict, and there must be true opportunities for reintegration into civil life in the social, economic, and political spheres, depending on their own conferences and their life plans. Our experience in seeking peace, along with our tireless – the reality of armed conflicts throughout the world is proof time and time again that youth and women have been key actors in wars. Either they are victims of wars or they have become involved as a result of their social contexts and their own decisions. That being said, women and youth must also be considered as key actors in building peace. Colombia prioritizes the challenge of reflecting these actions in concrete strategies which address the specificities of each territory so that we can have a real impact on the lives of everyone. Mr. President, we are certain that women, in all their diversity and youth, are an essential component in conflict prevention. By strengthening them and having their voices heard, we can build social peace and avoid the cycles of violence which we have institutionalized and which have such a negative impact on our lifestyles and our dignity. Studies of conflict have shown us that society has much more to offer in terms of practices and knowledge for building and sustaining peace. We have to have mechanisms for regular and efficient consultations and discussions with these stakeholders. It is only through participatory dialogue and inclusive dialogue that we can identify the root causes of violence and change them and break these models and patterns of hate and death. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank Her Excellency Ms. Taylor Jay for her statement. I now give the floor to Her Excellency Ms. Maria Alexandra Kefala, Deputy Minister for Social Cohesion and Family of Greece.

Greece:
Mr. President, Excellencies, dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I participate in today’s open debate on promoting conflict prevention through empowering all actors, including women and youth. Therefore, I would like to warmly thank the Japanese Presidency of the Security Council for organizing this event, as well as our distinguished speakers for their thorough interventions. While fully aligning myself with the statement delivered by the European Union, please allow me to make some additional remarks. remarks under my national capacity. Achieving sustainable and long-lasting peace is not only about ending conflict. It entails first and foremost a positive and exclusive notion of peace intrinsically linked to social justice, able to offer its beneficial effects to each and everyone without discrimination on any grounds, so that no one is left behind. This comprehensive approach to conflict prevention aims at enhancing the humanitarian development peace nexus. It therefore calls for full and meaningful gender-equal participation as a cross-cutting parameter running through all actions, from early warning mechanisms to addressing the root causes of conflict and empowering all members of society, especially the most vulnerable ones. In this vein, I could not agree more with the UN Secretary General’s recommendation to Member States regarding the need for developing national prevention strategies. Conflict prevention as an integral part of a robust national action plan implementing the Women’s Peace and Security and the Youth Peace and Security Agendas give voice to women and youth in all their diversity, making the whole process more inclusive and democratic. It therefore guarantees national ownership of the peace-building efforts. Mr. President, Greece is committed to contributing to a more resilient, gender-equal and inclusive world by focusing efforts on comprehensive conflict prevention towards sustainable peace for all. The National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security is a strong deliverable by the Greek government going in that direction. Moreover, Greece prioritizes the advanced role of women and youth as agents of change in peace efforts within the framework of its candidacy for a non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council for the term 2025 to 2026. Thus, if elected, my country aims at mainstreaming the WPS and YPS UN Security Council agendas throughout the work of the UN Security Council, contributing substantially to sustainable peace, security and development for all. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I now give the floor to Her Excellency Ms. Khatuna Totladze, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.

Georgia:
Mr. President, Excellencies, I would like to extend our gratitude to the Presidency of Japan for convening today’s important debate. Georgia aligns itself with the statement to be delivered by the European Union, and I would like to make comments in my national capacity. Let me underline the vital role of the UN Security Council in upholding international peace and security as entrusted by the UN Charter. Respective Security Council resolutions are important tools for advancing the gender equality and youth agenda in conflict and past conflict situations. We believe in the value of realization of the women’s peace and security and youth’s peace and security agendas by increasing the equal and meaningful participation of women and youth in all stages of peace process. Nevertheless, regrettably, women and youth still have limited opportunities to engage and influence peace negotiations. We share the concern expressed in the UN Secretary General’s most recent report on the women’s peace and security about the reduced political space for women’s participation in peace and security decision-making in a number of countries. Excellencies, at the national level, the Government of Georgia is carrying out several activities to promote meaningful participation of women and youth, such as regular dialogue with the conflict-affected women and youth, and the CSO representatives working on women’s rights. We make all efforts to ensure that the needs and priorities of women IDPs and conflict-affected women are integrated in the planning for the peace process and raised at the negotiation formats, particularly Geneva international discussions and incident prevention and response mechanisms. We also continue efforts to advance the young people’s role in all spheres of public life and democratic processes. This objective is envisaged by the Georgian National Youth Policy Concept for 2020-2030. Despite these endeavors, Russia’s ongoing occupation and effective control of Abkhazia and Tkhilvali regions of Georgia that was legally adjusted by the landmark judgment of the European Court of Human Rights of 2021 hampers peace process and prevents us from sharing the human rights protection framework with women and youth remaining on the other side of the occupation line. People living in these regions have to endure blatant violations of their rights on a daily basis, which include but are not limited to discrimination on the ethnic grounds, infringement of right of life, health and property, deprivation of liberty, arbitrary detentions and kidnappings, restriction on freedom of movement, and prohibition of education in native language. A dangerous This recent trend of deliberate targeting of female Georgian citizens contains a strong gender dimension and aims to oppress, scare, and humiliate the most vulnerable part of ethnic Georgian population in the occupied regions that are already victims of constant discrimination. Given the gravity of the situation on the ground, it’s of utmost importance that international and regional human rights monitoring mechanisms are allowed therein. I once again urge Russia to fulfill its international obligations, to comply with the EU-mandated 2008 ceasefire agreement, and withdraw its military forces from the entire territory of Georgia. In conclusion, I wish to stress that Georgia remains committed to promoting the Women, Peace and Security and the U.S. peace and security agendas at the national as well as the international level. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank Her Excellency Ms.Totladze for her statement. I now give the floor to Her Excellency Ms. Eseta Nadakuitavuki, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection of Fiji.

Fiji:
Mr. President, Distinguished Members of the Security Council, Excellencies and Delegates, I’d also like to congratulate Japan for your presidency role for this month and also for convening this session. I’d also like to acknowledge our very own Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls for being here and representing the civil society organization. I have the honor of delivering this statement on behalf of the members of the Pacific Islands Forum. With presence at the United Nations, namely Australia, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and my very own country, Fiji, we acknowledge the guidance and support of the Cook Islands as the chair of the Pacific Islands Forum. The Blue Pacific continent has a proud history of supporting peace and security for all Pacific peoples. Through the 2050 strategy for the Blue Pacific continent, Pacific Islands Forum leaders affirmed their vision for a resilient region of peace, harmony, security, and social inclusion and prosperity. To achieve their vision for the future, Pacific Islands Forum leaders have identified peace and security as a priority guided by the Boyd Declaration on Regional Security, coupled with the Big Tower Declaration and the Action Plans, which clarify or clearly define and articulate the most pressing security concerns. for our blue Pacific continent. Of all these concerns, Pacific leaders have articulated that climate change, inclusive of the adverse impacts of sea level rise, is the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and well-being of all Pacific peoples. In addition to sea level rise and other adverse impacts of climate change, the Pacific faces other significant security challenges, environmental and resource security, cyber security, combating transnational organized crime, and human security, including gender-based violence. And while the Pacific region is largely peaceful, it has also felt the impacts of conflict. During these times of conflict, Pacific island nations have banded together to support each other. We did so in the Solomon Islands from 2003 to 2017 through the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands, in Nauru from 2004 to 2009 through the Pacific Regional Assistance for Nauru, and most recently during the COVID-19 pandemic by establishing the Pacific Humanitarian Pathway. Pacific Islands Forum members established these regional responses under the Bigger Tower Declaration, a regional framework and an important collaborative tool for the maintenance of regional peace and security. The Bigger Tower Declaration promotes good governance, democratic processes and institutions, respect for indigenous rights and cultural values, and the importance of averting the causes of conflict and of reducing, containing, and resolving all conflicts by peaceful means, including customary practices. We welcome the support from the United Nations, including the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Fund, which promotes these important values and help us to better understand and mitigate bigger security challenges as defined by Pacific Island countries themselves. The Peacebuilding Fund’s recent support for the development of the Pacific Climate Security Assessment Guide was very welcome, and we encourage this esteemed Council and the Peacebuilding Fund to maintain an open and flexible approach to supporting homegrown peacebuilding approaches in the Pacific. The Pacific Islands Forum also recognizes that building and maintaining peace and preventing conflict requires ongoing involvement of all segments of the community, including civil society, faith based organizations, and the full, effective, and meaningful participation of women and girls, persons with disabilities, youth, and other marginalized groups. In 2023, Pacific Island Forum leaders revitalized their 2012 Gender Equality Declaration, which includes reaffirming their commitments to ensuring the full, equal, effective, and meaningful participation of women and girls in all diversities at every stage of peace process, conflict prevention, conflict resolution, and peacebuilding for peace and security. We know from experience the important role women and girls played and continue to play. In maintaining peace and security in the Blue Pacific continent, the Pacific Islands Forum is committed to inclusivity and equity and recognizes that inclusive dialogue is crucial to sustainable conflict prevention and building and maintaining regional and global peace and security. We would like to see this esteemed Council and the Peacebuilding Fund continue to prioritize inclusive dialogue as a fundamental part of conflict prevention and peacebuilding. In looking ahead, as we focus on the summit of the future, the climate, peace, and security agenda remains relevant to our region. Our leaders want to see the Pacific as a zone of peace. Related to this, we call for the appointment of a special representative for climate, peace, and security. Thank you all for your time.

President – Japan:
I thank Her Excellency Ms. Nadakuitavuki for her statement. There are still a number of speakers remaining on my list for this meeting. I intend, with the concurrence of members of the Council, to suspend the meeting until 3 p.m. this afternoon. The meeting is suspended. The 9,574th meeting of the Security Council is resumed. I wish to remind all speakers to limit their statements to no longer than three minutes in order to enable the Council to carry out its work expeditiously. Flashing lights on the colours of the microphones will prompt speakers to bring their remarks to a close after two and a half minutes. I now give the floor to Her Excellency Ms. Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga, Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines.

Philippines:
Thank you, Madam President. We congratulate Japan for its presidency of the Security Council this month. It is difficult to think of another nation more qualified to preside over this open debate, especially on a subject that cries for humane thinking to arrive at solutions, sometimes tentative, but never final because each life lost is irreplaceable. In life-and-death situations, the only decent choice is to protect the first and avoid the second. The Philippines has always stood for a rules-based order where reason rules and compassion prevails. Our active participation in ASEAN and other global partnerships underscores our dedication to multilateralism and the privacy of international law. We believe honest and strategic collaboration is essential to assisting conflict-affected countries. peaceful settlement of international disputes, and strengthen resilience in facing security risks. Women are at the core of this mission. The art of peacemaking begins at home and comes out of the hands of women. Those who work hardest on anything have the strongest commitment to protecting and making them work. Those who make and sustain families know best what is good at the expense of no one in the family. Extend that further, and we are here under one roof in the home of the family of nations and peoples called the United Nations. Hence, we look forward to the summit of the future in September and the 2025 review of the UN Peacebuilding Architecture, including on strengthening and updating the UN Toolbox for Prevention of Conflict and its recurrence with women, peace, and security and youth perspectives as highlighted by the Secretary General in the new Agenda for Peace. The Philippines has always championed peace and peacemaking. Faced with the outbreak of war, the Philippines may join the fray, but it is less to fight on the parlous side of good and more to protect innocent lives and to secure communities. We have done peacekeeping in Africa, in Haiti, and the Middle East, always with unfailing courage and proper behavior. At the end of the Vietnam War, we welcomed all who had braved the sea in small boats to begin rebuilding their lives on our shores. We note the key roles played in the refugee centers frequently managed by women. As a nation championing peacebuilding and sustaining peace, our success in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, or BARM, in the Southern Philippines is the centerpiece. The process is found on understanding of the intersectionality of vulnerability, the recognition of opportunities for shared gains through strategic interventions, the value of institutionalizing convergence for social cohesion and sustainable development, and in jointly realizing the intergenerational value of peace. Women contributed greatly to the success of the BARM. They were negotiators, researchers, educators. and community organizers. We forged what is now barm across half a century of fighting between warring factions and clansmen and both against an inclusive democracy. Peace is possible and patience pays. They are the best way forward and the least hurt and loss. Compassion a strategy lays the strongest foundation for lasting peace after bitter conflict. There is no fresh reason to look back in anger. The Bangsamoro process while demonstrating our respect for distinct security mandates and commitment to holistic development stands in full support of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. We hope to engage with the Peacebuilding Commission to share our experiences in establishing the bar must we continue our journey towards a sustainable peace through conflict prevention, equity and always and without fail human dignity. The role of the Security Council in forging peace is at its most critical today when the risk of political, cultural and resource conflicts is compounded by the complexities of digital technologies and the impacts of climate change. It must advance the enabling participation of all actors in peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts through collaboration between the peacekeeping and political missions, the mandates of other UN agencies and beyond. These efforts must translate into early warnings for of potential conflicts, concrete preventive actions and transition plans for peace operations ahead of their withdrawals. When a nation is at war with itself and contending domestic forces cannot rise to the right solution, UN peacekeepers have done so. If not to end a conflict with a lasting peace then to lessen civilian casualties. Their presence halts the escalating violence, they usually pay the price for it. Not all bullets fired hit their targets but all bullets without fail take a toll on the prospect of peace by increasing the passion for reckoning. Since 1963 the Philippines has been committed to UN peacekeeping operations. We wish to increase our footprint with more professional peacekeepers on the ground, most especially highly trained women peacekeepers with nothing to prove and much compassion to show. chair, this is our commitment to inclusive, intergenerational, and lasting peace. As a partner, pathfinder, and peacemaker, the Philippines is ready to bring our experiences and insights to the Security Council to demonstrate a focused and effective approach to peace and security challenges. Thank you, Madam President.

