UN peacebuilding efforts must align with national priorities: India

Peacebuilding efforts will be successful only if they align with a nation's priorities and its leaders and institutions are involved in the implementation, according to India.

Speaking at the General Assembly on Monday, India's Deputy Permanent Representative Nagaraj Naidu said: "India believes that the efforts undertaken by the PBC (Peacebuilding Commission) in various countries and regions will result in sustainable outcomes if national ownership is strictly followed."

To ensure that gains are long-term, "peacebuilding activities should align with the national priorities and implemented with the involvement of the country's leadership and national institutions", he said during a debate on the PBC.

"National ownership" of the peacebuilding efforts so that they are not imposed from outside but involve the countries where the they are undertaken in setting the priorities and in implementing them was repeatedly stressed by several speakers.

PBC Chair Guillermo FernAindez de Soto Valderrama said the principle of national ownership anchored the Commission's work. Countries were encouraged to share their peacebuilding experience to enable to the PBC to develop and share good practices, he added.

Susan Mwangi, a counsellor at Kenya's mission, spelled out the three principles for peacebuilding: activities should be nationally owned, regionally anchored and internationally supported.

The UN promotes peacebuilding activities in unstable countries as a way to pre-empt the conflicts from breaking out or recurring. The efforts emphasise economic, social and political development.

Naidu said: "There is a clear recognition of the importance of a sustainable and inclusive economic growth and political processes in preventing conflict as well as undertaking effective peacebuilding efforts.

"Today's conflicts are increasingly intra-state, involving non-state actors and international terror networks. The complex and interlinked nature of conflicts have much wider implications across countries. We, therefore, have a collective interest in building and sustaining peace."

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)

--IANS

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