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47-582: The Peacebuilding Commission, which has a unique role to play in advancing intergovernmental coherence through its cross-pillar mandate, has already diversified its working methods to enhance its flexibility as a dedicated intergovernmental platform. Recent good practices of the Peacebuilding Commission include attention to cross-border and regional issues in the Great Lakes region and the Sahel, support to

94-552: A papal conclave . Since 1981, the Security Council has voted in secret in a series of straw polls ; it then submits the winning candidate to the General Assembly for ratification. No candidate has ever been rejected by the General Assembly, and only once, in 1950 , has a candidate been voted upon despite a UNSC veto. In 2016, the General Assembly and the Security Council sought nominations and conducted public debates for

141-626: A country-specific model aiming to contribute to the implementation of the post-conflict tasks in each of both countries. The new environment and challenges brought by the post–September 11 system of international relations spurred the Secretary-General Kofi Annan to seek new proposals and solutions to reform a certain sensitive area of the UN system. This approximately was the mandate of the High-Level Threat Panel . Annan announced

188-550: A peaceful, orderly and genuinely contested manner. The 2010 elections in Burundi were more problematic. Allegations of fraud in an earlier local poll marred the June 2010 presidential election , in which incumbent Pierre Nkurunziza was the only candidate after the country's opposition parties pulled out of the campaign. According to the constituting resolutions of the PBC, the further inclusion of

235-642: A political mandate for its work. Among its weaknesses were in its open-ended funding mechanism. Secretary-General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations ( UNSG or UNSECGEN ) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat , one of the six principal organs of the United Nations . The role of

282-464: A second term, with the exception of Boutros Boutros-Ghali , who was vetoed by the United States in the 1996 selection . While the position does not have a formal term limit , incumbent secretary-generals have avoided seeking a third term since the 1981 selection , when China cast a record 16 vetoes against a third term for Kurt Waldheim . The selection process is opaque and is often compared to

329-467: A situation in the PBC agenda, which is also part of the Security Council's agenda, would need formal action by the members of the council. In this regard, the council has adopted the practice of issuing a letter to the president of the PBSO to request the consideration of other countries as part of the PBC agenda. Once a country's situation has been put under the consideration of the PBC, it should remain as part of

376-476: A variety of roles as suited to their preferences, skill set, or circumstances. The secretary-general's routine duties include overseeing the activities and duties of the secretariat; attending sessions with United Nations bodies; consulting with world leaders, government officials, and other stakeholders; and travelling the world to engage with global constituents and bring attention to certain international issues. The secretary-general publishes an annual report on

423-451: Is a single organ charged with a mission that relies on a complex of capacities and expertise which used to be of many UN subjects' concern, without any substantial coordination set out. For this reason, the commission can benefit from all the UN experience on such matters as conflict prevention, mediation, peacekeeping, respect for human rights, the rule of law, humanitarian assistance, reconstruction and long-term development. Obviously, as it

470-495: Is a subsidiary organ of both the General Assembly and the Security Council, thus the legal basis for its institution is to be found in articles 22 and 29 of the UN Charter, devoted respectively to GA and SC subsidiary bodies. In this regard, the Security Council adopted Resolution 1645 on December 20, 2005, in concurrence with an analogue act approved by the General Assembly, the 60/180 resolution of December 30, 2005. In both texts,

517-589: Is a townhouse at 3 Sutton Place, Manhattan , in New York City, United States. The townhouse was built for Anne Morgan in 1921 and donated to the United Nations in 1972. Formerly a member of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League until 1958 [REDACTED]   Timor-Leste United Nations Security Council Resolution 1645 United Nations Security Council Resolution 1645 , adopted unanimously on 20 December 2005, acting concurrently with