President – Japan:
I thank Her Excellency Ms. Yuro Loizaga for her statement. I now give the floor to Her Excellency Ms. Iryna Borovets, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

Ukraine:
Thank you, Madam President. Ukraine highly appreciates the initiative of the Presidency of Japan to hold this important debate. Ukraine commends the United Nations Security General António Guterres for his visionary new Agenda for Peace. The Agenda’s focus on conflict prevention, sustainable development, and the modernization of peacekeeping operations paves the way for innovative strategies. The emphasis on trust, solidarity, and the need for urgent reforms within the UN framework aligns with Ukraine’s aspiration for comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine and all over the world. We are committed to engaging with the new Agenda for Peace, and we remain hopeful it will lead to meaningful actions. As we speak, a brutal war of aggression is unfolding in my country. The consequences of this war are devastating, and women and youths are the most vulnerable. Over one million Ukrainians under the age of 18 are internally displaced, and two million young people were forced to seek protection abroad. Ninety percent of more than eight million Ukrainians who temporarily left Ukraine are women and children. This war has resulted in further deterioration of children’s mental condition and their learning outcomes. According to UNICEF, the negative effects include a two-year learning loss in reading and a one-year loss in math. system in the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russia has been deliberately destroyed by the occupier and replaced with Russian curricula, brainwashing, and militarization of yours. Despite all the challenges, Ukrainian women and young people have shown remarkable resilience. Yours engagement in emergency response has increased twofold, from 20 to 42 percent. More than 60,000 women are serving in the armed forces of Ukraine, while others are mastering new professions, opening businesses amid the war, and leading in all sectors. Ukraine is working to ensure active participation and inclusion of women and young people in shaping their futures and contributing to recovery efforts. Madam President, Ukraine’s example is clear. In a world where conflicts are multiplying, our current tools for conflict prevention are inadequate. While an overwhelming majority of the UN member states are committed to peace, some are fueling wars and blatantly disregarding the international law. Let me state the obvious. No conflict can be effectively prevented unless we put an end to the existing ones. If conflict prevention mechanism actually worked, Russia would not have dared to invade my country. Yet we can and we must add more tools to our conflict prevention toolbox. These tools must be sharp enough to discourage anyone from aggression and the use of force in the relations between states, except in the case of self-defense, as the UN Charter clearly reads. Let me name just a few of such tools. Isolation, not appeasement. Exclusion, not face-saving options. Economic pressure, not business as usual. And military assistance to those who, by self-defense, are defending the principle of the UN Charter, as well as democracy and international law. This is exactly what President Zelensky’s peace formula offers. Its standpoints are based on international law and the principle of the UN Charter. Ukraine invites all… responsible nations to join the implementation of the peace formula, Ukraine strongly believes that such an approach must be reflected in the outcomes of the summit of the future, focusing on action and tangible results. It’s only – it’s the only way forward for a safer, more peaceful world. Thank you, Madam President.

President – Japan:
I thank Her Excellency Ms. Borovets for her statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Armenia.

Armenia:
Madam President, we thank the presidency of Japan for convening the open debate on the theme of promoting conflict prevention and empowering women and youth, and for providing a comprehensive concept note to guide today’s discussions. Building inclusive, peaceful, and resilient societies is at the cornerstone of fostering development, upholding human rights, and preventing conflict, with women and youth playing a pivotal role in achieving those objectives. Armenia reaffirms its commitment to the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security and Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace, and Security, and we have been consistently working to integrate their principles into national policies, programs, and initiatives aimed at advancing gender equality and youth engagement. Armenia supports efforts of the UN Peacebuilding Commission in prioritizing the integration of gender equality strategies into its important work. Madam President, women and youth possess a distinct potential to contribute to peace-building and sustainable development, yet in situations of armed conflict they are also the ones who are affected most by its consequences. The blockade of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, which started in December 2022 and culminated in September 2023 with the use of military force against the civilians, demonstrated a magnitude of disproportionate impact upon women and young people, especially in their role as caregivers. This implicit example of a premeditated ethnic cleansing masterminded and perpetrated under the watch of the international community has resulted in widespread forced displacement of the entire ethnic Armenian population, further exacerbating disparities and vulnerabilities for those who bear the brunt of violence and deprivation. According to the report published by the Amnesty International in 2023, the disruption of essential goods and services in Nagorno-Karabakh affected families with young children the most, whereby women and youth have come to be revealed as the main targets of the blockade. Azerbaijan’s persistent violations, including the armed attacks and the incursions against Armenia’s territorial integrity, promulgation of aggressive rhetoric, and the systematic destruction of millennia-old Armenian cultural heritage demonstrate time and again utter disdain for the international law, as exemplified also by failure to comply with the provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice in the period of 2021-2023. The United Nations and this Security Council has yet to acknowledge the gravity of these violations and to reflect on the failure to prevent them. Madam President, women and youth bring unique perspectives in shaping responsive humanitarian action and sustainable development strategies that prioritize lasting improvements in the livelihood, resilience, and dignity of populations, in particular those that apply the human security approach, and I want to acknowledge Japan’s important contribution in this regard. In their roles as community leaders and caregivers, women are indispensable to supporting human security by leveraging knowledge, networks, and expertise, especially at times of crisis and its immediate aftermath. Likewise, the engagement of youth as digital natives is crucial for driving progress and innovations, also by promoting responsible online behavior, countering hate speech, and misinformation. Armenia recognizes the importance of collaborative efforts for promoting conflict prevention and its recurrence through building strong and resilient communities with the engagement of diverse stakeholders, including women and youth from the affected populations. Madam President, there is an urgent need to strengthen the capacities of the United Nations System for Prevention to evaluate the impact of the pandemic on the lives of women and youth. its current toolbox and to establish more responsive and effective mechanisms for addressing the root causes of conflict while ensuring accountability for atrocity crimes and for violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law. I thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Armenia for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Croatia.

Croatia:
Madam President, thank you for organizing this debate and thanks to the briefers. It is very timely as we are negotiating the outcome document of the Summit of the Future and in the run-up to the 2025 Review of the Peacebuilding Architecture. Croatia aligns itself with statements of the EU and PBC and I would like to add some remarks in my national capacity. Prevention saves money but, more importantly, it saves lives. And yet, countries are sometimes reluctant about prevention, fearing it may lead to interference in their internal affairs. Therefore, embracing prevention more broadly requires clear and predictable procedures, providing guarantees. This is why the Peacebuilding Commission, firmly rooted in national ownership and respect of national sovereignty, and positioned at the intersection of three pillars of the United Nations, is uniquely placed to fulfill this role. PBC can significantly contribute to structural as well as operational prevention. Structural prevention can be achieved through development of national prevention strategies. PBC should be a forum for their presentation, to share experiences and lessons learned, but also to mobilize financial assistance to implement them when needed. Operational prevention could be implemented through light-footprint civilian missions that could be deployed upon invitation from the host country, after a peacekeeping mission to facilitate smooth transition, or to prevent further deterioration of the situation and risk of violent conflict. If such missions are equipped with necessary financial resources, in close cooperation with the government concerned, they can address root causes of the conflict and strengthen the resilience of the society. If its mandate is extended, the PBC could potentially be the body that would oversee such missions. Inclusivity is another very important policy in conflict prevention, and the PBC has both the Women’s Peace and Security and Youth Peace and Security strategies that should be considered living documents, constantly developed and implemented. And lastly, the Security Council should be cooperating more closely with the PBC. In addition to requesting its advice more often, it could include PBC in its briefings on early warning and situational awareness, especially regarding countries that are on the PBC agenda. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Croatia for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Egypt.

Egypt:
Thank you, Madam President. First of all, I would like to congratulate Japan for presiding over the Security Council this month, and thank you for holding this session. Our world today is going through a new wave of tensions, as threats, challenges, and risks are diverse and intertwined. There are new conflict areas that threaten peace and development at the moment. international level. This is why we have to shoulder our responsibility and find practical solutions to establish sustainable peace. We stress the need to give further attention to building peace and providing sustainable and appropriate financing for building peace as a scenic one on to build resilience in the face of the current challenges. In that vein, we stress the following points that represent a framework to promote building and sustaining peace. One, building and sustaining peace are key cornerstones to anchor sustainable development and prosperity. Building peace is not about stopping conflict alone. It also includes prevention of conflict and adopting an approach, a proactive approach to address the root causes of conflicts. In this vein, we stress the important role of preventative diplomacy to address tensions before they turn into armed conflict. This is recalled in the report of the former Secretary General of the United Nations, Dr. Boutros Ghaly, one of the proponents of preventative diplomacy. In his report, he presented great recommendations. So the report was entitled the Peace Agenda. These recommendations call for promoting the essential tools to prevent conflicts and provide new support for societies going through political transitional phases to address complex security challenges. Three, threat assessment is essential. essential to identify and understand the root causes of conflicts. This is a major component of the prevention of conflicts. This is also essential to adopt a comprehensive approach to understand the main factors of conflicts and assess their repercussions. It is important to develop strategies to promote sustainable solutions to achieve good results and ensure a safe and stable future. Addressing the root causes of conflicts requires an engagement by the relevant countries in line with the principle of national ownership. National institutions should identify, plan, and implement their priorities, hence the importance of the role of the PBC as a key supporter of member states. The PBC shares a responsibility to guide and support such states during their journey to implement their comprehensive peace strategies so that these efforts could provide a good environment for sustainable development. It is important to support the efforts of states in building their national institutions and capacities and to promote good governance to prevent conflicts. This can help in addressing the root causes of conflicts. This should take into account the national context. It is important to promote the participation of all the segments of society in an effective way in the assessment of risks and decision making. This provides social cohesion and has a positive impact on on good governance, transparency, justice and the culture of constructive dialogue and peaceful coexistence. I am happy that this session is being held at the same time of the session of the CSW so that we can together reaffirm the important role of women in the prevention of conflicts and the important need to increase her participation in political processes. Women are a cornerstone in achieving peace and security. We also stress the vital role of the youth in the development and implementation of prevention strategies. They are some of the most affected by the political, social and economic challenges. Madam President, Excellencies, we stress the Security Council’s responsibility to support national initiatives to address new security challenges. It is important to promote the abilities of countries and their institutions so that they can fight challenges. It is also important to promote the role of assessment visits by the Security Council to conflict areas. This will allow the Council to look at the situation on the ground and take the necessary proactive measures to prevent any escalation. Madam President, the new peace agenda of the Secretary General reminds us of the need to accelerate our efforts to prevent conflicts. It is important to promote multilateralism by investing in our organization’s ability so that it can keep up with the current challenges. I would like to stress the importance of ensuring cooperation between our organization and different countries. This is what we would like to see, Madam. Madam President, thank you so much.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Egypt for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Austria.

Austria:
Madam President, Austria aligns itself with the statement to be made on behalf of the EU. Thank you for organizing this open debate on conflict prevention with a specific focus on the role of women and youth. Austria advocates for a more inclusive approach to conflict prevention and peace building. Conflict prevention is not just about halting violence. It’s about constructing just and inclusive societies, which are the prerequisite for sustainable peace, a peace that relies on open societies and the full, effective, and meaningful participation of women and youth. That’s why these principles were enshrined in Security Council Resolution 1325 in 2000, the YPS Resolution 2250, and the respective subsequent resolutions. These were no doubt important, but they also need to be implemented. The reality is that women and youth still suffer disproportionately in conflicts. Austria firmly stands against all forms of violence, including the heinous acts of conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence. At the same time, we must shift our perspective and see women and youth not only as victims, but as pivotal agents for change and peace. Austria understands its commitment to peace as an investment that extends beyond rhetoric into tangible support. This is why we have provided over 130 million euros in humanitarian assistance in the past year and increased our multi-year funding to the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund from 5 million to 9.7 million euros through 2025. Of 18 peace agreements reached in 2022, only one was signed or witnessed by a representative of a women’s group or organization. This highlights a significant and lingering gap between our aspirations and reality in achieving the objective of the WPS agenda. To remedy this, the international community, with the Security Council at the forefront, must embrace and implement inclusive strategies, where women and youth are not just seen as victims, but as key architects of peace, where women and youth peacebuilders are not only heard, but listened to, where women and youth peacebuilders are funded and not underfunded, and where they are protected and not left exposed. In tackling today’s complex conflicts, we must accept that no single solution fits all scenarios. Peacebuilding cannot be treated in isolation. Rather, it should be understood as a practice that adopts a holistic approach and is intrinsically linked to and interacts with climate change, biodiversity loss, the lack of strong institutions, poverty and socioeconomic factors, as well as healthy information ecosystems. As such, effective conflict prevention and peacebuilding has to address the humanitarian, development and peace nexus, as well as the climate and security nexus. That is why Austria supports the UN Climate and Security Mechanism, which we became a member of last year. Similarly, Austria believes that true effectiveness in conflict prevention and peacebuilding lies in national, local and community-led interventions. While externally driven peace processes may have merit, they often focus solely on political and military tactics, neglecting the underlying issues within communities, thereby often resulting in solutions that offer only temporary respite rather than lasting peace. Madam President, The Pact for the Future presents a chance to enhance the role of the Peacebuilding Commission, particularly in developing national prevention strategies. A crucial point in making our societies resilient is the empowerment of women and youth in decision-making. Let me add that this can only be guaranteed by access to information, as well as free and independent media as fact-checkers. The cornerstones of our approach are thus threefold – inclusivity, synergy and partnerships. As we strive to advance these goals, let us remember that the prevention of violent conflict is not just a priority but a fundamental aspect of the United Nations’ work. as enshrined in our UN Charter, and one that requires the active contribution of states, international organizations, and civil society to ensure success. I thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Austria for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica:
Madam President, Costa Rica congratulates Japan for convening this open debate and wishes to highlight three aspects. First, 23 years ago, the Secretary General published the first informal report on the prevention of armed conflict and the adoption of the UN Program of Action to prevent, combat, and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all aspects, whose fourth review conference will be chaired by Costa Rica. These frameworks view arms control as a central element of conflict prevention. Therefore, Costa Rica calls on this Council to include stronger efforts and stronger mandates to supervise and enforce arms embargoes at the national and regional levels. Moreover, we call on all actors of this organization, such as peacekeeping missions and their TCCs, to play a central role in monitoring weapons and ammunitions, in collecting data on recovered weapons and ammunitions, and monitoring illicit flows, as well as sharing such information with sanctions panels in accordance with their mandate. We also call on states to respond to requests for traceability information from sanctions panels. Secondly, despite the Council’s progress in recognizing the crucial link between women’s participation and protection of women, There is a notable gap that persists between international frameworks and the realities faced by women, especially in conflict-affected regions. To close this gap, Costa Rica calls for prioritizing the application of Resolution 2493, particularly the provision on creating enabling environments for women’s participation, strengthening coordination between missions and United Nations organizations, and adopting a gender-sensitive approach to digital participation tools, amongst other things. By applying these recommendations, we can foster safer and more inclusive spaces for women to participate in activities conducive to peace and security. Thirdly, the complementarity of women, peace and security, and youth agendas lies in their shared objective of promoting inclusive and sustainable peaceful efforts in diverse communities and generations. Applying a gender lens to this agenda can help promote a culture of peace and prevent a new generation from duplicating the same patriarchal patterns and power structures that limit gender equality. Likewise, the women, peace and security agenda should address young women’s specific needs and experiences based on their ages and proactively address their priorities and concerns. We have the power to prevent conflict by implementing arms control mechanisms, by encouraging women’s participation and intergenerational dialogue, and by strengthening coordination within the UN system. Thank you very much.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Costa Rica for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of South Africa.

