UN Peacebuilding Commission

Flikr photo by Maverick Dal used under Creative Commons license. The UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC, 2006) has been tasked with developing integrated strategies for dealing with post-conflict peacebuilding and recovery in order to create sustainable ways of transferring relief to development assistance. It is an advisory body with strong ties to the Security Council through membership and receives support from the secretariat through the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO). In the interim for states emerging from armed conflict, the UN Peacebuilding Fund (PBF, 2006) supports emergency stabilization initiatives to prevent relapse into conflict. In partnership with the PBSO and other actors, the Peacebuilding Initiative offers access to knowledge and resources to practitioners across the peacebuilding spectrum. The Working Group on Lessons Learned, formed in January 2007, published outcomes on 12 June 2008 on lessons learned from a comprehensive review of peacebuilding policy and practice for the PBC. Some principals that emerged from the review were: Adopting a holistic and strategic approach Promoting national ownership Strengthening national capacities Providing sustained engagement Achieving effective coordination Fostering mutual accountability Ensuring prioritization and sequencing Integrating a gender perspective Encouraging a regional approach But, it was during the thematic sessions that some of the most useful lessons emerged. Some significant realizations include: the risk of elections to be conflict-inducing without proper observance; the distinction between local governance and decentralization, along with the recognition that rapid decentralization may be inappropriate in some instances; the importance of national ownership over transitional justice; the success of the Kimberly Process, which should be expanded to other extractive industries; and, emphasis on a regional approach that includes a high level of civilian-military cooperation. Peacebuilding is an inherently complex process where the right ideas can only get you so far. While identifying what works and what doesn’t is crucial to avoid repeating the same mistakes, sustained commitment and adequate investment in the right approach by the international community seem to form a persistent barrier to successful peacebuilding.