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564-664: Is an advisory body, its natural role is that of proposing action patterns to be followed by the countries involved in the peace-building operations, and it is not entitled to take effective action. Another important task the PBC is supposed to fulfill is of ensuring actual funding both for early reconstruction activities and for longer-term strategies. This last mission is aimed at fixing the previous general praxis, according to which Countries were often more disposable to engage themselves to offer resources for short-term interventions (mainly devoted to peace-keeping operations) than to keep their promises of supporting peace-building operations once

611-469: Is composed of 31 member states , which gather in two main fora: an Organizational Committee, and country-specific Configurations, one for each country that currently is part of the PBC's agenda. The current composition of the Peacebuilding Commission's Organizational Committee is as follows: The leadership [2] of the PBC is currently as follows: The PBC is one of the new entities created by

658-574: The United Nations General Assembly , the council established the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission to advise on post-conflict situations, in accordance with the declaration of the 2005 World Summit . In the preamble of the resolution, the council reaffirmed the outcome of the 2005 World Summit and recognised that human rights, development, peace and security are mutually reinforcing and connected. There

705-508: The rule of law , reform of the security sector, and ensuring community recovery with a special focus on youth. In Sierra Leone, the PBC and national partners identified reform of the justice and security sectors, youth employment and empowerment, and capacity-building in governance institutions as key priorities. Effective partnerships between national and international actors helped ensure that recent elections in Sierra Leone were conducted in

752-633: The High-Level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace on 24 and 25 April 2018. Briefing on the high-level event to the Peacebuilding Commission, the President of the General Assembly stressed that "Again and again, we have reaffirmed the role of the PBC as one of the UN’s most valuable tools for Sustaining Peace. This was clear, during the review of the Peacebuilding Architecture, in 2015. It

799-471: The International Community. It is up to the PBC to collect all available resources and funds directed to support recovery projects in those countries, and to draft long-term strategies in order to guarantee reconstruction, institution-building and sustainable development. As said, this new body represents an innovation to the UN's traditional approach to conflict situations for the first time, there

846-709: The Peacebuilding Commission Support Branch, the Policy, Planning and Application Branch and the Financing for Peacebuilding Branch. In its first year of operations, the Commission focused its attention on Burundi and Sierra Leone . In Burundi, the PBC and the Government of Burundi agreed on four critical peacebuilding areas to form the basis of a strategic framework: promoting good governance , strengthening

893-610: The Peacebuilding Commission and drawing from the best expertise available.” The PBSO also administers the Peacebuilding Fund and provides support to the Secretary General's efforts regarding the coordination of peacebuilding activities. In September 2014, the Secretary-General appointed Oscar Fernandez-Taranco , from Argentina, as Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support. The PBSO comprises three branches:

940-444: The Peacebuilding Commission is described as an intergovernmental advisory body, and among its tasks, there is the duty to submit an annual report to the General Assembly which is supposed to hold an annual session to discuss it. The main task of the new Peacebuilding Commission is that of taking care of post-conflict actions to be adopted and enforced in countries emerging from conflicts, whose Governments choose to ask for relief from

987-442: The Security Council, any of the five permanent members of the council can veto a nomination. Most secretaries-general are compromise candidates from middle powers and have little prior fame. Unofficial qualifications for the job have been set by precedent in previous selections. The appointee may not be a citizen of any of the Security Council's five permanent members. The General Assembly resolution 51/241 in 1997 stated that, in

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1034-492: The agenda for several years, or until the peacebuilding phase is considered to be completed. Currently, the agenda of the PBC includes the situation in Burundi, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and the Central African Republic. The six cases in the agenda of the PBC and the overall progress achieved since the establishment of the Commission reveal the complexity in relying on peacebuilding efforts, as well as

1081-454: The appointment of "the best candidate", due regard should be given to regional (continental) rotation of the appointee's national origin and to gender equality, although no woman has yet served as secretary-general. All appointees to date have been career diplomats . The length of the term is discretionary, but all secretaries-general since 1971 have been appointed to five-year terms. Every secretary-general since 1961 has been re-selected for