South Africa:
We thank the Presidency of Japan for facilitating this open debate on empowering all actors, including women and youth, in promoting conflict prevention. We also thank all the briefers for sharing their insights. Madam President, conflict prevention is at the heart of the mandate of the United Nations, and in particular, the Security Council. The maintenance of international peace and security is contingent on the realization of all three intertwined pillars of the United Nations of peace and security, human rights, and development. In this context, allow me to highlight the following four issues of importance in our discussion today. One, peace and, by extension, conflict prevention will remain elusive if the root causes of conflict are not adequately identified and addressed. The protracted conflicts in Palestine and some parts of the African continent where there are relapses and recurrences of conflicts are examples that we should draw lessons from. We cannot build sustainable peace without addressing the reasons why these conflicts began and persist. Two, a one-size-fits-all template to conflict prevention should be avoided. Each conflict situation is unique, and thus the responses must be equally bespoke. Moreover, concerted efforts are needed to proactively respond to the diverse triggers of conflict, especially in fragile states, through national conflict prevention strategies with contributions from various stakeholders to ensure national ownership. While considering unique responses, we must be cognizant of the double standards that are at times applied in dealing with conflicts at the international level. The values and principles of international law must be consistently applied so as to avoid the selective application of rights to some at the expense of others. Three, it is vital for states to promote a human rights-centered approach to protect the rights of all their population. Such an approach, anchored in resilient national institutions and policies, will ensure that all segments of society, in particular women and youth, enjoy their human rights. There is value in promoting the substantial role of women and youth in efforts to sustain peace because of their distinct abilities to reach out to communities. In our view, this is a foundation for inclusivity and also key to contribute to preventing the recurrence, relapse, and outbreak of conflicts in some situations. Finally, we would like to underline the importance of sharing best practices on inclusive approaches to conflict prevention. We encourage states and regional arrangements to share lessons and experiences on inclusive approaches to conflict prevention. As I conclude, Madam President, successful conflict prevention is naturally inclusive, fostering political, economic, and social space for all actors, including women and youth. The Security Council remains pivotal in the creation of normative frameworks that support inclusion, while individual states must continue to develop context-specific responses that support conflict prevention. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of South Africa for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of New Zealand.

New Zealand:
President, distinguished delegates, we thank Japan for convening this important meeting today on the topic of promoting conflict prevention and empowering the participation of all actors, including women and youth. Doing so is a shared responsibility of the UN system and of all member states. I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of Canada, Australia, and my own country, New Zealand. CANS fully supports the work already underway, including the strengthening of bodies such as the Peacebuilding Commission and the ongoing negotiations for the Pact for the Future. We have seen early drafts of the Pact place a focus on inclusivity and empowering women and youth, including in conflict prevention and peacebuilding, and we intend to see these references maintained and strengthened. Empowering all actors, including women and youth, to have a voice in the prevention of conflict and to ensure a sustainable peace should be a key objective for all member states. In conflict, women and youth often suffer the disproportionate consequences of military action, and we have seen this across the world. two harrowing examples. Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza. Yet they continue not to have seats at the table where peace and security matters are discussed. We must deliver on our commitments to realize the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and youth in conflict prevention and peace-building. CANS remains committed to ensuring the full participation of indigenous peoples in the United Nations. These voices should be systematically included as appropriate in all aspects of conflict prevention and conflict resolution, including in restorative justice mechanisms. President, we have opportunities now to deliver to make our work more inclusive, including via the meaningful participation of women and youth. To this end, upcoming processes such as the 2025 Peace-Building Architecture Review offer an important chance to strengthen inclusive participation in conflict prevention within the UN’s peace-building architecture. Finally, CANS welcomes the milestone of allocating assessed contributions to the UN Peacekeeping Fund beginning in 2025 and reiterates our support for adequate, predictable and sustainable peace-building financing to tackle peace and security challenges. The UN’s peace-building architecture plays a vital role and is well placed to improve collective efforts towards conflict prevention and responding to post-conflict challenges. President, arigato gozaimasu.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of New Zealand for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Romania.

Romania:
Thank you very much, Madam President, and I would like to thank Japan for placing this important issue on the agenda. Building reliable and resilient institutions that represent all actors in the society, including and especially women and youth, is paramount. We have in place a strong institutional framework… work to empower women and girls to participate in conflict prevention and sustaining peace. The ongoing CSW and the WPS agenda are part of it. But more engagement is needed in the implementation of these instruments, particularly ahead of the 2025 Peacebuilding Architecture Review, and we simply need to do more. Romania has a strong commitment on placing women and girls at the center of peace efforts. We joined the Compact on Women, Peace and Security, and Humanitarian Action. Our National Strategy and National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security makes it very clear there is a correlation between the status of women and the level of conflict in a certain area. And we have witnessed the worldwide impact of our failure in representing and promoting women’s rights and their participation in all spheres and levels of our communities. We need to rectify the remaining bottlenecks to women inclusion, especially at the higher levels of decision-making. Madam President, preventing conflicts requires systemic changes regarding both women and youth participation. Security Council Resolution 2250 is a milestone document that enabled youth participation in peace processes. And what is required now is to provide young generations with a strong voice for building more resilient and peaceful societies. And Romania is committed to contributing actively to addressing opportunities for young generations worldwide and reducing the education and new technology skills gaps. Most recently, our government provided financial assistance and supplies to the first virtual center of excellence of this nature in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Peace is inextricably linked to continued investments in our young generations, our powerhouse for more resilient and stronger societies. Madam President, we have developed the necessary tools, but we must further refine coordination between different entities across the UN system. I would like to commend recent developments for further enhancing the UN’s peacebuilding activities. Romania has actively committed its efforts to strengthen the capacity of the Peacebuilding Fund to respond to the growing needs in peacebuilding settings. Our expectation from the… DPPAA, is to have a separate briefing with member states on the status of the upcoming new Agenda for Peace and how the political special missions will fit into this new reshaped framework. And finally, looking ahead, we have an opportunity at the Summit of the Future to rethink the use of our institutional framework on peacebuilding and conflict prevention. We also see an opportunity to promote, through the Pact for the Future, a system-wide engagement on financing and building partnerships for peacebuilding with a whole-of-society approach. And Romania will continue to advocate for mainstreaming the women’s peace and security and the youth peace and security perspectives on the UN Agenda. Thank you, Madam President.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Romania for the statement, and I’ll give the floor to the representative of Mexico.

Mexico:
Madam President, Mexico wishes to deeply thank Japan for convening this debate. During our participation as a member elected to the Security Council in 2021 and 2022, our country promoted the adoption of a presidential statement under the label S-PRST-2021-22, by which this Council reaffirms that governments and national authorities have a primary responsibility for driving forward and guiding activities geared to peacebuilding and sustaining peace. The statement stresses that inclusion is key to that end. Moreover, my country reaffirms the approach taken in the new Agenda for Peace to prioritize and invest more in conflict prevention and to bring about a resolution of conflict with a focus which is person-centered and which is inclusive of all sectors of society. We also reaffirm our support for the Secretary General’s initiative in his report entitled Our Common Agenda. The report requests the development of national prevention strategies with a view to strengthening national infrastructures for peace. It places women and girls at the very center of these efforts and addresses the needs of young people. Returning to the national level, Mexico has put in place a program called Women Builders of Peace, which seeks to bolster the leadership and organization of women in their communities. It further seeks to contribute to the mending of the social fabric. We recognize that social, economic, and political action of women is vital to rebuilding peace. Turning now to the participation of young people in preventing violence, Mexico has the Mexican Institute of Youth, which offers a program called Creative Nurseries. This program is made up by groups that are involved in artistic training with a community focus, and they’re geared to girls, boys, and young people. The program uses cultural wealth to promote peace and to create safe spaces. where the participants can develop critical thinking, and where the programs promote their participation in our artistic life. Moreover, I’d like to recognize the work of the Peacebuilding Commission, which is a key player in building and implementing strategies to promote the agenda for young people, peace and security. It also plays a key role in promoting national plans for action for women, peace and security. From the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission, it is possible to promote synergies between the two agendas and the cross-cutting nature of these agendas in the work of the two bodies. This is why we endorse the Secretary General’s proposal to strengthen the Commission, and we call for the Commission to strengthen efforts to support national strategies of prevention with an inclusive approach. Finally, we would urge all members and other interested parties to take advantage of discussions currently underway for the Summit and Covenant of the Future and involved in the review of the Peacebuilding Commission in 2025. These are opportunities that are very worthwhile to focus efforts on strengthening the architecture for prevention and to take a gender-based and inclusive-based approach. Thank you very much.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Mexico for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Malaysia.

Malaysia:
Thank you, Madam President. Malaysia thanks Japan for convening this important debate on promoting conflict prevention, empowering all actors, including women and youth. Our delegation also appreciates the valuable insights shared by the briefers today. Madam President, Malaysia firmly believes that sustainable peace can only be ensured by addressing the potential root causes of conflicts, which can relate to economic, economic disparities, and social injustices. Therefore, a holistic approach is imperative, and it should aim to build resilience within communities and mitigate the potential for conflict. One crucial aspect of this holistic approach is the inclusion and empowerment of all actors, with a specific emphasis on women and youth. Recognizing their roles as agents of change and peace builders is important. Women can bring unique perspectives and solutions to the table, and youth represent a future that must be shaped by inclusivity and equal opportunity. Empowering women and youth is not only a matter of justice, but also a strategic imperative. Studies consistently show that societies with greater gender equality are more resilient and less prone to conflict. Youth, with their energy, creativity, and determination, can be powerful catalysts for positive change. Embracing their potential is an investment towards a more stable and peaceful future. Madam President, the formulation of Malaysia’s national policies, including in peace and security, takes into account gender perspective. For example, we are proud of the 94 women officials who are currently serving among the 865 Malaysian armed forces and Royal Malaysia Police in five UN peacekeeping operations. We have found that the involvement of women officials have been very valuable, for instance, when addressing issues like gender-based crimes and conflict-related sexual violence. Malaysia fully endorses the ASEAN Joint Statement on Promoting Women, Peace, and Security, adopted in November 2017. Further, the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation, as ASEAN’s Track 1.5 platform, focuses on youth participation in peacebuilding to promote ASEAN’s culture of peace. These are among the testaments of our commitment in advancing the implementation of the WPS and YPS. Madam President, Malaysia notes that the challenges in promoting the full, equal, and meaningful participation of all actors, including women and youth, are significant, but the opportunities are equally profound. As we work towards the summit of the future, Malaysia calls for more constructive discussions, such as this debate, to enhance cooperation and collaboration in the maintenance of peace and security. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Malaysia for their statement, and now I give the floor to the representative of Indonesia.

Indonesia:
Conflict prevention is a vital part of the peace continuum. Investing in conflict prevention means investing in peace and people. Together with peacebuilding, conflict prevention deserves much bigger emphasis, encompassing the nexus of security, human rights, and development. To ensure measures are in place to prevent conflict or its possible relapse, a coherent approach must thus be maintained by the Council towards sustaining peace. Against this backdrop, I wish to underline three points. First, creating an enabling environment is crucial. By investing in national capacities for conflict prevention, we can ensure a bottom-up, locally-owned programs that enhances community and family resilience, national institutions, as well as access to the economy and justice. This is why Indonesia peacekeepers, including our women peacekeepers, pay strong emphasis on investing in local people, winning the hearts and minds of the local communities, not only to ensure the fulfillment of their mandates, but also to pave the way for peacebuilding efforts through community engagement. Moreover, this approach also requires the promotion of meaningful role of women and youth through the peace continuum, as they are critical enablers for inclusive prevention and peacebuilding. This brings me to my second point, the need to ensure smooth transitions from peace operation to peacebuilding. Peacebuilding does not start when peacekeeping ends. It must start way in advance, in tandem with peace operations. It is important for a comprehensive assessment to be in place for any transition in all conflict situations. This will require strong partnership with all stakeholders on the ground, including the regional and sub-regional organizations. Third, synergy within the UN system must be fostered. The Council must work with all relevant UN bodies and specialized agencies to address root causes of conflict. Coordination with the Peacebuilding Commission is vital. The PBC plays an important role in mobilizing regional organizations, international financial institutions, and the private sectors in preventing countries from relapsing to conflict through development. Madam President, this esteemed Council has vital mandates, not only to prevent conflict, but also to bring hostilities to an end. In this context, the Council must act collectively and decisively to ensure that no more innocent lives are lost in vain, to be it women, children, and youth, including in Gaza and other conflict situations. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Indonesia for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of El Salvador.

El Salvador:
Thank you very much, Madam President. We appreciate the opportunity to participate in this open debate on the prevention of conflict and empowerment of all sectors, especially including women and young people. We’d also like to express our gratitude to the briefers for their presentations. Clearly, this Council has a crucial role to play in conflict prevention through mechanisms such as the Organization of Peace. builders, which should have clear, predictable, and sufficient funding to achieve the goals set forth. We’d also highlight that the Peacebuilding Commission needs to play a role in strengthening cooperation and coordination between agencies of the UN system, as well as with other regional organizations, governments, and other interested parties. This involves exchange of information, best practices, and mobilization of resources to promote prevention of conflict at the regional level and internationally. The synergies between different bodies of the UN system and agencies, funds and UN programs should all be strengthened to adopt approaches that are comprehensive effectively, that include the humanitarian development and peace nexus as key elements in order to bring about sustainable peace precisely. That involves addressing the root causes of conflict, working on prevention, and strengthening social resilience through the creation and strengthening of national institutions, as well as raising awareness and empowering all actors, especially those that historically have been disenfranchised. In that regard, full participation of women and youth at all levels and in all stages of peacebuilding and post-conflict processes will bring about sustainable peace. Effective inclusion of the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda and the Youth, Security, and Peace Agendas is key in order to build that resilience and national ownership of the sustainable agendas that I just mentioned are also important for having predictable, sustainable, and sufficient funding for which we need to fully implement Resolution 73 and Resolution 258 of the GA. These are key to strengthen the peacebuilding fund. In El Salvador, this fund made it possible to put in place initiatives to bring about the participation of women in peacebuilding, such as the Women Guardians of Peace. It’s a program geared to empowering and increasing participation of women, specifically those that participate in organizations of civil society, women’s networks, and other organizations, through strengthening their capacity and empowering them. This helps us to use the historical memory of women and recognition of women for their transformative role in promoting peace, especially during and after armed conflict, as we saw in our country. And all of this is implemented through a series of dialogues and workshops that are intergenerational to create the link between the past and the present that allows for accountability and understanding and prevention of what unleashes a conflict. And that also helps us to guarantee the historical memory of women and promotion of women. Madam President, my country fully agrees that prevention of conflict is key not just to prevent human suffering, but also as a means to drive sustainable development. And it’s only be achieved if, through the actions implemented by all members to that end, we include a gender-based approach and an intergenerational one. And in that regard, we recognize the relevance of the approach based on prevention and women included. Thank you.

