21 January 2011

Presidential Statement of the United Nations Security Council
on Post-Conflict Peace Building: Institution Building
read by H.E. Mr. Ivan Barbalić, Permanent Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the United Nations,
in his capacity as the President of the UN Security Council for the month of January 2011

The Security Council recalls the previous Statements of its President on post-conflict peacebuilding. The Council stresses the importance of institution building as a critical component of peacebuilding and emphasizes the importance of a more effective and coherent national and international response to it, so that countries emerging from conflict can deliver core government functions, including managing political disputes peacefully, providing security and maintaining stability, protecting their population, ensuring respect for the rule of law, revitalising the economy and providing basic services, which are essential to achieving durable peace. The Council emphasizes the importance of national ownership in this regard.

The Security Council underlines that the primary responsibility for successful peacebuilding lies with governments and relevant national actors, including civil society, in countries emerging from conflict and that the United Nations can play a critical role in support of building their national institutions. The Council acknowledges the need for continued improvement in the delivery of support in the immediate aftermath of conflict in order to help stabilise the situation, whilst at the same time starting the longer-term process of institution building, including those institutions that promote democratic processes and foster economic and social development, with a view to sustainable peace.

The Security Council emphasises that the United Nations and international community need to be more effective and co-ordinated in assessing needs and planning for effective institution building including how to make better use of existing national capacities and perspectives in order to ensure national ownership. The Council stresses the need for mainstreaming support to national capacity development in all United Nations peacebuilding activities as a system-wide priority and underscores that peacebuilding strategies and institution building should be considered in a country-specific context.

The Security Council stresses the need for greater integration of effort, as well as predictability and accountability within the United Nations, in helping build institutions in countries emerging from conflict. The Council highlights the importance of coordinated, sector-wide and context driven approaches in governance, economic stability, enhancing the rule of law and strengthening the security sector that must be nationally owned.

The Security Council stresses its willingness to make greater use of the advisory role of the Peacebuilding Commission. The Council notes the potential role the PBC can play in helping achieve critical peacebuilding objectives including the development of viable and accountable institutions in the countries on its agenda. The Council also stresses the importance of focused and well-defined partnerships among the United Nations, development agencies, bilateral partners and all other relevant actors, in particular regional and sub-regional organisations, and the international financial institutions, to implement national strategies aimed at effective institution building, which are based on the achievement of results and mutual accountability.

The Security Council reaffirms the critical importance of timely, flexible and predictable funding for peacebuilding, including institution and capacity building, and urges Member States and other partners to increase efforts towards achieving this goal including through the replenishment of the Peacebuilding Fund and through multi-donor trust funds, acknowledging contributions already made.

The Security Council expresses its commitment to continuing to improve its consideration and reflection of early peacebuilding tasks related to institution building in the mandates and composition of peacekeeping operations, special political missions and integrated peacebuilding offices, with a view to making the necessary adjustments, where appropriate, according to progress achieved, lessons learned or changing circumstances on the ground. In this context, the Council notes with appreciation the contribution that peacekeepers and peacekeeping missions make to early peacebuilding and recognizes the need to integrate mission expertise and experience into the development of peacebuilding strategies.

The Security Council looks forward to the report of the international review of civilian capacity in early 2011, recognizing the need for improved mechanisms for timely deployment of skilled civilian experts in support of national institution building needs in post-conflict countries. The Council requests the Secretary-General to include in the next follow-up report on peacebuilding in the immediate aftermath of conflict an assessment of the impact that his agenda for action has had in contributing to building viable institutions in post-conflict countries, as well as additional recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the United Nations` contribution to more effective, stable and sustainable institutions that can help prevent a relapse into conflict.