Thank you, Mr. President,
I would like start by congratulating Sierra Leone on a strong and remarkable Security Council presidency this month, and thank you for organizing this timely open debate.
I would also like to thank the briefers for their valuable insights.

Mr President,
Germany shares the Secretary General’s assessment in the New Agenda for Peace:
We urgently need to enhance the existing UN toolbox if we want be successful in tackling the challenges that we collectively face. Peacebuilding is one such critically important tool.
To strengthen it, it is our conviction, we must pay particular attention to the following three aspects:

First,
we need to ensure an integrated approach to conflict resolution and prevention. This, in turn, needs to be supported by adequate funding. The UN’s peacebuilding architecture, including the PBC and the PBF, plays a crucial role, as it provides both political support and flexible and targeted funding to address the root causes of conflicts.
Germany is proud to be the largest long-term donor to the Peacebuilding Fund. We are also proud to have spearheaded initiatives on innovative financing for peace. I would also like to note that building and sustaining peace requires strong local and national ownership, backed by the international community. We therefore welcome the PBC’s written advice on today’s debate
and we would like to see the link between the PBC and the Security Council further strengthened.

Second,
we need to step up our efforts to address the climate crisis, which is a key risk to global peace and stability. We strongly support the Climate Security Mechanism. It is our firm conviction that this mechanism is critical in mainstreaming climate, peace and security within the UN system.

Third,
conflict prevention and sustaining peace are only possible with the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and marginalized groups. Peace processes and national prevention plans have to be designed in a gender-responsive manner to ensure that the specific needs of women and girls are met, so that they can develop their full potential as powerful agents of change. This is why Germany supports initiatives such as the African Women’s Leaders Network.

Mr. President,
Allow me to conclude with a short comment on the Summit of the Future. As co-facilitator, together with Namibia, we are encouraged by the substantive input on peacebuilding and prevention that Member States have provided during the negotiations. We firmly believe that the Pact has the potential to deliver effective action for governance reforms in the area of international peace and security.
I thank you.