President – Japan:
Thank you both, El Salvador, for the statement, and I now give the floor to the representative of Latvia.

Latvia:
Madam President, Latvia welcomes this open debate on promoting conflict prevention and appreciates Japan’s leadership for facilitating inclusive discussion on this important topic. We also thank the briefers for their valuable insight. As the world is witnessing the highest number of violent conflicts since the Second World War, this is indeed the right moment to rethink our approach to prevention. While conflicts have various causes, they are seldom inevitable. One can draw parallel to devastating fires, which usually result from factors that could have been prevented had the fire hazard risks been addressed in time. Madam President, in order to improve preparedness and resilience, Latvia believes the UN prevention efforts should be built on three main pillars, namely effective coordination among actors, inclusive participation, and adequate resources. First, prevention must be a horizontal task pursued by all relevant institutions taking advantage of their tools and expertise. For instance, the Security Council should invest both in its foresight capability regarding potential conflicts and ability to mobilize the UN system to prevent them. In line with the proposals of the New Agenda for Peace initiative, the Peacebuilding Commission could enhance its assistance to states with their national prevention plans. Furthermore, we need to reinvigorate the key role that ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies play in accelerating implementation of the SDGs, which are crucial to ensure long-term peace. All these lines of effort should be pursued in a coordinated manner, taking on board all stakeholders. Second, while often bearing the brunt of the conflict, women, youth, and minorities are frequently sidelined in the peacebuilding and prevention processes. We need to strive for a different approach. involving and unlocking full potential of every member of community, fostering cohesion and ability to prevent tensions and conflicts. Participating in the meetings of the CSW this week, Prime Minister Erika Silinja highlighted Latvia’s commitment towards strengthening the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. Equally, Latvia actively supports involvement of youth in the deliberations on sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions for prevention. The UN Youth Delegate of Latvia is looking forward to discussing these topics at the upcoming ECOSOC Youth Forum 2. Finally, peacebuilding and prevention efforts demand predictable resources. As a donor to the UN Peacebuilding Fund, Latvia welcomes the agreement on assessed contributions to peacebuilding. It is equally important to ensure that resources are invested efficiently through coordinated approach among UN agencies and programs, as well as international actors, including IFIs. I thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Latvia for their statement, and I now give the floor to the representative of Spain.

Spain:
Muchas gracias. Thank you very much, Madam President. I thank the Japanese presidency for convening this open debate, which allows us to have a moment to reflect on the functioning of the collective security system, which is anchored by this Security Council as per the Charter. Spain joins in the statement made by the European Union, but would like to add some additional remarks in our national capacity. Prevention of conflict requires comprehensive approaches with broad timelines and adequate funding. It’s also about strengthening society through the effective participation of women and youth in all their diversity. It is thus key to recognize the humanitarian development peace nexus, which should also include respect and promotion of fundamental freedoms and human rights for all. This is the approach selected in our Spanish Strategy of Humanitarian Diplomacy 2023-26, the main goal of which is to prevent conflict to resolve conflict, working to promote the culture of peace and preserving a humanitarian space. Madam President, the primary responsibility for international peace and security maintenance, which corresponds to this Council, includes prevention of conflict with comprehensive approaches. And thus we defend the idea that the Security Council should be addressing those factors that might trigger threats and involve risks such as climate change and food insecurity. And this is why we recognize the importance of the women, peace and security, and youth peace and security agendas. Spain’s feminist foreign policy leads us to particularly stress full and real participation of women. As we already indicated on the open debate on women, peace and security last October, we believe that prevention of conflict should address the underlying causes of conflict, such as gender inequality, and it should do so through inclusion of more women in powerful positions economically, politically, and for security. And if I may, I’d like to reference the special work of the Women’s Network of Mediators that promotes effective participation of women in prevention and mediation of conflict. Spain participates in the Mediterranean Network of Mediating Women created in 2017, the Ibero-American Network created in 2023, and the African Network created especially for the Sahel region. Madam President, the 2030 Agenda is also a tool for conflict prevention. Eradicating poverty, protecting the planet, and improving the lives of people would lead to a significant reduction in risk factors for triggering conflicts. Moreover, we support the idea that in the context of strengthening its relationship with the Peacebuilding Commission, this Council can enrich its deliberations and design mandates. that would take into account the advice of the Commission. Madam President, the current trend towards geopolitical fragmentation of the world and the increase in interstate conflict and flagrant violations of the Charter encourages some to seek an international order based on spheres of influence where the strongest states would impose their will on the majority and would not respect territorial integrity and sovereignty of states. However, those trends should actually serve as an incentive to reaffirm our collective commitment to international peace and security, the international order based on standards that support and value multilateralism in order to prevent and resolve conflict. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Spain for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Germany.

Germany:
Thank you, Madam President. Germany aligns itself fully with the statement of the European Union and the joint statement of the Human Rights and Conflict Prevention Caucus. I want to thank Japan for organizing this debate today and commend Japan for their consistent role as a global leader for peace building and prevention from the times of Madam Ogata all the way to today’s joint press statement of the peace building and the Security Council members. I also thank today’s briefers, and I would like to come back to the presentation of the chair of the Peace Building Commission, Ambassador D’Anesa of Brazil. Chairman fully supports his analysis of how the Peace Building Commission can better support and complement the work of the Security Council in this field. It is our hope that many of Ambassador D’Anesa’s very concrete ideas will be followed up in next year’s peace building architecture review. We see a strong wish within the U.N. membership not to miss this historic opportunity to significantly strengthen the role of the Peace Building Commission and its beneficial impact on the ground. Madam President, it is our firm conviction that we collectively have made remarkable progress in the field of prevention and peace building. But now we know quite well what works well, and we have created the required instruments of implementation. Just to mention three, first, the joint UNDP-DPPA program of building national capacities for conflict prevention. U.N. peace and development advisors financed through this program actively contributed to the formulation and implementation of national prevention strategies in 67 countries. Second, the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund, which successfully supports local initiatives that focus on the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women in conflict prevention and peace building. And of course, the Peace Building Fund and its crucial catalytic work in support of national prevention and peace building efforts. All these instruments are geared towards national ownership. They work at the request of governments and in support of national and regional prevention efforts. However, Madam President, what we believe is missing is the necessary scaling up to respond to the increased demand for prevention support from member states. Here we still fall significantly short of what is required financially. Germany is the main contributor to all three instruments, and we do hope that other member states will also consider contributing financially to these highly valued tools. And we also must explore alternative modes of funding by involving development banks. banks and the private sector, PBSO, the UN Capital Development Fund, and Germany have recently launched the Investing for Peace Initiative to enable more peace-contributing investments in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. Madam President, to conclude, I want to come back to what Ambassador D’Souza said this morning. It was also raised by many delegations during the open debate on Security Council working message this Monday. We urgently need a better connectivity between the Security Council and other organs of the United Nations, foremost the Peacebuilding Commission, but also with women and youth actors, if we truly want to be successful in the field of prevention and the transition from crisis management to peace consolidation. In our view, this should also include a stronger and more systematic exchange with the UN Fund and programs and specialized agencies with a strong expertise in the HDP nexus. We call on the members of this Council to make the best use of the current favorable momentum for a coherent approach to prevention and peace consolidation. I thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Germany for their statement, and I now give the floor to the representative of Turkey.

Turkey:
Madam President, I thank the Japanese Presidency for organizing this debate on a highly relevant thematic focus. Today, as the global community, our ability to address international peace and security issues are being put to the test of history. We are faced with multiple and simultaneous conflicts, which are increasingly multilayered, multidimensional, in a complex international landscape, which itself is rapidly transforming due to the emergence of new challenges. In order to To effectively deal with them, we need to adopt methods, the functionality of which have been tested over many decades. First among them is conflict prevention, as it is always more effective than striving to resolve conflicts once they occur and grapple with their multifaceted repercussions. That is why Turkey is a strong supporter of dialogue, diplomacy, and mediation as effective tools for prevention and peaceful settlement of disputes. As exemplified by the UN Group of Friends of Mediation and UN Alliance of Civilization initiatives, Turkey continues to be actively engaged in international efforts towards this end. Secondly, addressing the root causes of conflicts is critical to prevent them from arising in the first place and resolve them once they occur. Armed conflicts, terrorism, gross human rights violations, legal occupation, oppression, and lack of good governance are major threats for peace and security at national and international levels. These factors are further exacerbated by poverty, social and economic inequalities, as well as by perceived double standards that erode confidence in global governance. In the Middle East, for example, the Palestinian question is a core issue. In the absence of a viable resolution to this question, sustainable peace and security in the wider region will remain elusive. Madam President, this week, young and seasoned hundreds of women leaders from all walks of life and from all over the world are gathering once again in this building. As the most transformative and dynamic segments of societies, women and youth have an important role to play in terms of building and ensuring sustainability of peace. And as such, they need to be actively included at all levels of peace processes. While trying to address conflicts in an effective manner, we need to draw lessons from recent history and avoid the mistakes of the past. One such lesson should be to avoid the application of one-size-fits-all kind of methods whose failure has been proven over and over again. What we rather need is to develop bottom-up approaches which take into account the specificity of each country, bear in mind the humanitarian development-peace nexus, and prioritize institutionalization and capacity building. At global level, we can’t talk about the existence of an effective institutional framework without reforming the UN Security Council. In order to fulfill its primary responsibility to maintain international peace and security, the Council must be able to deliver by taking decisive and timely action when breaches occur. We need to be able to do better than meeting only at minimum common denominators, which almost always compromise meaningful action. Given its structural deficiencies and the underlying problem of veto, this will be possible only through a comprehensive reform. of the Security Council, so that it becomes the representative, democratic, transparent, and effective organ our world urgently needs today. I thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Turkey for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Thailand.

Thailand:
Thank you, Madam President. At the outset, allow me to commend Japan for organizing this important open debate. I wish to thank the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peace-Building Affairs, the Chair of the PBC, and the briefers for their insights and recommendations. Allow me to make the following five points. First, peace, sustainable development, and human rights reinforce one another. Therefore, one of the best ways to prevent conflict, and thus help ensure peace, is to promote sustainable development, enhance human security, and promote and protect human rights. If we could all attain our SDGs, there is less chance of conflict. If we can develop an environment where human security and human rights are promoted and protected, then there is greater chance for peace and stability to be sustained. Second, conflict prevention requires multi-stakeholder and multi-level engagement, from governments to communities to individuals. We need to place emphasis on empowerment and meaningful participation of peoples, communities, and other actors, in building social harmony, economic development, and reconciliation. If all have a say and a stake in generating consensus solutions, then such solutions are likely to be more sustainable. Third, a culture of peace based on respect for diversity, emphasis on peaceful means and moderation, respect for international law and regional norms, needs to be reinforced. This is something where the UN and regional organizations can make important contributions. In this connection, ASEAN, through its norm-building, community-building efforts, and practical policies based on shared interests, has been a relative success story in preventive diplomacy and conflict prevention. Fourth, women have an important role to play. play in conflict prevention. Security Council Resolution 1325 of 2000 acknowledges that armed conflicts impact women and recognizes the role and contributions of women in peacemaking and peacebuilding, as well as their fundamental right to be included in peace processes. Sustainable peace cannot be built when the rights of women are ignored. So transformational change is needed to protect women’s rights and ensure gender equality in order to build and sustain peace. This includes women’s empowerment through enhanced participation in politics, the economy, and all facets of society. Fifth, conflict prevention is enhanced when the interests, rights, and welfare of youth and children are taken into account. Recognized by Security Council Resolution 2250 of 2015, today’s generation of youth is the largest the world has ever known and accounted for many of those civilians affected by armed conflict, including as refugees and displaced persons. Youths and children have suffered, often times disproportionately, in conflict situations, in economic downturns, and in pandemics. In our view, if today’s youths do not have hope for a peaceful future, then our future is at risk. If the safety and welfare of children cannot be protected today, then we have a very shaky foundation to build our tomorrow. So youths and children should be safeguarded. They should be given hope and nurtured to be creative and constructive enablers of peaceful change and contributors of progress. This will help lessen the risks of conflict in the future. Madam President, to conclude, it is therefore essential that conflict prevention and its various dimensions be an integral part of the summit of the future and a new agenda for peace. Thailand thus will cooperate with the United Nations and its member states to enhance conflict prevention because it is at the heart of the UN’s mandate and because it is in our collective interests to avoid conflict. And in part to help attain this goal, Thailand will continue to promote sustainable development, enhance human security, and promote and protect human rights because they are interlinked with one another and with sustaining peace. And because multidimensional factors impact on conflict prevention, we hope that pragmatic ways can also be found to enhance dialogue and complementarities wherever possible between the work of the Security Council and other UN bodies and entities, including the ECOSOC and the Human Rights Council. Thank you, Madam President.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Thailand for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Yemen.

