Head of UN peacebuilding commission urges closer ties with Security Council

A stronger engagement between the UN Security Council and the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) is needed, the head of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) said here Friday.

"To this end, a stronger 'organic' and more dynamic linkage between the Council and the Commission is required throughout the various phases of the Council's consideration of certain activities," the PBC's chairman, Ambassador Peter Wittig of Germany, said here at an open Security Council debate on post- conflict peacebuilding.

"The Security Council should consider ways to maximize the use of the Peacebuilding Commission's advisory role," Wittig said.

Wittig, who was elected the head of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) in January, noted in particular that the Commission's advice on early peacebuilding activities could help the Council monitor progress on the mandates to peacekeeping missions.

"By capitalizing on this viable mechanism for advice and monitoring, the Council would be able to focus on the most immediate threats to international peace and security while maintaining a closer and substantive watching on countries which have moved ahead on the continuum of peace," Wittig said.

He also highlighted the PBC's continued role to deepen the UN's engagement with the main players at the country-level in order to promote accountability and transparency so that progress towards meeting critical peacebuilding objectives is met.

"The lack of a common vision and coherence among the multiple actors in post-conflict situations is a real challenge that undermines our collective efforts to support countries on the path of sustainable peace," Wittig said.

The Commission was set up in 2005 to help struggling states avoid slipping back into war and chaos by providing strategic advice and harnessing expertise and finance from around the world to aid with recovery projects. There are currently four countries on its agenda -- Burundi, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau and the Central African Republic (CAR).

Source: Xinhua