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EGYPT
The Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations New York

Statement BY

H.E. Ambassador Maged Abdel Aziz The Permanent Representative

Before

The General Assembly

New York 6 February 2007

Check against Delivery

Mrne. President, Allow me at the outset to express my delegation's appreciation to You for responding positively to the request of the Non-Aligned Movement to organize this general debate on Post-Conflict Peacebuilding, following the open debate in the Security Council. The delegation of Egypt associates itself fully with the statement made by the Permanent Representative of Jamaica, on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, and appreciation for the briefmgs made by the Vice-Chairs of the Peacebuilding Commission and the Coordinators for the cases of Burundi and Sierra Leone. Mme. President, Experience has proven that the broad Concept of Peacebuilding has to be dealt with through a multidimensional perspective that goes beyond the angle of threats to international peace and security to include all the economic and social aspects of the peacebuilding process. The lessons learnt highlight the dire need to bridge the gap in the transition between peacekeeping and peacebuildmg stages, by means of incorporating the tennination of peacekeeping operations mandates within a larger strategy for providing international support aimed at reinforcing national reconciliation efforts and sustaining reconstruction strategies and plans, hence preventing States from relapsing into conflicts. Therefore, the main objective behind the adoption of two parallel resolutions by the Security Council and the General Assembly establishing the Peacebuilding Comrnission was to ensure the continued involvement of the international community in conflict situations without interruption... in the Security Council when these situations constitute threats to international peace and security... and in the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council and their relevant subsidiay bodies to enable them to deal, both effectively and in an integrated approach, with the postconflict phase, with its economic, social and humanitarian aspects that are directly linked to the requirements for development and peacebuilding in these States, with the suppo~tof the international financial institutions, donor countries and other active parties. Despite the preliminay progress achieved by the Peacebuilding Commission in dealing with the cases of Bulundi and Sierra Leone, several organizational aspects still need to be resolved, especially in light of the absence of previous precedents. The past six months have demonstrated that there are differences in the perspectives of members of the dealing by the Commission with some issues. They have also demonstrated the existence of common viewpoints that need to be cristallized. On the other hand, they have highlighted a dire need to stnke the balance in the Commission's relationship with the principal organs, each according to its respective prerogatives as drawn up by the Charter, hence raising the necessity to carry on the serious dialogue that has recently started within the Organizational Committee, in order to lay down a clear programme of work that sets out the foundation for a real take off on solid grounds.. Undoubtedly, the General Assembly is the organ that has primary responsibility for dealing with such issues. This is not only so for it constitutes the principal organ
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with the largest representation and most democratic within the United Nations, but also because it is responsible for following up on and assessing the PBC role, and for reviewing and providing policy guidance in accordance with the resolution establishing PBC. Thus, the occasions in which the General Assembly can request the advice of the Peacebuilding Commission have to be broadened, even when a case is on the agenda of the Security Council, and should be based on other agenda items related to such case that already under consideration in the General Assembly. That does not rule out the necessity to improve the rules of procedures, according to the requirements that emerge by time through practice to organize the activities of the Commission. We have to go about improving the rules of procedures with a gradual and flexible approach, without too many details that would slow the Commission's functioning, and to implement the rules of procedures of the General Assembly in cases where the PBC rules of procedures fall short of addressing. We have to pay due attention to the concepts of transparency and accountability within the Commission, based on the responsibility of all its members, without discrimination between donor and non-donor countries, to realize the goals for which they were elected or appointed. We also have to make sure that the Peacebuilding Support Office is accountable only to the Commission, not to any other organ. Accordingly, we have to promote the role of the Organizational Committee in following up and assessing the policies and activities carried out within the framework of the Counw-Specific Configurations. Hence, it is important to arrange for the field visits in coordination with the different national activities, and with the consent of the States concerned, in order to facilitate the appraisal of the size of the country envelops required. We also have to make sure that these envelops are rapidly delivered, once determined by the Commission for the support of approved national plans, in order to reinfo~ce efforts to reinstall peace and stability. the In ordel- to make the necessary financial resources readily available, the Organizational Committee has to review the Tenns of Reference for the Peacebuilding Fund and provide general policy guidance. Thls is especially important so as to allow the Secreta~y-Generalto nominate the members of the Independent Advisory Group that would be responsible for providing advice and oversight on the appropriateness of the Fund allocations and to examine its administrative and financial performance, in order for the Organizational Committee to elect them, based on equitable geographical distribution. Finally, we have to ensure that the advisory role of the Commission and the Peacebuilding Support Office in assisting national govemnents in formulating their peacebuilding strategies do not lead to a new form of trusteeshp. We further have to make sul-e that the Commission; by deciding on contributions to be disbursed through the Peacebuilding Fund to give an initial boost to projects of urgent priority, does not transform into a mere broker that brings together the donor and recipient countries under the supervision of the Secretay-General. We also have to be sure that while we support the participation of the civil society in the States emerging from conflicts, we do not look away the intergovernmental nature of the Commission. The views of the

civil society need to be expressed in conformity with the agreed norms that organize the inclusion of the civil society in the United Nations activities. Mme. President, These were some of the important issues that the past six months have underlined the necessity to tackle them. Egypt hopes that we can benefit from the experiences in Burundi and Sierra Leone as they are the first two cases brought before the Commission. We hope that we can do our utmost to perfolm our duties towards them, in order to reinforce the foundations of peace in the two States, to realize their expectations from the Peacebuilding Commission, and help them acheve the aspirations of their own peoples for development and prosperity. We hope that we can act in a manner that would allow us at the same time to perform better in dealing with other cases in the future. Thank you Mme. President,