Yemen:
Thank you, Madam President. In order to come up with a way of addressing the causes for the prevention of conflicts and the resolutions and also to take into consideration effective measures to engage all actors, including women and youth. In Yemen, women and youth are vital forces to induce change, where they have actively contributed to the expediting of the change process. However, the war waged by the Houthi terrorist militia has only rendered defunct and obstructed such achievements and initiatives. The Republic of Yemen has a unique experience through its active engagement, including the engagement of women, youth, and civil society as part of the National Dialogue Conference held back in 2013, with 30 percent of participants being women and 20 percent of participants being youth, in addition to appointing four women in the constitution drafting committee that is originally made of 17 members. Also, the government of Yemen has always been keen to, over the course of the last years, to provide and develop all the facilities and to overcome obstacles for the National Commission on the Investigation of the Human Rights Violation Claims with significant female and woman representation as an independent national mechanism and also the Presidential Leadership Council has issued its directions to the cabinet to cooperate with this commission and also to enable it to have access. And for the promotion of human rights, recently 270 women were appointed in the judiciary, including 37 of the Meso-Turkish generals. We invest in women in order to expedite progress and development as part of International Women’s Day to emphasize that the role of women, be it in the countryside or the urban centers, play like a pivotal role in socioeconomic empowerment of women and building peace and achieving stability. The Ministry of Social Affairs, which is the entity mandated with overseeing the national WPS agenda, is keen upon implementing the agenda based on partnership, accountability, and protection of women against violence and discrimination to ensure their engagement and participation in socioeconomic and political lives. Despite the central role women and youth are playing in Yemen, the terrorist Houthi militias are systematically targeting these groups of community, perpetrating many violations and violence against them, and flagrant and sheer violation of international humanitarian law, including abduction, detention, incommunicado detention, and secret detention facility because of their political affiliations or because of their engagement in civil society activity, including Yemeni women, namely Rahma al-Hammadi and Fatima al-Aruli, two women who has received very harsh sentences by the Houthi rebels, including capital punishment and imprisonment, as included in the report of the panel of experts on Yemen submitted to the Security Council in November 2023. We would like to commend the resilience of the Palestinian Palestinian women, which is extraordinary vis-a-vis all the violations and the crimes of genocide perpetrated by Israel, the occupying force. And we appreciate the role of the Palestinian women on the front lines in order to – in human response and to enhance their participation en route to claiming their legitimate rights and establishing their sovereign, independent states with East Jerusalem as its capital. Eventually, the Government of Yemen emphasized the importance of continuous UN support for conflict-ridden states by providing them with the experts and needed financing in order to enhance the national strategies on WPS and YPS by implementing the initiatives that would promote the engagement of women and youth in the mediation, negotiation, peace-building, and developing their skills, as well as the capacity-building of the implementing parties. Thank you, Madam President.

President – Japan:
Thank you, Mr. Representative of Yemen, for that statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Guatemala.

Guatemala:
Thank you, Mrs. President. I am delivering this statement on behalf of the Human Rights Conflict Prevention Caucus, New York. It is co-chaired by Germany and Switzerland and its members – Albania, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Gabon, Guatemala, Japan, Mauritius, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay. We thank Japan for organizing this open debate and extend our gratitude to the briefers for their contributions. As a cross-regional group of member states, the Caucus would like to use this opportunity to address the Council for the first time this year. As we are navigating turbulent times, it is crucial to recall that universality, indivisibility, interrelatedness, and interdependence of human rights adopted over 75 years ago by the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights governs our coexistence and sets out the foundation for protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms for every human being on this planet. There is a clear lesson from the past, as the Secretary General pointed out in his address to the Human Rights Council in Geneva last month. Protecting human rights protects us all. The Caucus would like to focus on three points today. First, human rights are at the very core of conflict prevention. History teaches us that the systematic violation and abuse of human rights is a strong indicator and an early warning sign of conflict. Upholding the human rights of every individual helps to prevent conflict and contribute to sustainable peace. The Caucus stresses the urgency of bolstering the UN preventive mechanisms and fostering an inclusive and safe civic space for all actors to engage. Second, women contributions and their leaderships are not optional luxuries, but essential for sustainable peace. This is why we need to continue tearing down gender-based barriers. and dismantling patriarchal power structures. Member states must ensure the full, equal, meaningful, and safe participation of women in all peacebuilding and conflict prevention efforts, including mediation processes. Their voices and roles as peacebuilders, decision makers, human rights defenders, and agents of change are fundamental to the durability of peace. We therefore call for the full implementation of all Security Council resolutions on women, peace, and security. Third, young people. They represent not just hope for the future, but are active enablers of change today. Engaging young people in conflict prevention and peacebuilding ensures that their diversity and ideas contribute to resilient societies. We must harness this untapped potential by advancing the youth peace and security agenda and by empowering young people to lead. For example, with its dedicated gender strategy and its strategic action plan on youth, the Peacebuilding Commission is paving the way for concrete steps to genuinely include all relevant actors in peacebuilding and sustaining peace. In the future, both strategies could be expanded to early action and conflict prevention to guide the Peacebuilding Commission’s own work as well as its advice to this Council and to other UNFOR. Mrs. President, building on the call to action for human rights, the Secretary General’s new agenda for peace recognizes the central role of women and young people in peacebuilding and the need to address unequal power structures. It presents a crucial framework putting human rights at the heart of conflict prevention and underscoring that the full respect for all human rights – civil, cultural, economic, political, and social – is integral to peace. The agenda’s comprehensive approach, which integrates peace, human rights, and sustainable development, sets the stage for discussions at the upcoming Summit of the Future. Member states must commit to working for peace and security rooted in human rights, shaping a strong outcome of the Summit of the Future. Finally, the Caucus is committed to strengthening collaboration between the Security Council, the Human Rights Council, and the Peacebuilding Commission through regular briefings, which is – essential for early action. To this end, we will work closely with member states, civil society, and the UN system. It is vital to align efforts across New York and Geneva to ensure informed decision-making with human rights at the forefront of peace efforts. I thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Guatemala for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Italy.

Italy:
Thank you, Madam President, dear colleagues. Let me commend Japan for organizing this timely open debate. It aligns itself to the statements to be delivered by the European Union. The current devastating crisis scenarios confirm the urgency to change the paradigm from crisis management to conflict prevention. The path towards conflict prevention is rooted in solidarity and accountability, with multilateralism and the United Nations at its core. Solidarity among countries, based on the guidelines’ principles to leave no one behind, recognizes that the lack of development is a main driver of conflict, violence, and insecurity, and therefore accelerating action towards the sustainable development goals, towards inclusive inclusion, human rights, the rule of law, and education. And accountability of countries, because as they move towards sustainable development, there must be a social path between governments and their communities. There are liberties to safeguard, human rights to uphold, gender and youth empowerment to achieve, and the rule of law to abide by, not only domestically but also internationally. Any time a country violates international law, it becomes itself a driver of conflict and insecurity, hampering development. The universal commitments enshrined in the UN Charter, including the respect of national sovereignty and territorial integrity, cannot be questioned. Solidarity and accountability, prevention, and national ownership must go hand in hand. Italy does fully support the vision of the new Agenda for Peace, a bottom-up, widespread system of conflict prevention based on the development of human rights. development of national strategies that are anchored in human rights and the rule of law. National prevention strategies should leverage the role of regional organizations and receive effective and concrete support from the United Nations, respecting solidarity, complementarity and national ownership. When it comes to conflict prevention, the Security Council, the Peacebuilding Commission and the regional organizations must be on the same page. Regional organizations must be involved in the decision-making process that leads to the adoption of relevant resolutions. And the Peacebuilding Commission must have a central role in building a network of peacebuilders based on regional organizations able to provide the Security Council with advice reflecting their positions. This will help the Security Council adopt mandates which can actually be implemented. Dear colleagues, last but certainly not least, effective conflict prevention is about inclusiveness. Gender equality is both a universal value and a cross-cutting priority. Through the WPS agenda, it is also a collective commitment to hold women’s rights and their leadership at the core of security and political decision-making. Women’s leadership and their full, equal and meaningful participation at all levels of decision-making is not only right. It’s essential to regenerate, both domestically and internationally, the circle of trust that has been deeply eroded by conflicts and inequalities. The deep causes of violence and conflicts are often rooted in inequalities and structural patterns of discrimination against women and youth. We must ensure that all segments of society, starting from women and youth, in line with the WPS and YPS agendas, are able to have their voices heard and contribute to shaping the future of the society they live in. The world needs women and youth at the forefront of prevention efforts for their resilience, their unique skills, their effectiveness and their vision. Thank you, Madam Chair.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Italy for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Qatar.

Qatar:
Thank you, Madam President. At the outset, we would like to thank Japan for organizing today’s meeting on this very important topic, and we thank the briefers for their participation. their contributions. Preventing and resolving conflicts through peaceful means is one of the main priorities of Qatar’s foreign policy in accordance with the wise vision of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani al-Amir of Qatar. Qatar’s successes in the area of mediation in a number of situations, including the peaceful settlement of disputes and cross-border disputes, and reuniting children with their families are a testament to our dedication to resolving international crises and investing in peace. We welcome the fact that the Secretary General prioritizes conflict prevention in his new agenda for peace. We strongly support this in the context of the pact of the future. Qatar is committed to finding solutions to international crises, and this goes beyond negotiation and mediation. We firmly believe that conflict prevention should address the root causes of conflict. In this regard, the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 are an appropriate comprehensive framework to address the drivers of conflict and violence. We are also implementing humanitarian and development as well as human rights projects to address the root causes of conflict. We have invested over $4.6 billion in more than 100 countries. Our initiatives target the world’s most vulnerable populations. They focus on education, health care, economic development, and programs for women’s and youth empowerment. In this context, we believe that education is not only vital for the empowerment of women and youth. It is also a key tool for strengthening peace and preventing conflict. Neglecting education can risk perpetuating violence and instability. This is why Qatar continues to to prioritize education initiatives. For example, we have succeeded in enrolling more than 11.6 million children in school in more than 57 countries as part of our Educate a Child program, which is part of the Education Above All Foundation. In 2023, we committed to support education sectors in a number of African countries in order to provide quality education to more than 2.3 million out-of-school children. In 2023, we also donated $20 million to support the Education Cannot Wait Fund to support education in emergencies and protracted crises. Recently, as part or rather in the context of attacks on education and as part of conflict prevention efforts, we played an essential role in the General Assembly’s adoption of Resolution 74-75 of May 28, 2020, which declared September 9th as the International Day for the Protection of Education from Attacks. Mr. President, we must give young people the tools to participate effectively in conflict prevention. That is why in January 2022, we hosted a global virtual high-level conference on Peace Pathways for Youth. More than 60 youth participated from 74 countries, including a number of young women. This conference produced two important documents, namely a guide for public sector employees to implement the youth peace and security agenda at the national level, as well as a five-year plan to promote peace processes that involve youth. This is based on recommendations made in this area. In conclusion, the State of Qatar remains committed to working alongside the United Nations, including within the Peacebuilding Commission, to prevent conflicts and identify ways towards sustainable peace. I thank you.

President – Japan:
I now give the floor to the representative of Morocco.

Morocco:
Thank you, Madam President. to congratulate you on convening this second open debate under your distinguished presidency of the Council this month. I take this opportunity to thank Ms. Rosemary DiCarlo-Eusgi for political and peacebuilding affairs, as well as Ambassador Sergio Franco-Denesi, chair of the Peacebuilding Commission, and the other briefers for their valuable participation and their important and comprehensive briefings. Madam President, women and youth are the cornerstone of every society, and their essential pillar of development, stability, and resilience within communities is therefore essential to ensure their full, equal, and meaningful participation in peacebuilding and sustaining peace so that they can play their legitimate role as architects of peace that are natural architects of peace that can be trusted. We have seen that peace agreements and peacebuilding initiatives better respond to the needs of communities and peace is more sustainable when women are involved. Women and youth play a primary role in promoting peace and achieving stability in each and every state. They bring perspectives, skills, and resources to the peace table, and opportunities are lost if they are absent. Madam President, Morocco reiterates its full and unwavering support to the Secretary General’s efforts as well as those of the Security Council, Member States, civil society, and various UN agencies. in order to ensure the meaningful representation of women and youth in national, regional, and international institutions, and promote their pivotal role in preventing and resolving conflicts, as well as give them the necessary means to impact decision-making on cross-cutting issues relating to sustainable development and socioeconomic prosperity. Through my own experience, and as the chair of the Central African Republic country-specific configuration, I can reaffirm that women and youth have, in several complex situations in the CAR, shown themselves to be decisive in promoting peace, creativity, reconciliation, and creating a space for peaceful coexistence between various communities. Likewise, Morocco believes that it is necessary to promote the PBC’s role as a facilitator of discussions on cross-cutting issues with a focus on the interdependent and mutually reinforcing relationship between peace and development. We are convinced that the PBC is capable of creating opportunities for South-South and triangular cooperation that are of major importance and thus support the Security Council’s agenda. Coordination between the PBC and the Council should be further strengthened in order to prevent new crises and effectively respond to existing ones to avoid any resumption. The review of the PBC in 2025 and the Summit for the Future will also be an appropriate opportunity not only to involve women and youth even further in decision-making process to also boost the Commission’s capacities so that it can effectively fulfill its functions. Madam President, the Kingdom of Morocco reiterates its full support for the Secretary-General’s proposal for a new agenda for peace. Investment in prevention and peacebuilding is important. We believe that this agenda will encourage member states to bring innovative, collective responses to our common challenges and promote the financing of peacebuilding, which remains a critical challenge. It will also serve to reaffirm our commitment to pursue concrete, action-oriented results. In conclusion, peacebuilding and sustaining peace are not just efforts to preserve the present. There are also proactive measures that are needed to prevent conflict before they begin, before an escalation takes place. And women and youth must be at the heart of these efforts. Morocco will therefore spare no effort to continue supporting efforts to build peaceful and resilient societies that give women and youth their rightful place in building a better future. I thank you, Madam President.

President – Japan:
Thank the representative of Morocco for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Liechtenstein.

Liechtenstein:
Madam President, I thank you for convening this timely debate on conflict prevention and especially for offering a gender- and youth-sensitive lens that is indeed much needed for successful prevention. Evidence is clear of the benefits of women’s participation in both conflict prevention and resolution. Their active engagement in mediation is essential for achieving lasting peace, which goes well beyond the silencing of guns. Furthermore, women are also crucial agents for democracy and political legitimacy, economic recovery and social cohesion. Yet all too often, women remain excluded from formal decision-making and peace processes, which negatively impacts the sustainability of peace agreements and ceasefires. Especially in current times, it is necessary that we translate our words of Security Council Resolution 1325 and its follow-up into concrete action. Madam President, the ongoing process leading up to the summit of the future, and in particular exchanges on the new Agenda for Peace, provide an opportune moment to reconsider how the Peace-Building Commission can strengthen its complementary role to the Security Council with respect to sustainable conflict resolution. In particular, we recognize the PBC’s inclusive approach for sustainable peace by integrating gender- and youth-sensitive solutions. and youth perspectives in its work, as well as providing a hub for closer coordination in information sharing and early warning within the UN peacebuilding architecture. And we support the BBC’s authoritative role on topics of concern to peacebuilding, for example, transitions of UN peacekeeping missions, where it can meaningfully complement efforts by the Security Council and the General Assembly. Madam President, the effective prevention of conflicts requires addressing all possible root causes, ranging from food insecurity to climate crisis. The human security concept provides such a holistic view and puts people, including women and youth, at its center. Liechtenstein thanks Japan for its leadership in promoting the human security paradigm within the UN. We have applied several of its dimensions on the ground, for example, through our international humanitarian and development cooperation, with a focus on poverty reduction, the promotion of human rights, rule of law and accountability, education, as well as economic development and climate mitigation. Empowering people bottom up is an important step towards more peaceful, just and inclusive societies. I thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Liechtenstein for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Poland.

