Mr President, Excellencies, colleagues,
“To take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to peace” – this was the commitment we made in the first sentence of the first article of the United Nations Charter.
But today, two billion people live in countries affected by conflict. Russia’s war of choice in Ukraine has increased that number and wrought untold suffering on the people of a peaceful country.
The United Kingdom stands with the overwhelming majority of countries around the world in deploring Russia’s aggression and calling on President Putin to cease his senseless war.
Mr. President, few conflicts today are so unequivocal. More often, they are driven by a mixture of political, economic, social and environmental factors. But the vast majority are preventable.
And prevention is where we need to focus, if we are to live up to the commitments of the Charter.
This means investing in peacebuilding.
This is why we are here today. Because instability jeopardises development and puts lives and livelihoods at risk.
The United Kingdom has been steadfast in its support – political and financial – for United Nations peacebuilding. We have contributed over 230 million dollars to the Peacebuilding Fund since its inception.
But the Fund is still sustained by only a handful of major donors. Others need to step up.
As co-Chair of the Group of Friends of the PBF, the United Kingdom is deeply committed to the Fund. But the Fund is not a silver bullet.
National governments and international development partners all need to play their part. This includes the UN development system.
The United Kingdom is also working to advance prospects for innovative financing for peacebuilding. And to deepen strategic partnerships with the international financial institutions.
In addition to our multilateral contributions, our deep bilateral partnerships focus on durable peace and inclusive development, rather than quick fixes that risk saddling countries with unsustainable debt.
Today, the world can quite literally no longer afford the cost of conflict.
The current global economic climate is straining both stability itself, and the resources available to support that stability.
This is a dangerous spiral. We need to explore all possible solutions. And we need to increase impact across all resource strands.
The United Kingdom remains fully committed to maximising investment in UN conflict prevention and peacebuilding.