1128-416: The coexistence of several factors within this process, including the ability of the PBC and its different Configurations to engage with the host government, as well as civil society and important stakeholders on the ground, in the conduction and implementation of coordinated actions. Besides, there are several factors largely dependent on the Security Council's substantive engagement in each situation, including

1175-470: The composition of the commission, to include seven members of the security council, seven members of the United Nations Economic and Social Council , the top five providers to the United Nations budget, the top five providers to United Nations peacekeeping missions , with representation from all regional groups. It also discussed country-specific meetings of the commission, where representatives of

1222-507: The conflict had been soothed and the hype on it had ceased to affect international public opinion. This Peacebuilding Support Office was envisaged as part of the founding resolutions from the Security Council and General Assembly that established the Peacebuilding Commission in order “to establish, within the Secretariat and from within existing resources, a small peacebuilding support office staffed by qualified experts to assist and support

1269-420: The establishment of the new multilateral system. Indeed, the third paragraph of article 109 is a clear clue of this initial orientation, as it states that a General Conference aimed at reviewing the UN Charter should be called from the tenth annual session of the General Assembly onward. But, the first attempt to reform the UN structure failed at the very 10th session, when the General Assembly, even though aware of

1316-469: The first time to promote coordination and coherence across peace and development efforts. The Human Rights Council also considered the links between peacebuilding and human rights at its thirty-fourth session. Such initiatives have built upon the regular exchanges held by the Peacebuilding Commission with the Economic and Social Council and the Security Council. The President of the General Assembly will convene

1363-487: The first time. However, the Security Council voted in private and followed the same process as previous selections, leading the president of the General Assembly to complain that it "does not live up to the expectations of the membership and the new standard of openness and transparency". The role of the secretary-general is described as combining the functions and responsibilities of an advocate, diplomat, civil servant, and chief executive officer. The UN Charter designates

1410-440: The general assembly, the Peacebuilding Commission was established as an intergovernmental advisory body. The main goals of the commission were to bring together all stakeholders to advise and propose strategies for building peace and reconciliation after a conflict, to focus on the restoration of state institutions and make recommendations to improve co-ordination within and outside the United Nations. The resolution then set out

1457-440: The main relevant actors in different fields (UN organs such as ECOSOC and representative from UN agencies, International Financial and Economic Institutions, representatives of regional and subregional organizations) and it should be assisted by Peacebuilding Support Office established in the Secretariat. The High-Level Panel was integrated by 16 prominent politicians, diplomats and development experts: The Peacebuilding Commission

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1504-544: The membership of the 16-member Panel in a letter, dated November 3, 2003, addressed to the President of the General Assembly , Julian Robert Hunte ( Saint Lucia ). Mr Anand Panyarachun , former Prime Minister of Thailand, was appointed to chair the high-level panel on global security threats and reform of the international system. The Panel was asked to analyse and assess future threats to peace and security and to evaluate existing approaches, instruments and mechanisms, including

1551-523: The multilateral system should concentrate its action now and in the decades ahead: Considering the second point, the analysis of the panel identified "a key institutional gap: there is no place in the United Nations system explicitly designed to avoid State collapse and the slide to war or to assist countries in their transition from war to peace" (reference: report, paragraph 261). Since the United Nations should be able to act coherently and effectively from preventive action through post-conflict peace-building,

1598-406: The need for reform, decided to postpone any decision. Various attempts to reform the UN took place over the decades but the core issues (Security Council reform, veto power, UN enforcement) failed to be properly addressed. The PBC was inaugurated in June 2006, with the inclusion of Burundi and Sierra Leona as the first cases of the commission, as previously requested by the Security Council, to develop

1645-455: The need for regular interactions with the PBC and its Configurations. In January 2017, the President of the General Assembly convened a high-level dialogue on sustainable development and sustaining peace, which brought together the President of the General Assembly, the President of the Security Council, the President of the Economic and Social Council and the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission for

