Pakistan urges UN to address root causes of conflicts

ISLAMABAD: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called for a ‘concrete increase’ in financial commitments to support conflict prevention and peace-building around the world.

Agreeing with Guterres, Pakistan says that ‘national ownership’ must remain the core principle of peace-building and should determine all investment decisions of the High-Level Replenishment Conference of the UN Peace-building Fund (PBF).

Pakistan has also announced a financial pledge as part of contribution to PBF, but the amount was not made public. It further impressed upon the United Nations to address the root causes of conflicts including injustice, inequality and suppression of the right of self-determination of people under foreign occupation, in order to build and sustain global peace.

“A major handicap for the developing countries in mobilising international investment was their inability to prepare commercially viable development projects. The resources of the PBF be utilised to support these countries in bringing development projects to a bankable feasibility status,” suggested Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in a video statement.

He was participating in the virtual PBF meeting convened by Secretary General Antonio Guterres, said the Foreign Office. The PBF is the United Nations’ financial instrument of first resort to sustain peace in countries at risk or affected by violent conflict. Qureshi further suggested that investment for such projects could be sought from other public and private sources, including multilateral development banks as well as private equity and sovereign wealth funds.

The minister underscored Pakistan’s longstanding commitment to UN endeavours for peace-keeping and peace-building, recalling that over the last 60 years, Pakistani troops and police had represented the UN in 46 peacekeeping missions across four continents of the world.