Poland:
Madam President, Poland commends Japan for organizing this timely and important debate. We remain committed to supporting countries and societies in need during the post-conflict reconstruction. Our current membership in the Peacebuilding Commission reflects that commitment. We believe that the coordination of activities between the Security Council and the PBC must be ensured and effective. The Council needs the expertise and assistance of the PBC in conflict resolution. In this context, we appreciate the chair of the Peacebuilding Commission for his insightful and inspiring briefing today. With the new agenda for peace and the summit of the future on the horizon. We have a unique chance to solidify the UN’s framework for peacebuilding. We fully endorse these endeavours and look forward to actively contributing to the 2025 review of the UN peacebuilding architecture. We believe that structural prevention, resting upon all three UN pillars, is crucial. Producing the risk of conflicts requires resilient and accountable state institutions, good governance, social cohesion, as well as inclusive and sustainable development respecting human rights. In this regard, it should be stressed that meaningful participation of women and youth in public life is indispensable for strengthening social cohesion and, consequently, structural prevention. To achieve this, our efforts need to be not only more decisive, but also more focused and more coordinated. Treating the WPS and the YPS gender obligations as an inherent part of the UN strategies, in particular those related to peace, security, and development, should remain our priority. This is why, through Polish development assistance, we largely focus on reducing economic and social inequalities, particularly between women and men, and on education of the younger generation. Madam President, the most constructive way to empower young people, counteract the risk of radicalization, and reduce their vulnerability in conflict situations, is to invest in high-quality education, vocational training, and employment opportunities. To that end, Poland provides assistance to students from developing countries, including those from the conflict-affected areas. At the same time, the ever-present threat of manipulation and the disinformation looms large, particularly for young people. We must act decisively to counter this challenge. Investing in education for peace is a strategic solution. By fostering critical thinking skills and media literacy, we equip them to navigate the information landscape and discern truth from falsehood. Madam President, in conclusion, empowering women and young people as agents of change is vital. By meaningfully involving them and nurturing their potential, we can unlock their leadership in preventing conflicts and ensuring lasting peace. And I thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Poland for their statement. I now give the floor to His Excellency Mr. Stavros Lambrinidis, the head of the delegation of the European Union to the United Nations.

European Union:
Thank you, Madam President. I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the European Union and its member states, the candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Georgia, as well as Andorra align themselves with this statement. Madam President, as the UN Commission of the Status of Women convenes in New York this week, we should reflect on this quote from the new Agenda for Peace. As long as gendered power inequalities hold back half of our societies, it says, this will remain elusive. The quote followed the call of the Secretary General to dismantle patriarchal power structures. We know that a more gender equal society opens the door for more inclusivity and thus for more social justice and peace. Building resilience requires removing all barriers to gender equality and women’s empowerment so that women can be full, equal, and meaningful participants in peace security and peace building. The same exactly applies for youth and is key to creating ownership for the solutions of the future. The European Union, Madam President, is committed to supporting the inclusion of women and youth in conflict prevention, mediation, and peace processes around the globe. We have, to give you an example, built cross-regional networks of young peace builders to create channels to influence decision making. The Sahel Youth Voices Network, the Young Mediterranean Voices Network, and EU Tunisia Partnership for Youth are among the EU’s flagship initiatives. Also, the Afghan Leaders Forum supports Afghan women, both inside and outside of Afghanistan, in making their voices heard. And finally, in Burundi, EU supports contributes to strengthening the participation of women in peace mediation processes and local infrastructures for peace. Now please, let us not forget, dear colleagues, ensuring the full realization of human rights for all, including women and girls, is key to sustaining peace. We must fully implement Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security, as well as Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace, and Security. Madam President, the world is facing multiple crises and no region has been spared. The UN must be better prepared to support countries in their national conflict prevention endeavors. This is a key deliverable we hope to see from the summit of the future and further on from next year’s review of the peace building architecture. The Secretary General has several important tools at his disposal for conflict prevention and mediation. The Security Council should consider systematic inclusion of peacebuilding components in its own mandates and transition plans, and consider how women and youth can be empowered to fully participate in peacebuilding activities. But more broadly, we need a United Nations support system for conflict prevention that is more coherent, better resourced, and better prepared to meet the diverse needs of member states. We see three crucial components here. First, more systematic support to member states to develop national prevention strategies as called for in the New Agenda for Peace. These strategies should be multidimensional, people-centered, and focus not only on conflict but also on gender-based violence. The strategies could be presented in the PBC and be linked to financial and other incentives for their implementation. We already have heard from Mozambique and Sao Tomé and Príncipe. We also participated in a meeting on indigenous peoples and national reconciliation with Canada, Colombia, and Norway. This month, the PBC will discuss Mauritania, Kenya, and Timor-Leste. I strongly commend these countries for stepping forward and taking the lead. Second, we need better coherence among the UN systems, many actors that support peacebuilding. They must work in sync to allow resident coordinators to provide the best support to countries’ formulation and implementation of conflict prevention strategies and, of course, to include human and youth in it. And finally, a new paradigm we need for financing conflict prevention and a step change in investment for prevention, building on the Financing for Peacebuilding Resolution from 2022. The fragmentation of the UN system and the strong reliance on voluntary funding sets the system up for competition rather than collaboration. I’m ending, Madam President, with this. Colleagues, the European Union looks forward to engaging actively in further discussions to achieve real progress on conflict prevention in the sound for the future and the 2025 Peacebuilding Architecture Review. The work is ahead of us, but it’s really hopeful, Madam President, including, and thank you for your initiative, by the amazing participation of so many Member States here today. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank His Excellency Mr. Lambrinidis for his statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Brazil.

Brazil:
Thank you. Madam President, Brazil commends Japan for organizing this timely open debate. I thank the civil society briefers for their insightful contributions to this meeting. I also thank USG Rosemary DiCarlo for her insights, and all PBC members for their contribution to the PBC chair’s briefing this morning. As we witness the continuing widespread violence of old and new conflicts, it is more important than ever to step up our prevention efforts, both at local level and globally. The Security Council should play an active role in preventing conflicts and the recurrence of violence, and so should the Peacebuilding Commission. Together, both organs – each in their own areas of responsibility and interacting effectively – have much more to offer to the world in terms of protecting and promoting peace. We concur with the Secretary-General’s priority given to prevention in his new Agenda for Peace. Prevention saves lives, safeguards development gains, and is essential for sustaining peace. In the signature event organized during the Brazilian Presidency of the Security Council, entitled Peace Through Dialogue – The Contribution of Regional, Subregional, and Bilateral Agreements in the Prevention and Peaceful Settlement of Disputes, many delegations showcased how the element of prevention is fundamental to build peaceful societies. As stated by the Secretary-General, effective prevention requires comprehensive approaches. In this regard, there is great value in the elaboration of national and regional prevention strategies. Developing those strategies demands a deep understanding of the main risk factors that apply to a certain nation or region. Inclusivity should be at the heart of any prevention strategy. The credibility of political processes and the strength of institutions rely on their capacity to represent multiple views and sectors of society. When it comes to prevention, the plurality of perspectives provides a broader perception of risks and helps indicate where investments are more needed. The full, equal, meaningful, and safe participation of women in peace and security issues and in political decision processes is of vital importance to prevent conflicts. Women suffer disproportionately the effects of conflicts and can offer a unique perspective on prevention, as it is already well established by the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda. We should learn from it and build upon it. The inclusion of youth in debates and decisions concerning conflict prevention is also central. Prevention strategies must take into account specific vulnerabilities regarding young people, especially those related to education, social inclusion, and the need for economic opportunities. Unassisted young people may fall prey to the dynamics of confrontation and violence in their daily lives if they are not considered through a comprehensive approach. Madam President, the cross-cutting nature of prevention… Prevention requires whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches. Thus, conflict prevention is intertwined with the promotion of human rights and political and economic rights. Upholding those rights adds to countries’ social, political, and institutional stability and to the opportunities enjoined by entire societies. We must also develop a more integrated international approach to prevention, with the involvement of different UN bodies, agencies, and programs, as well as other international institutions. This is a role the Peacebuilding Commission is well-placed to perform, and more so if the Security Council can also devote greater and well-coordinated attention to the matter. As chair of the PBC this year, Brazil will be entirely devoted to that commitment. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Brazil for the statement. I now give the floor to the representative of India.

India:
Thank you, Japan, and thank you also to the briefers. The complexity of threats to the international peace and security agenda today is reflective of the interconnectedness of our world. Conflicts have become more fragmented, and the conflict theater much more complex and volatile. The gender perspective is also yet to be fully integrated in our collective efforts towards conflict prevention, recovery, and reconstruction. India has therefore emphasized the need for a holistic approach to creating conducive conditions where vulnerabilities are addressed and conflict is prevented, especially in view of the disproportionate effect that conflict and violence have on women and youth. In doing so, we take inspiration from the ancient teachings of our philosophy, rooted in the principles of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, which sees the world as one large interconnected family. Five points are key here. One, the peaceful settlement of disputes is key for the maintenance of international peace and security and the promotion of the rule of law. Dialogue and diplomacy should be the preferred path to resolve differences in an atmosphere free from fear and coercion. Two, the Council needs to respect consensus-based regional efforts to address shared challenges to international peace and security. The United Nations and regional organizations must assist national authorities upon their request in developing capabilities through the participation of women and youth to address socio-economic vulnerabilities and build resilience. Moreover, troop-contributing countries need to have a say in the decision-making frameworks, including at the time of finalization of mandates. Three, given the role that the Security Council plays in efforts towards resolution of conflicts and for sustaining peace, a close and hard look at its working, including the issue of its representativeness, is required. The Security Council, as the institutional architecture primarily responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security, cannot remain frozen in time. It needs to evolve to avoid obsolescence and irrelevance. One of the most important requirements is therefore to strengthen the capacity of this Council to address the issues in front of it by making it representative of contemporary realities and by undertaking reform to make it more effective. For its part, for our part, India has indeed walked the talk, ensuring that the African Union became a full-fledged member of the G20 during our presidency last year. The United Nations Security Council simply needs to follow suit. Four, the objective of peacebuilding should be to break silos and to promote post-conflict peacebuilding and recovery, support the development of integrated strategies towards sustainable development and to ensure predictable resources for early recovery. Respect for national ownership, sovereignty and territorial integrity while prioritizing development is a sine qua non for sustaining peace. Five, we need to acknowledge that the meaningful participation of women and youth in decision-making strengthens prevention efforts and deepens the effectiveness of peacebuilding in post-conflict situations. Women police officers and peacekeepers play an indispensable role in furthering the women peace and security agenda in post-conflict situations and this does need to be further incentivized and further facilitated. Six, I am happy to share that in recent years particularly, India has strengthened its efforts to put more women in key positions in all our peacekeeping endeavors. Currently, this Council would be aware that there are 108 Indian women peacekeepers deployed in UN peacekeeping missions worldwide. This includes military observers and staff officers, contingent officers and soldiers as well as three all-female engagement teams deployed in peacekeeping missions in the Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Golden Heights. I should also add that driven by Prime Minister Modi’s vision of women-led development, the G20 had adopted a full-fledged action plan on gender equality and empowerment of women during India’s presidency last year. And we will continue to remain steadfast in contributing to these efforts globally while working with all our partners. As I conclude, Madam President, I will state that India has consistently contributed positively and substantially to peacebuilding efforts underpinned by our efforts to give a voice to the countries in the Global South. We are dedicated to furthering these endeavors and hereby reassert our unwavering commitment to fostering peace. peace and stability. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of India for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan:
Thank you, Madam President. At the outset, I would like to thank the delegation of Japan for having convened this important open debate. With regard to the questions posed for the purposes of this meeting, the key definitions and obligations are prescribed by international law and the UN Charter. Within this basic understanding, the respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states is imperative for preventing conflicts, restoring and maintaining peace, protecting human security, and promoting sustainable economic and social development. Madam President, the international community failed to prevent and suppress the aggression against my country, Azerbaijan, and the resulting occupation, ethnic cleansing, devastation, and cultural erasure of its territories by neighboring Armenia. Security Council Resolutions 822, 853, 874, and 884, unanimously adopted in 1993, remained unimplemented over the following 27 years. Impunity for such ignorance and for systematic atrocities committed by the aggressor, along with apparent deviation of the settlement process within the regional arrangement from the universally accepted principles of effective mediation, created conditions conducive to the protraction of the conflict and aggravation of its military, humanitarian, and economic implications. It is noteworthy that certain countries that for decades turned a blind eye to or indulged in flagrant violations of international law and the human rights of hundreds of thousands of people uprooted from their homes as a result of the aggression, have increased their selfish interest in the region after Azerbaijan liberated its territories from occupation, restored its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and eliminated the threat of violent separatism. Sustainable peace in the region requires that Armenia strictly abide by its international obligations, abandon its territorial claims, cease and desist from disinformation and misinformation, redress the harm caused to Azerbaijan by its aggression and occupation, and engage faithfully in normalizing interstate relations. Madam President, Azerbaijan attaches particular importance to the women and peace and security and the youth peace and security agendas and the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women and young people. We are proud of the contribution made by women from Azerbaijan to the UN peacekeeping and the national post-conflict demining and development efforts. These agendas acquire additional significance for my country, also in the context of ongoing large-scale rehabilitation and reconstruction of the liberated territories to ensure the safe and dignified return of the forcibly displaced population to their places of origin, including women, girls, and young people. Our support to and solidarity with states affected by conflict and engaged in post-conflict peacebuilding, rehabilitation, and demining is and must remain a priority and critical commitment of the United Nations and the entire international community. I thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Azerbaijan for the statement, and I now give the floor to the representative of North Macedonia.

