STATEMENT

by Ambassador Hoang Chi Trung, Deputy Permanent Representative

at the Plenary of the 64^th Session of the United Nations General Assembly

on Agenda Item 10 “Report of the Peacebuilding Commission”

and Agenda Item 108 “Report of the Secretary-General on the Peacebuilding Fund”

New York, 20 November 2009

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Mr President,

On behalf of the Vietnamese Delegation, I would like to express our appreciation to the presentation of “Report of the Peacbuilding Commission” and “Report of the Secretary-General on the Peacebuilding Fund” contained in documents A/64/341 and A/64/217 respectively.

My Delegation associates itself with the statement delivered by the distinguished representative of Jamaica on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement.

          Mr. President,

Out of the desire to establish a coordinated, coherent and integrated approach to postconflict peacebuilding, the 2005 World Summit operationalized the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), the Peacebuilding Fund and the Peacebuilding Support Office. These organizations have been created to help address the special needs of countries emerging from conflict towards recovery and reconstruction.

We commend the undertakings made by the PBC over the past three years and through the Organizational Committee and its country-specific configurations in implementing the mandates and core functions as stipulated by General Assembly Resolution A/60/180 and Security Council Resolution 1645 (2005). The PBC has delivered tangible results in its activities in cooperation with the United Nations principal organs, agencies, funds and progammes, regional and subregional organizations and international financial institutions. It has enhanced public awareness and outreach, capacity-building and policy guidance on peacebuilding as well as improvement of procedures and working methods.

We are also heartened to acknowledge that during the period from July 2008 to June 2009, given its revised terms of reference, the Peacebuilding Fund has evolved into one of the broadest donor bases of any multi-donor trust funds administered by the United Nations, with a portfolio of over US$ 312 million from 45 donors and the operation of  87 peacebuilding projects in 12 countries. Part of the continued engagement of and contribution from the PBC can be noted in the achievements of reconciliation, reconstruction and re-integration made by Burundi, the Central African Republic, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone and other countries on its agenda, even though the respective levels of progress are yet equal and sustained as desired.

Mr. President,

Now that the United Nations peacebuilding architecture is in place and mounting an extensive workload, the challenge is how to consolidate the achievements made thus far and generate added values in the period ahead. As the PBC enters its fourth year of operation, much remains to be done in enabling the Commission to truly become one of the key international instruments of coordination of peacebuilding activities. In so doing, the Commission should redouble its efforts to improve working methods and provisional rules of procedures. It should rationalize the institutional relationship with other United Nations bodies and non-United Nations entities with a view to achieving a better coherence, complementarity and division of labour. It should ensure that its work is closely linked to and driven by the best interests of recipient countries, including those most affected by protracted conflicts, underdevelopment or marginalization.

In view of the current global resource constraints, the Peacebuilding Fund has the difficult task of bridging the funding gaps, expanding the pool of donors and recipients, accommodating the local governments’ financial and institutional absorptive capability. Efforts should also be made to strengthen the catalytic focus of the Fund in the four designated priority areas, i.e., support for the peace agreements, promotion of coexistence and peaceful resolution of conflict, early economic recovery and immediate peace dividends, and establishment of essential administrative services and capacity-building.

For the PBC may involve itself in various activities under different post-conflict contexts and thus a comprehensive, cross-cutting and country-specific approach is essential, it is our firm belief that further improvements on the development agenda will help address the root causes of conflicts, nurture autonomous capacity and create the foreground for lasting peace and development. In order for peacebuilding to yield concrete and sustained results, the local people should be empowered and fully involved in every related phases and activities.

Mr. President,

We look forward to the review of arrangements set out in the founding resolutions of the PBC by the General Assemby and the Security Council next year. This will represent a good opportunity for member states to take stock, to galvanize new momentum and to fine tune the working methods and direction of the PBC. Along this line, we welcome the efforts being undertaken by the PBC to assess its work and to come up with recommendations as to how it can best participate and play the advisory role in post-conflict situations.

We hope that through this entire process, Member States will have an opportunity to deepen their interactions with the Commission and valuable lessons, practices and synergies will be developed, thus helping not only to prevent the concerned countries from relapsing into conflicts, but also to reinforce the early-warning capacity to anticipate potential conflicts and engage the international community in addressing them in a timely and more effective manner.

 I thank you, Mr. President.