UN chief highlights need to invest in preventing conflicts

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday highlighted the need to invest in prevention, which he believes is the best way to prevent conflicts.

The UN chief made the remarks at the World Bank Spring Meetings along with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, Xinhua news agency reported.

The UN chief stressed that the best and most necessary investment was an investment in prevention and in addressing the problems of fragility before it turns into conflict.

"It is absolutely essential to find a way to divert the massive use of resources in managing crises to what is necessary to do to prevent them and to build the capacity of societies to solve their own problems," Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for Guterres, said.

The UN chief also said that the international community must combine the peace and security approach with the sustainable development and human rights approaches.

--IANS

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