North Macedonia:
Thank you, Madam Chair, President. Dialogue and mediation are crucial in prevention of conflict and atrocity crimes. In overall terms, the UN and its Charter I have the institutional mandate for promoting dialogue and mediation. My statement will refer to the UN capacity, internal capacity, to do that. The UN has various departments and units for enabled dialogue and mediation, from Departments of Political Affairs, Peacekeeping Operation, High Commission of Human Rights, High Commission for Refugees, UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UN Monitoring Mechanism for Human Rights Treaties, UN Department for Special Procedure, and in particular, directly, most directly, the Mediation Support Unit in Department for Political Affairs, which have stand-by teams of mediation experts and high-level advisory board for mediation established in 2017. But what is necessary for improving this mechanism and bodies and making them more relevant is focusing on specific kind of conflicts very much present in the world and somehow address the work of the UN so-called identity conflicts. They presume cultural differences in antagonized conflicts, civilian targets, mainly women and girls, exposed to extreme violence, and the challenges we are all faced with is that identity conflicts are exceptionally hard for mediation and negotiation. According to report ALERT-22, University of Barcelona project team, 70% of the conflicts today have identity demands in their substance and origin. Our opinion is that the specific UN departments and units for mediation and negotiation are not good enough prepared and should have a better focus on mediation and negotiation in identity conflicts. Again, I want to stress that these conflicts have specific dynamic. They unfold the psychology of victimhood. They could be very bloody and was indeed the specific knowledge, need that specific knowledge of mediation negotiation techniques, composition of a gender balance teams for negotiation. a set of specific targets to be considered by negotiation teams, to name as example the grassroots leaders and actors, the regional leaders, even gang leaders, and other community leaders, et cetera. My point is that UN needs to reconstruct the unit for mediation and negotiation in direction of more efficient, more knowledgeable, and more robust structure. Also there is a need, especially, to centralize in a way or to organize better, assess to all existing data about the history of UN involvement in the mediation and negotiation conflicts into one institutional point of reference. The archive that should be better organized is an institutional memory of the UN and could be the fundament for further research and efficient work for the respective units. But more importantly, it could provide assess to lesson learned so that we can build upon on present solution. One of the aspects that I would to conclude with on this topic regarding identity conflict is to aim for establishing, even with all these developments, even UN school for mediation and negotiation and as important milestone for diplomacy recognizable in international level and international relations. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of North Macedonia for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Lebanon.

Lebanon:
Thank you, Madam President. Allow me at the outset to congratulate you and Japan on assuming the presidency of the Council for this month and to thank you for organizing this debate at a time when our world is grappling with conflicts, conflicts that tarnish the ideas of respect for human rights and the human dignity. Madam President. Before delving into the theme of our debate today, promoting conflict prevention, empowering all actors, including women and youth, allow me to stress that before empowering everyone, and especially women and youth, we should first, and in a collective manner, thrive to protect them. Unfortunately, we have failed on both fronts. On the conflict prevention front, we have failed, and a mere look at what has been happening in Gaza and Lebanon for the past five months confirms this statement. On empowering women and youth, we have also failed, and we found ourselves struggling to elaborate on ways to empower women and youth when those two categories have been grappling in Gaza to survive, not to live, Madam President, but to survive. Madam President, the topic of our debate today is one that Lebanon attaches great importance. As we have struggled throughout our history with conflicts, wars, and invasions, and as we speak now, Lebanon continues to be the target once again of an Israeli aggression that killed since October more than 50 civilians, including 22 women and three journalists and eight children. It has moreover displaced more than 90,000 persons, 50 percent of them women. And while we have been deploying all efforts together with our partners to prevent the conflict from further escalating, we find Israel extending and expanding its aggression. Madam President, for too long we have opted to manage conflicts rather than resolve them, and thus prevent future conflicts from erupting. Prevention is rooted in international law and in our international obligations. We would only prevent another… cycle of violence in our region, by respecting our obligation under the Charter, and by fully implementing relevant UNSC resolutions. Madam President, I will end my statement with a Lebanese example on how true empowered and empowering women are. One of our survivors, journalist Christina Asi, that was targeted by Israel along her colleagues for being journalist, on the 13th of October, left hospital only a week ago after undergoing more than 21 surgeries. When asked about her message on International Women’s Day, she said, and allow me to quote her in Arabic, I will not stay in my wheelchair. The story will not end here. It is true. This is difficult, and my journey to treatment is long. However, I will walk again, and I will work again. There is something within me urging me to continue to resist and fight. I don’t know what it is, but there’s a voice within me reminding me I will not let them win. I will not let them win, and I will not succumb. Thank you, Madam President.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Lebanon for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Syrian Arab Republic.

Syrian Arab Republic:
Thank you, Madam President. Thank you for holding this important meeting at a time when the world is facing major challenges at all levels. These challenges require all our energy, the energy of youth and women in all sectors to promote societies and achieve prosperity and stability. The Syrian Arab Republic would like to stress that the maintenance of international international peace and security and the prevention of conflict require full commitment to international law, require putting first the principles and purposes of the UN Charter, especially the principles of sovereignty, non-interference in states’ internal affairs, peaceful settlement of disputes, and the prevention of the use or the threat of use of force. Madam President, it is important to include women and youth in decision-making processes, in developing plans and national programs, and in voluntary and civil work. For this reason, Syrian institutions continue to develop administrative and legislative frameworks and training national staff to provide opportunities to ensure full representation of all social categories at an equal footing and without any discrimination. The terrorist war against my country has left tremendous challenges on all Syrians, including women and young people. It made them face unprecedented challenges. However, despite all that, Syrian women played a noble pioneering role in fighting such challenges and addressing their repercussions. Syrian women were partners in fighting terrorism and its ideology, which is based on ignorance, extremism, and intolerance. Syrian women supported families that lost their breadwinner. Syrian women participated effectively in social activities and the work of civil associations. The Syrian government played a major role in promoting the participation of women, women who continued to represent at the highest level of state and society. Women’s participation in local administrative councils has increased by fivefold since 2010, and women now represent 44.3% of the public sector workforce and 57% of the judiciary. Madam President, the Syrian Arab Republic looks forward to receiving support from Member States of the United Nations to its efforts to improve the situation of all Syrians, including women and children, through the following. One, counterterrorism efforts and ending its extremist ideology and its practices based on limiting and restricting liberties, discrimination against women, violence and violations of women’s rights, including by the imposition of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, of the public morals law. Two, the return of all foreign terrorists and their families to their countries. Three, supporting the efforts of the Syrian government to provide good living conditions, building capacities, promoting early recovery projects in quantity and quality, and supporting small and micro projects for women and youth, including urban women projects, and giving priority to women breadwinners and displaced because of the war. Four, ending the illegitimate foreign military presence and the immediate unconditional lifting of the unilateral coercive sanctions against the Syrian people. These sanctions push many Syrians to seeking asylum and migration. Five, supporting the efforts of the Syrian government to provide the necessary conditions for the return of the displaced to their regions. Madam President, Syrian women have faced for more than five decades the Israeli occupation and its crimes against Syrians in the occupied Syrian Golan. Syrian women have suffered for long years from the worst crimes by terrorist groups. So Syrian women are fully aware of the pain and suffering of their sisters in the occupied Palestinian territories facing the Israeli war machine, which has killed more than 9,000 women in the past 157 days of genocide, meaning 60 women every day. Israel has also killed thousands of young people and children. At the same time, the U.S. administration, which claims to defend human rights and women empowerment, prevents the Security Council from shouldering its responsibility and ending this unjust aggression. Speaking about the role of women in peacebuilding requires ending the Israeli occupation of the Arab territories and ending the suffering of women suffering under its yoke. Thank you, Madam President.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Rwanda.

Rwanda:
Madam President, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this debate on promoting conflict prevention, with specific emphasis on empowering all actors, including women and youth. Rwanda extends its gratitude to the briefers for their insightful presentations and commends Japan for its leadership in organizing this significant discussion. Conflict prevention is a goal that we must all prioritize. Promoting conflict prevention requires investing in deep understanding of the root causes in order to address them comprehensively. This is not only the most effective method to avert conflict, but also ensures long-term and sustainable peace and stability. Essential to this process is the dismantling of systematic barriers that promote discrimination, hinder political representation, and stifle the participation of marginalized groups, including women and youth, in peacebuilding efforts. In Africa and worldwide, embracing unity amidst diversity presents a promising avenue for youth to actively foster peace and security. Unfortunately, marginalized communities often often face barriers hindering their involvement, including insufficient social safeguards, scarce job prospects, and restricted educational access. Yet, by promoting youth engagement through structured forums and developmental initiatives, we pave a direct route towards conflict prevention. This task gains particular significance with initiatives such as the Youth Connect initiative led by His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda. Through platforms like Youth Connect, youth mobilization and empowerment are not just ideals but actionable strategies. These initiatives offer space for young people to connect, exchange ideas, and gain skills crucial for active participation in peace-building efforts. By nurturing the potential of the youth, we not only address their challenges but also unlock their capacity to become agents of positive change, further reinforcing the vision of unity in diversity for sustainable peace and security. Rwanda’s commitment to the principle of Leave No One Behind is a testament to our belief in an inclusive dialogue and participation of all societal sectors in peace-building. This commitment extends to supporting conflict prevention initiatives through funding, technical assistance, and advocacy, especially for women-led projects. Our approach to conflict prevention is informed by lessons learned from past experience. It is crucial that strategies for peace are not only effective but sustainable, avoiding reliance on military solutions and instead prioritizing dialogue, mediation, and reconciliation. Rwanda’s post-genocide reconciliation process serves as a profound example of effective conflict resolution. By fostering understanding and rebuilding relationships between victims and perpetrators, we have been able to lay a strong foundation for lasting peace and stability. This experience underscores the importance of reconciliation and transitional justice in preventing the recurrence of conflict. In light of Rwanda’s on experiences, the following are concrete recommendations that we believe can guide the Security Council’s actions in supporting peace building. First, a strong need for political will. National ownership of contested issues, including through supporting dialogue, community engagement, and delivering to the expectation of citizens is crucial for addressing the root causes of conflict. Each country and each community has unique challenges and opportunities. There is no one solution fits all. Sustainable peace building will come from nationally led and owned processes. Support from partners will only help to enhance outcomes. Second, international bodies, partners, and national government should invest in initiatives that promote inclusive political processes, ensuring the meaningful participation of women, youth, and marginalized communities. Third, the Security Council and partner institutions should encourage the establishment and funding of platforms for youth engagement and civil society participation in peace processes. This includes supporting educational and employment opportunities for young people to deter their involvement in conflict. Fourth, promoting reconciliation and dialogue. We can draw on Rwanda’s reconciliation model to foster dialogue and understanding in conflict-affected areas. Support initiatives that aim at reconciliation and the healing of society to prevent the recurrence of conflict. Fifth, international organizations and donor countries should prioritize support to local-led peace building and conflict prevention initiatives, particularly those championing the involvement of women and youth. Rwanda recognizes and commends the Security Council’s commitment to supporting long-term sustainable peace building. Only through the establishment of strong and inclusive institutions, underscored by effective governance and accountability mechanisms, can we truly promote conflict prevention and empower all actors in the peace process. Rwanda’s journey offers valuable lessons in this regard. And as we look towards the summit of the future and the 2025 review of UN peace building architecture, we stand ready to share our experiences with the international community. Thank you for your attention.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Rwanda for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Peru.

Peru:
Madam President, we would like to thank you for the invitation from the Permanent Representation of Japan to participate in this important debate. And we’d also like to extend our desire for success to you on your leadership of the Security Council. this month. Soon we will be addressing the topic of a review of the institutional structural framework of the United Nations with a view to improving efficiency for peacebuilding, and therefore we believe it is an appropriate time to reiterate the need for providing incentives for and increasing the participation of women and youth in the prevention, mediation, and resolution of conflicts. We agree with the Presidency in that affirming that institutional policy should be based on a comprehensive approach that would guarantee the nexus of action between humanitarian development and peace and shared leadership with women and youth. The process for investment and capitalization geared to driving forward and sustaining participation of women and youth in the processes of settlement of conflict that stem from any kind of violence, intolerance, social injustice, or exclusion should take into account that it’s vital to build capacity and aptitude in such a manner as to be able to build positions and stances, the main goal of which would be to detect, understand, and address the challenges to peace as an expression of an ecumenic culture that then reflect the vocation to respect without any distinction life and dignity of all persons, and this is irrevocable. To that end, the position of Peru agrees with what was said by other delegations that have spoken before me in that the role of advisory to the Security Council of the Peacebuilding Commission is vital in determining mandates, and it’s important. to building a resilient institution. Let’s not open any Pandora’s box here, nor do we wish to invoke anything that’s arcane when we point to the challenges in understanding and taking on the role of supporting peace, given that to do that you must absolutely eradicate poverty, extreme poverty especially. Despite this truth, it needs to be repeated that one of the main sources of conflict and post-conflict situations is poverty. Poverty is not good for sheltering the future, and it is something that impacts daily life and undermines our encounters. Madam President, conflicts always have victims who are blameless, and here we need to go back to look at what happened with shame at the long list of children, adolescents, and women who were exposed to the calvary and sacrificed due to a lack of sensitivity and vanity. What should be clear is that women and young people are not just the recipients of peace, but they are at the margins of institutions and for a number of reasons need to be active participants in peace processes and prevention of conflict. In the case of women, they contribute their abnegation of martyrs and the light from midday. In the case of the young people, they don’t accept their condition of being vanquished, and they assume the challenges with great passion and are useful and have a role to play in building every day. And I would conclude by expressing Peru’s political determination to continue promoting a culture of dialogue, tolerance, respect for diversity, and mutual understanding, whereby we can promote the active participation of all citizens to work together to preserve peace, prosperity, on an equal footing without being excluded or disenfranchised, with rights that are shared by all, and duties. As Mahatma Ghani said, there is no path to peace. Peace is the path.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Peru for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Timor-Leste.

