Qureshi urges UN to address root causes of conflicts under foreign occupation

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has urged the United Nations to address the root causes of conflicts including injustice, inequality and the suppression of the right of self-determination of peoples under foreign occupation, in order to build and sustain global peace.

The foreign minister made these remarks during the virtual High-Level Replenishment Conference of the UN Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) convened by Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

The PBF is the United Nations’ financial instrument of first resort to sustain peace in countries at risk or affected by violent conflict.

In his video statement, the Foreign minister underscored Pakistan’s longstanding commitment to the UN’s endeavours for peacekeeping and peacebuilding, 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.

He also announced a financial pledge as part of Pakistan’s contribution of $25,000 to the PBF.

“Today’s event provides a welcome opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to multilateral cooperation for preserving peace, preventing conflict and realising the Sustainable Development Goals. Like most developing countries, Pakistan has been severely affected by Covid-19 pandemic, stretching our healthcare systems, contracting our economy and constricting our fiscal space. Yet despite our ongoing financial difficulties, I am pleased to announce a token contribution of 25,000 dollars to the Secretary General’s Peacebuilding Fund,” he added.

The Foreign minister stressed that “national ownership” must remain the core principle of peacebuilding and should determine all investment decisions of the PBF.

He noted that a major handicap for the developing countries in mobilising international investment was their inability to prepare commercially-viable development projects.

To address this issue, he recommended that the resources of the PBF be utilised to support these countries in bringing development projects to a bankable feasibility status.

He 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.

“It bears repetition that “national ownership” must remain the core principle of peacebuilding and determine all PBF investment decisions. Durable peace within nations cannot be externally imposed,” Qureshi added.

The High-Level Replenishment Conference took into account the UN Secretary General’s call for a “concrete increase” in financial commitments to support conflict prevention and peacebuilding around the world.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021