The Peacebuilding Commission’s Working Group on Lessons Learned (WGLL) convened on Wednesday, 6 April to discuss the PBC’s role in mobilizing resources for peacebuilding priorities identified by the countries on its agenda.
Members of the Working Group heard special briefings from the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) to Liberia, Ms. Ellen Margrethe Løj, and from Mr. Michael von der Schulenburg, Executive Representative of the Secretary-General (ERSG) to Sierra Leone, on the impact of the PBC’s resource mobilization efforts in the two countries.Broadening the scope of the discussion, the perspective of the larger UN system and of international financial institutions (IFIs) on financing development and reconstruction activities in fragile and post-conflict states like those on the PBC’s agenda was presented by Mr. Ivar Anderson of the World Bank’s IDA Resource Mobilization Department and a representative of the UN Development Program’s (UNDP) Bureau of Conflict Prevention and Recovery.
Lessons from Liberia and Sierra Leone
The SRSGs to Liberia and Sierra Leone, Ms. Løj and Mr. von der Schulenburg, outlined key lessons learned over years of UN-led peacebuilding efforts in the countries.Successful peacebuilding efforts by the PBC and the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) involved several critical elements:
National ownership: SRSG Løj placed particular emphasis on the notion of national ownership as an essential element of successful peacebuilding.While the focus and visibility of all efforts must be on the national government rather than on international and intergovernmental actors, SRSG Løj noted that the UN must also recognize certain limits in its approach to fostering ownership.Importantly, UN-led efforts must be careful not to encourage too much dependency and detrimental hand-holding of agenda countries.
Funding for Peacebuilding:
Risk Aversion: Too often, the SRSGs noted, funding for peacebuilding has been inadequate and uneven.Government donors are accountable to tax payers and their governing bodies, which make them fundamentally risk averse, especially in fragile countries found on the PBC’s agenda.To counter this tendency, donors must be encouraged to focus on the peace dividends that their contributions will make in fragile, post-conflict countries.
PBF’s Role: An added challenge in fundraising for conflict-affected countries is donors’ reluctance to fund states that do not fall under the official development assistance (ODA) category.In order to effectively enhance essential funding to post-conflict countries’ recovery, the PBF should be utilized more effectively as a strategic and catalytic fund for non-ODA countries.
PBC’s Coordination Role: In the experience of country teams on the ground in PBC countries, SRSGs Løj and Schulenburg explained that peacebuilding and development efforts are often hindered by interagency competition and a general lack of communication between bodies.With many actors carrying out the various mandates of UN agencies on the ground, efforts are often duplicated and essential activities for overall peacebuilding and development may be overlooked in the shuffle.Moving forward, the PBC should enhance its unique position to become a leading body in coordinating these various efforts and activities on the ground, ensuring that core priorities are integrated across UN-led efforts.Drawing upon the experience of SRSG Schulenburg in Sierra Leone, a single UN strategy in Sierra Leone that integrated five priority areas into all UN efforts in the country (including its 21 ongoing programs), has been a major success.Through various coordinating endeavors including staff exchanges, an integrated administrative and infrastructural structure, as well as a joint fundraising strategy, major administrative costs have been avoided and peacebuilding and development work has been more efficiently and effectively implemented.Ultimately, more funds have reached actual development and peacebuilding programs and clarity of purpose in implementing programs and strategies has resulted in immense progress at the field level.
UNDP and World Bank on Funding for Peacebuilding and Development
A representative of UNDP’s Bureau of Conflict Prevention and Recovery, and Mr. Ivar Anderson of the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) Resource Mobilization Department, briefed Member States on conditions and processes of development funding for post-conflict and fragile states beyond the Peacebuilding Fund.
In his brief presentation, UNDP’s representative noted the importance of evaluating and monitoring resource mobilization activities as a symptom of the entire resource environment of the peace architecture.Asking pointed questions about where efforts have been lagging behind (such as in the volume and spread of aid; quality of national policy and plans for peacebuilding; use of financial management systems for channeling aid; and monitoring results and accountability) is essential to identifying the progress of particular resource mobilization efforts and managing future expansion or alteration of methods.
Mr. Anderson of the World Bank informed the membership of the structure and activities of the Bank’s fund for the world’s poorest countries: the International Development Association (IDA).Ensuring long-term development gains for countries that have suffered intense conflict or crisis (such as armed conflict, severe exogenous economic crises of a global/regional nature, and natural disasters) is an essential priority for IDA.Such fragile/conflict affected countries (or FCCs) continue to lag behind in achieving the UN’s millennium development goals (MDGs) and require enhanced attention from all actors delivering development aid and peacebuilding assistance.
Next Steps
In his remarks, the Chair of the WGLL (Japan) outlined the agenda of the Working Group in the coming months.Aimed at advancing the added value of the PBC and producing clear results and concrete follow-up strategies, the WGLL will address the following subjects in forthcoming meetings:
Economic revitalization and youth employment in post-conflict countries;
Rule of law;
Security sector reform (SSR);
Working methods of PBC engagement (including potential conclusion and exit strategies);
