1 April 2016: UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Mogens Lykketoft has circulated the outcome of intergovernmental consultations on the 2015 Review of the UN Peacebuilding Architecture. The co-facilitators of the consultations, Gillian Bird, Permanent Representative of Australia, and Ismail Abraao Gaspar Martins, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Angola, presented the agreed texts of parallel and “substantively identical” draft resolutions, for consideration and final decision by the UNGA and the Security Council.

The draft outcome: stresses that civil society can play an important role in advancing efforts to sustain peace; recalls the UNGA resolution ‘Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,’ which adopted a “comprehensive, far-reaching and people-centered set of universal and transformative Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets;” reaffirms its call upon the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) to integrate a gender perspective into all of its work; and calls for another comprehensive review of the UN peacebuilding architecture at its 74th session.

The draft resolution stresses the importance of the PBC to: promote an integrated, strategic and coherent approach to peacebuilding, noting that security, development and human rights are closely interlinked and mutually reinforcing; and to serve as a platform for convening all relevant actors within and outside the UN, including from Member States, national authorities, UN missions and country teams, international, regional and sub-regional organizations, international financial institutions, civil society, women’s groups, youth organizations and, “where relevant,” the private sector and national human rights institutions – in order to provide recommendations and information to improve their coordination, to develop and share good practices in peacebuilding, including on institution building, and to ensure predictable financing to peacebuilding.

Specifically on the relation with UN’s development pillar, the outcome: stresses the importance of closer cooperation between the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the PBC, “in accordance with their respective mandates,” including through enhanced dialogue in support of promoting coherence and complementarity between UN’s peace and security efforts and its development, human rights and humanitarian work; encourages the PBC to draw on the expertise of relevant ECOSOC subsidiary bodies,” as appropriate;” reaffirms that development “is a central goal in itself” and recognizes the important contributions of the UN development system to peacebuilding, “particularly through economic development and poverty eradication;” stresses the need to continue strengthening cooperation and coordination for that purpose in the field through UN Country Teams and at UN Headquarters, “in accordance with their respective mandates,” and with respect for national ownership and priorities of countries-affected by conflict, including through the overarching framework of the UN operational activities for development; and takes note of the UN Secretary-General’s decision to request the UN Development Group (UNDG) to take forward a review of the current capacities of agencies, funds and programmes, looking forward to its findings contributing to enhancing the UN capacities relating to sustaining peace.

Lykketoft will submit the draft resolution to the UNGA for consideration and action. He will also coordinate closely with the President of the Security Council with the objective that the two draft resolutions be considered in parallel meetings of the two bodies. [Letter of UNGA President, and Draft Resolution]