Timor-Leste:
Thank you, Madam President. At the outset, we wish to thank you for convening this open debate and thank the briefers for their insightful remarks. Madam President, we share the view that conflict prevention must be the cornerstone of our collective security with recognition on the importance of healthy and balanced economic and social development underpinned by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and grounded in international human rights laws and standards. As a poor post-conflict society, we are dealing with various challenges and this led us to believe that the best way to prevent conflicts is to deal with their root causes. It requires collective interests within this Council as well as at the level of the international community. We are of the view that the efforts to global peacebuilding and sustaining peace must focus on helping countries to achieve internal reconciliation, build resilient and inclusive societies, assist in security sector reform, support inclusive political processes, promote social cohesion, good governance, the rule of law, electoral assistance, gender equality, and women empowerment and climate security to prevent conflict and lay the foundation for sustainable development. The more or less this first-hand experience has taught us that the cost of conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction both financially and operationally and in terms of human suffering are way greater than investment in conflict prevention. This background led us to invest in peacebuilding and conflict prevention since the restoration of our independence in 2002. By investment, we refer to the design of numerous programs, policies, and legal frameworks aiming at promoting conflict prevention in order to achieve post-conflict stability. These include developing blended community dispute resolution mechanisms, promoting security sector reform, ensuring equal opportunity to women and youth, promoting women’s rights, providing pensions for veterans, creating martial arts law, just to name a few. Realizing the fundamental importance of partnership for regional peace, the more or less post-conflict policies were also designed towards special relations with our immediate neighbors and countries in the region. We have been enjoying special relations with our neighbors and hopefully soon become a member of ASEAN. In addition, we have been engaging actively with the ASEAN Regional Forum to contribute towards achieving peace and security in the region. Meanwhile, considering the importance of combining both national and global peacebuilding and sustaining peace efforts to facilitate peer learning and help fill in the knowledge and capacity gaps in achieving peacebuilding and state building goals, we have been actively engaging within the G7 of fragile states or G7-plus of fragile states to collectively advocate for better approaches of supporting conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and sustaining peace efforts. Madam Chair, Madam President, having said so, we wish to underscore that conflict prevention rests on the responsibility of states and national leadership is key, while partnerships with regional and global actors are important to enable better linkages between national, regional, and international conflict prevention efforts. I wish to conclude by reaffirming our commitment to continue to find ways to contribute towards regional and world peace, and joining the call for international cooperation. for global commitment to promote the basic principles of the UN Charter and human fraternity, which we believe can help promoting conflict prevention and building a better world for us and our future generations. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Timor-Leste for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Democratic Republic of Congo.

Congo:
Madam President. Madam President, thank you. It is an honor and a great pleasure for me to take part in this open debate of the Security Council devoting to promoting conflict prevention, empowering all actors, including women and youth. Madam President, the world today is in the grip of deep and multifaceted crises. The fundamentals of prevention have been undermined. Contemporary international law, once dominated by Article 2, Paragraph 4 of the United Nations Charter, which urges member states of the organization to refrain in their international relations from threats or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations, that is now a shadow of its former self. The dream of the charter’s drafters has vanished. The foundation of the collective security system established by the UN Charter has crumbled. It is no longer based on the idea of a conventional community in which each member must respect certain essential principles and in which the violation of these principles by one of the members leads to a collective response from the others. Instead, war rhetoric is on the rise again. We are helplessly witnessing a flagrant reawakening of the old demons of armed aggression and wars of conquest of raw materials. in new vital spaces which spare no continent. Madam President, the crisis in the east of my country, the DRC, is an eloquent example of this reality of today’s world. The statistics are appalling. The death toll now stands at several million lives lost. This is a veritable genocide, stunningly and deliberately ignored by the international community for reasons that are easy to imagine. In terms of duration, the crisis now spans three decades, with a record seven million internally displaced people to date. The conflict in my country is not only one of the longest, it’s also one of the deadliest in the history of the modern world. The number of countries, as well the material and economic costs, which are very high, are further exacerbated by the pillaging of these resources, open aggression, human genocide, as well as a silent economic genocide that is taking place in the context of near total indifference from the international community. Considering the treatment of the external root causes of this crisis, the priority is to put an end of the aggression against my country by Rwanda and its accomplices. We must also separate ourselves from this regional economy of predation. The Security Council tasked with the maintenance of international peace and security must step in. Given the situation in the east of my country, my country supports more innovative approaches to preventions, as well as a comprehensive and holistic approach to conflict prevention and restoring lasting peace, which must include operational and structural measures that are better adapted to preventing unarmed conflict, promoting sustainable economic growth, combating poverty, and regional reconciliation are also important. Madam President, domestically, the President of the country has not waited for the end of the war in order to establish a strategy for the prevention of armed conflict in order to address in depth the causes of the country – of conflict in the DRC. With the participation of women, youth, other social groups, the UN, other partners, and of course, the Peacebuilding Commission of the United Nations. By way of illustration, as of October 22, 2023, the government of the DRC endorsed and validated a law on conflict prevention and resolution. That law, developed in partnership with UNDP, is part of our national toolkit for conflict prevention and resolution in the DRC. Other major initiatives are also underway in the area of prevention, such as a program for the development of 145 territories in the DRC, which seeks to reach rural areas, carry out a reform in the security sector, as well as a reform in the army, the PDDRCS program and others. To conclude, Madam President, I would like to reassure you that the Democratic Republic of the Congo has and will, despite the aggression against it, will continue efforts to strengthen its national infrastructure in order to restore and rebuild peace. Our conflict prevention strategies are already being regularly updated based on the situation on the ground. Women and youth, which are an integral part of the peace process, will not be left behind.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and I now give the floor to the representative of Israel.

Israel:
Thank you, President. We thank Japan for convening this important and timely open debate. As the international body that bears the primary responsibility to address threats to the international peace and security, the Council’s ability to prevent conflicts also lies on its ability to hold perpetrators accountable and fight impunity. On October 7, more than 1,200 women and men in Israel, the majority of them who were young persons between the ages of 18 and 39, experienced the most horrific attack on their human rights, which included acts of murder, femicide, torture, and the use of sexual violence as a tactic of war. Those who came from all over the world to attend the NOVA music festival, which stands for peace and happiness, found themselves shot dead while running for their lives, trying to find shelter from rockets, and instead killed by grenades. Young families were burnt alive in their homes. Young women and men, including children and babies, were brutally kidnapped and taken into Gaza. As we sit here today, these innocent women and men, including adolescents and youth, are still being held in inhumane conditions by terrorists in Gaza. Yet the response of the international community, including here at this Council, has been one of complicity at the best, and almost victim-blaming at worst. Are you Israeli became the so-called context for addressing the heinous crimes committed against innocent civilians. In the latest Secretary General report on youth peace and security, not a single word was written on the atrocities young persons in Israel went through, or one word about the young persons who are still being held hostage in Gaza. Would this have been the case had the victims not been from Israel? Would the council still have presented context for the burning of families, and if they had been from Kenya? The massive shooting of women, had they been from Brazil? And the mutilation of bodies, had they been from Australia? One of the guiding questions for today’s debate was how can the international community, including the Security Council, support national efforts to address conflict and its challenges. To begin with, the council must not let impunity prevail. We call upon the council to strengthen the sanction regime, to include sexual violence as a designation criteria, to designate Hamas as a terror organization, and to call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. Thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Israel for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh:
Madam President, we congratulate Japan for assuming the presidency of the Security Council this month, and also thank for organizing this open debate on conflict prevention. We also thank the briefers for their insightful presentations. Madam President, while we are having discussion on prevention of the occurrence and recurrence of conflicts, we are also witnessing the failure of the United Nations to prevent the conflict and killing of civilians and innocent people for decades in the occupied Palestinian territory and especially in Gaza since 7 October last year. Indeed, the genocidal atrocities and subsequent humanitarian situation in Gaza go beyond any imagination. This shows us how critical is the addressing of the root causes of any conflict, and in order to avoid escalation and recurrence. Madam President, allow me to highlight a few points regarding prevention of conflict. First, this is very important to ensure preventive measures in a timely manner to avoid the eruption of conflict. The United Nations has major role to play by investing in peace, development, humanitarian nexus to address the drivers of conflict, including socioeconomic development, creating opportunities, eradicating poverty, and so on. However, creating conducive environment is also a prerequisite for investing in preventive measures that needs ensuring non-discrimination and human dignity. Second, Security Council can support nationally led efforts of the member states in the prevention of conflict and its recurrence in many ways. One way is to appropriately incorporating the preventive measures in the mandate of the special political missions and peacekeeping operations in line with national priorities. We need to invest in peacebuilding activities of the peace operations from the very beginning of the mission with the view to ensuring smooth transition and effective drawdowns. Third, the role of the regional and sub-regional organizations is also critical to address the root causes of conflict with an understanding of the regional and local dynamics and environment for the best solution. In this regard, we refer to the Security Council Resolution 2669 of 2022, which acknowledges the role of the ASEAN in helping to find a peaceful solution to the crisis in Myanmar. We urge the ASEAN to redouble its efforts in the implementation of its five-point consensus to create conducive environment for reaching a sustainable solution to the Rohingya crisis through safe, voluntary, and sustainable repatriation. Fourth, we emphasize the importance of increasing the engagement between the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission. The Peacebuilding Commission is in a better position to empower all actors by convening all the stakeholders of the conflict situations and therefore bringing their views and perspective to the Council. Finally, we would like to refer to the Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 2250 regarding WPS and YPS respectively and highlight the importance of implementation of these resolutions in order to ensure empowerment of women and youth while promoting conflict prevention by the UN. We believe that UN Secretary General’s new Agenda for Peace is an important milestone in recognizing the importance of WPS and YPS agenda in conflict prevention. I thank you, Madam President.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Bangladesh for the statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Kenya.

Kenya:
Thank you, Madam President. Kenya appreciates your efforts in organizing this debate and we thank all the briefers for their insights. In particular, we associate with the recommendations submitted by the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission during his briefing on behalf of the Commission. Over the past decade, Kenya has embarked on a journey marked by significant strides in peacebuilding and conflict prevention. From the adoption of a national policy on peacebuilding in 2015 to a comprehensive review of our peacebuilding architecture initiated in March 2023, our commitment to inclusive peacebuilding has been steadfast. We have witnessed firsthand the value of incorporating diverse perspectives and contributions from women, youth, marginalized groups, and local communities in addressing root causes, including historical grievances, socioeconomic disparities, and strengthening governance institutions to foster resilient societies. In line with today’s debate, Kenya makes four recommendations for consideration by this council. First, the Security Council should maximize its utilization of its comprehensive toolkit, including enhanced collaboration with the Peacebuilding Commission. As an advisory, convening, and resource mobilization body, the PBC has the capacity to deliver catalytic and impactful initiatives supporting nationally and regionally-led conflict prevention efforts. Second, the Security Council must align its decisions and actions to Resolution 1325. Experienced from the theaters of armed conflict, including the Gaza Strip, Ukraine, and elsewhere, women disproportionately bear the brunt. And yet women are the indispensable but too often overlooked agents of peace. The council must advocate not only for the protection of women as victims in conflict, but also, and more importantly, for their full and meaningful participation in conflict prevention frameworks as peace brokers, decision-makers, community resilience builders, and promoters and defenders of human rights. Third, the Security Council should support all efforts to ensure adequate and predictable financing for peacebuilding through voluntary, innovative, and assessed financing, as envisaged by the Finance for Peacebuilding Resolution. Fourth, and in conclusion, the upcoming Summit for the Future should be an opportunity for the community of nations to come together. commit to a surge in preventive diplomacy and exponential investment on inclusive and comprehensive peacebuilding that leaves no region, no country, no community, and no individual behind. I thank you.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Kenya for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Myanmar.

Myanmar:
Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, Myanmar thanks the Presidency of Japan for organizing this open debate. I wish to express our appreciation to all briefers. It is indeed high time to reflect on the lessons learned from our past experiences of preventing conflict and its recurrent and identifying concrete actions that we should take in collaboration within and beyond the UN system. The key word here is, in my view, concrete actions. The most effective way to protect civilians is to prevent conflict by taking effective concrete actions in a timely manner. Conflicts with global and regional ramifications are ongoing, resulting in devastating human losses, and violent conflicts with little global attention are ripping apart communities and their future across the world. Essentially, the rule of law is being undermined, both at national and international levels. The principles of UN Charter are being ignored. Basic humanity safeguards, like international humanitarian law, continue to be violated with impunity. In many situations, the Security Council has responsibility and power, but unfortunately, it is neither willing nor able to address these challenges. We understand building conflict prevention infrastructure requires involvement and empowerment of all actors, including the full, meaningful, and equal participation of women and youth. For that to happen, there must be a rule of law foundation for democratization-making supported by effective, accountable, and transparent institutions. International cooperation plays a key role in strengthening such national institutions. The joint statement of 67 countries, including Myanmar, issued today, stressed that effective and collective prevention is needed to save succeeding generations from this culture of war. I thank Japan for its leadership in this regard. In my country, Madam President, Myanmar, the people have already passed the conflict prevention stage. We are now in the middle of the nationwide widespread struggle to achieve lasting peace once and for all. That is to overcome the brutal military dictatorship, which has time and again proved to be the biggest obstacle to sustainable peace and development, as well as the biggest threat to the people of Myanmar and their future. The unaccountable military perpetrated the illegal coup in 2021, denying the democratically expressed will of the people of Myanmar. The illegal hunter then destroyed the rule of law and imposed its brutality. Myanmar women and youth are at the forefront of resisting this military reign of terror across the country. Even in the face of violence, including sexual violence, Myanmar women’s courage to resist the military dictatorship and their commitment to achieving a just, inclusive and democratic society has not been weakened. Now, Myanmar youth are at extreme risk due to the lawless military conscription being forced by the illegal military hunter. The people of Myanmar and the National Unity Government have kept calling for the international community to take necessary action to stop forced conscription of the military hunter. The current security, economic, human rights and humanitarian… disaster in Myanmar was caused by the illegal military coup. The solution to addressing the crisis and preventing future recurrence lies in the elimination of its military dictatorship and establishment of a federal democratic union. We have repeatedly asked the UN Security Council to take concrete actions to help address the suffering of Myanmar people. To conclude Madam President, we the people of Myanmar and I myself have been tired of appealing the UN, in particular the UN Security Council, to help the helpless Myanmar people as our appeal so far met with lack of concrete action and even serious attention from them. Even the people of Myanmar are asking a valid question, where are you the United Nations to save lives in Myanmar? Therefore I do not want to see that the UN Security Council is directly or indirectly responsible for loss of so many innocent lives in Myanmar after the illegal military coup in February 2021. Instead I want the UN Security Council to become a part of the solution by taking concrete action to save lives in Myanmar. Though the people of Myanmar are tired of it, on behalf of them I have to urge the UN Security Council again to adopt an enforcement resolution as follow-up to its resolution 2669 adopted in December 2022. I appeal to the Council to help save innocent lives in Myanmar by preventing arms and jet fuel flow to the military hunter, ensuring accountability for serious international crimes, addressing the blockade of humanitarian access and helping create an environment conducive for establishment of rule of law and democracy in Myanmar. And thank you Madam President.

President – Japan:
I thank the representative of Myanmar for their statement. There are still a number of speakers remaining on my list for this meeting. I thank the Member States for their active engagement for this agenda. I intend, with the concurrence of Members of the Council, to suspend the meeting to a date and time that will be announced shortly. Thank you. This meeting is suspended.