Sustainable Peace Needs Socioeconomic Development: Iran's UN Envoy

New York, Dec 22, IRNA – Building sustainable peace in post-conflict countries requires socio-economic development, Iran's Ambassador to the UN Mohammad Khazaee said here on Thursday. 'Women have a pivotal role in the peace building process in the post-conflict eras of different countries because more challenges are arising. UN should increase its actions and development of national capacities and institutionalization as well as economic progress and social integrity play a central role in the peace building strategies,' Head of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)'s Coordinating Bureau told the Security Council earlier on Thursday. Khazaei added that regional cooperation and coordination among peace building elements at the national level are very important in relation to peace building in the post conflict regions. He voiced concern over lack of coordination among international institutions in charge of peace building in the post-conflict countries. The UN Security Council on Thursday reaffirmed that 'sustainable peace requires an integrated approach,' and welcomed initiatives by post-conflict countries in a bid to reduce poverty, deter conflict and provide better conditions for their populations. The 15-nation UN body, in a presidential statement adopted here after an open debate on peace building in post-conflict countries, said: 'The Security Council reaffirms that sustainable peace requires an integrated approach based on coherence among political, security, development, human rights, including gender equality, rule of law, and justice activities.' 'In this regard, the Council stresses the importance of the rule of law as one of the key elements of peace building, emphasizing that courts must provide justice and equal protection under the law for all citizens and recognizing the need for enhanced efforts aimed at capacity building in justice and security institutions, especially in the police, prosecutorial, judicial and correction sectors,' the statement said. For the United Nations, peace building refers to efforts to assist countries and regions in their transition from war to peace, including activities and programs to support and strengthen these transitions. A peace building process normally begins with the signing of a peace agreement by former warring parties and a United Nations role in facilitating its implementation. The cornerstone of the UN’s peace-building architecture is the Peace-building Commission (PBC), which was set up in 2005 to help struggling states avoid slipping back into war and chaos by providing strategic advice and harnessing expertise and financing from around the world to aid with recovery projects. The UN commission currently has six post-conflict countries on its agenda — Burundi, the Central African Republic (CAR), Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and Sierra Leone — and its efforts are supported by the Peace-building Support Office. Countries can also avail themselves of financial assistance from the Peace building Fund to jump-start rebuilding projects./end