Let me begin by thanking you for convening this joint debate of the General Assembly and the Peacebuilding Commission.

I would also like to thank the current Chair of the PBC, Croatia, as well as last year’s Chair and current fellow Vice-Chair, Bangladesh, for their presentations on the work of the Commission.

The PBC has made a lot of headway under their respective leadership. As longstanding member and current Vice-Chair of the PBC, we are proud of the many achievements and continued contribution of the Commission to conflict prevention and peacebuilding worldwide. In view of the record number of conflicts in the world, the work of the Peacebuilding Commission is more important than ever.

To contribute to today’s debate, I will focus on a few particular achievements before touching upon remaining challenges and ways to improve the relevance and impact of the PBC even further going forward.

a) What have we achieved in the last year and a half?

b) Where can we do better?

We have made some headway regarding our joint objective to establish a greater connection between the work of the PBC and the realm of Peacebuilding Financing. Yet more needs to – and in fact can – be done:

Therefore, in addition to an increased focus on the important contributions of the Peacebuilding Fund, IFIs and other financing mechanisms to national peacebuilding efforts in all PBC meetings, the Commission should also have dedicated meetings to discuss concrete ways to achieve more predictable and sustained peacebuilding financing. Together with the Chair, we are currently working on a joint meeting with IFIs and other relevant actors on “Innovative Peace Financing” which, hopefully, will take place in the fall. In parallel, we are going to continue advocating for an agreement in the 5th Committee on the introduction of assessed contributions for the PBF and call upon all member states to join the emerging cross-regional compromise.

Lastly, to strengthen its close exchange and complementarity with the UN Security Council, the PBC should renew its focus on transition contexts during and after UN Peacekeeping Missions and regionally led peace operations. In addition to providing its advice to the Council on Peacebuilding priorities in ongoing missions, the PBC should hold dedicated meetings on the Sahel in view of the withdrawal of MINUSMA and its effects and on the transition phase of MONUSCO.

Germany would also welcome a more regular exchange on building and sustaining peace within this Assembly.

In closing, I would like to welcome the process initiated by the current PBC Chair Croatia to increase the impact of the PBC by improving its working methods and strengthening its advisory role to the General Assembly, the Security Council and ECOSOC.

We should make use of the deliberations around the New Agenda for Peace and its specific recommendations to continue strengthening the role, impact and contributions of the PBC in view of next year’s Summit of the Future and the Peacebuilding Architecture Review in 2025.