Daily Times

Pakistan has called for keeping the U.N. Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) financially viable so as to enable the 31-member intergovernmental body meet the reconstruction and other needs of the countries emerging from conflict.

“The peacebuilding architecture plays a critical role in the peace continuum,” Pakistani delegate Ansar Shah told a meeting on the commission’s 2025 Review of the Peacebuilding Architecture:

“Through marshalling resources, advising on integrated strategies for post-conflict peacebuilding and recovery, focusing attention on reconstruction and institution-building, laying the foundation for sustainable development, helping develop best practices, and ensuring predictable financing, it makes a real difference on ground,” Shah, a first secretary at the Pakistan Mission to the UN, said.

“As one of the largest troop contributors to the UN peacekeeping operations, and a member of the PBC for a long time,” he said, “Pakistan fully appreciates the importance of peacebuilding and sustaining peace.”

Pakistan is a founding member of this key body.

At the outset, the Pakistani delegate complimented Gambia, a brotherly country, for the “remarkable progress” it has made, with the support of the PBC, in all fields including progress in economic development, the consolidation of democracy and peacebuilding.

Shah called for collective efforts by political, security and development actors for building sustainable peace, warning that failure to prioritize, and reduce the governance deficit, could lead to tragic cycles of

relapse.

“Similarly,” he added, “addressing root causes of conflicts remains critical to avoiding recurrence.”

Noting that post-conflict needs in different countries are varied, from institution-building to economic reconstruction, to judicial and security sector reform, the Pakistani delegate said that there was no

one-size-fits-all formula.

“Peacebuilding interventions need to be tailored according to needs,” Shah said.

“All this cannot be done without flexible, adequate, and predictable financing for peacebuilding and development efforts.”

Regional organizations, he said, also play an important role in conflict prevention and peacebuilding.

“Enhancing the capacity of the regional and sub-regional organizations for conflict resolution, maintenance of regional peace and security, and fostering political and socio-economic development remains vital.”