Chair, distinguished delegates,

Pleasw allow me to congratulate you and the entire Bureau on your election. I wish and always good hand in steering this important committee.

Further, I would like to join other delegations in paying tribute to those who have paid the ultimate price in the line of duty for the United Nations, and for all of us.

Finally, I want to underline our full alignment with the statement, that was delivered by the European Union this morning, and add a few remarks in national capacity.

Chair,

It is now, almost to the day, five months since the adoption of the Pact for the Future.

In the Pact, Members States agreed to adapt peace operations

to better respond to existing challenges. It is now our common responsibility to continuously optimize and actively shape the future of peacekeeping,for peace and security, for a better protection of civilians and the safety of our peacekeepers.

The C34 plays a vital role in shaping the future of peacekeeping. This Committee provides the opportunity for a wide range of eacekeeping stakeholders to come together and discuss the whole question of peacekeeping operations. We are very much looking forward to a productive outcome of the session.

Chair, distinguished delegates,

Looking ahead, to May, Germany will host the next UN Peacekeeping Ministerial.

The two-day conference in Berlin is jointly organized by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense.

It will be an important opportunity for all of us to announce substantial pledges in support of closing capability gaps in order to make UN Peacekeeping safer and more effective.

It will also be a moment to reflect on how we can collectively shape the future of peacekeeping at a high political level. Here we will build not only on the Pact but especially on the important work of this Committee.

On the Road to Berlin, preparations are well on the way.

Firstly, we have an excellent point of departure with the recent independent study on “The Future of Peacekeeping, New Models, and Related Capabilities”. The study convincingly reaffirms the immense benefit and comparative advantage of UN Peacekeeping.

At the same time, the study provides us with very practical proposals

on how to shape future tailor-made mission setups through an innovative, modular approach. An approach, we are convinced, we should definitely explore in more detail.

Secondly, we can build on the two fruitful and inspiring preparatory conferences in Montevideo and Jakarta.Both meetings took place in a very positive and constructive manner. We are now looking forward to the third and final Prepcom, to be held in Islamabad in April.

I sincerely thank the hosts of these conferences, Uruguay, Indonesia, Pakistan and their respective co-hosts, Japan, the UK, Bangladesh, the Netherlands, the US and the Republic of Korea for their efforts and their generous contributions.

Mr Chair,

We are convinced that we can build on this momentum.

We would kindly ask delegations to convey to their respective capitals that the highest possible representation in Berlin

will be crucial for success.

Crucial, to generate the critically needed substantial pledges in support of current UN peacekeeping.

Crucial also, to carry forward our collective thinking on how to improve Peacekeeping and make it ready for the next decades.

We must be ambitious.

Ambitious in the upcoming ministerial process, in Berlin and in this session of the C34.

We owe it to our Peacekeepers

Thank you.