1692-519: The office as the "world's most visible bully pulpit " or as the "world's moderator". Examples include Dag Hammarskjöld 's promotion of an armistice between the warring parties of Arab-Israel conflict , Javier Perez de Cuellar 's negotiation of a ceasefire in the Iran-Iraq War , and U Thant 's role in deescalating the Cuban Missile Crisis . The official residence of the secretary-general

1739-608: The organs of the UN system. In this view, the Panel was specifically asked to: The list above makes clear that the panel was not asked to formulate policies on specific issues. Rather it was asked to make an assessment of current challenges and to recommend proper changes to meet them effectively. The final report of the High-level Panel, named "A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility," set out several recommendations to address problems and issues in six main areas of concern on which

1786-438: The panel recommended establishing a Peacebuilding Commission as a subsidiary body of the Security Council itself. As it is stated in the report, "the core functions of the Peacebuilding Commission should be to identify countries which are under stress and risk sliding towards State collapse; to organize, in partnership with the national Government, proactive assistance in preventing that process from developing further; to assist in

1833-520: The planning for transitions between conflict and post-conflict peacebuilding; and in particular to marshal and sustain the efforts of the international community in post-conflict peacebuilding over whatever period may be necessary". For what concerns more practical and in-depth aspects of this new body, the panel just recommends that the commission should be reasonably small, meet in different configurations in order to consider both general policy issues and country-by-country situations and strategies, involving

1880-406: The reform process initiated during the 60th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, as part of the 2005 World Summit Outcome. The debate over the reform of the United Nations systems is not a recent one. Since the creation of the organization (June 1945), most delegates and commentators believed that the structure they had given birth to was a merely temporary one as a first step towards

1927-591: The secretary-general and of the secretariat is laid out by Chapter XV (Articles 97 to 101) of the United Nations Charter . However, the office's qualifications, selection process and tenure are open to interpretation; they have been established by custom. The secretary-general is appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council . As the recommendation must come from

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1974-442: The secretary-general as the "chief administrative officer" of the UN and allows them to perform "such other functions as are entrusted" by other United Nations organs. The Charter also empowers the secretary-general to inform the Security Council of "any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security". These provisions have been interpreted as providing broad leeway for officeholders to serve

2021-510: The secretary-general's powers are informal and left open to individual interpretation; some appointees have opted for more activist roles, while others have been more technocratic or administrative. The secretary-general is often reliant upon the use of their "good offices", described as "steps taken publicly and in private, drawing upon his independence, impartiality and integrity, to prevent international disputes from arising, escalating or spreading". Consequently, observers have variably described

2068-474: The transition from a peace operation in Liberia and the adoption of a gender strategy that is the first of its kind for an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Member States have also used the platform of the commission for constructive discussions on Burkina Faso, Colombia, Kyrgyzstan, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Somalia and Sri Lanka, at the initiative of the countries concerned. [1] The commission

2115-570: The work of the UN, which includes an assessment of its activities and an outline future priorities. The secretary-general is also the chairman of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB), a body composed of the heads of all UN funds, programmes, and specialised agencies, which meets twice a year to discuss substantive and management issues facing the United Nations System . Many of

2162-542: Was a need for a co-ordinated, coherent and integrated approach to post-conflict peacebuilding and reconciliation, while the council also recognised the important role of the United Nations in the conflict prevention and efforts towards reconciliation. The text reaffirmed the primary responsibility of national governments for determining post-conflict priorities and strategies, while the role of all countries, civil society , regional organisations and non-governmental organisations were important in peacebuilding. In unison with

2209-547: Was clear, through the adoption of the twin resolutions on Sustaining Peace, a year later. And, it is clear, again, from the recent report of the Secretary-General." In 2010, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and the Stanley Foundation sent an independent journalist to visit the PBC's four agenda countries. The journalistic investigation suggested that the PBC's greatest strength was in its creation and execution of

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