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Remarks by H.E. Annalena Baerbock<\/strong><\/p>\n President of the 80th<\/sup> Session of the United Nations General Assembly <\/strong><\/p>\n at the <\/strong>Plenary meeting of the General Assembly <\/strong><\/p>\n on Agenda Item 28 \u201cReport of the Peacebuilding Commission\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n GA Hall, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ HQ, New York<\/strong><\/p>\n 25 June 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n [As Delivered]<\/strong><\/p>\n Excellencies,<\/p>\n Tomorrow, we commemorate 81 years since the signing of our United Nations Charter.<\/p>\n The Charter is both a promise and a warning.<\/p>\n It gives form to our aspiration for a better future, while reminding us of the horrors we endured to learn the hard lessons.<\/p>\n Peace does not occur automatically.<\/p>\n It is built through persistent diplomacy, collective action, and political will.<\/p>\n Eight decades on, we should be alarmed at our trajectory.<\/p>\n The number of active armed conflicts reached a record high in 2025, and nearly forty percent of countries emerging from conflict relapse within five years.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, between 2024 and 2025 alone, global humanitarian funding collapsed by 40 per cent.<\/p>\n This is despite what over eight decades of United Nations efforts to maintain peace, prevent conflict, and support recovery have taught us: that peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights are inseparable.<\/p>\n We meet at a moment of cynicism.<\/p>\n Some complain that the United Nations is not doing enough to deliver peace and security, even as we fail to invest sufficiently in the foundations of peace and the institutions that support it.<\/p>\n Where institutions are weak, grievances grow.<\/p>\n Where justice is delayed, trust erodes.<\/p>\n And where the rule of law is ignored, nationally or internationally, instability spreads, and development becomes harder to sustain.<\/p>\n We are often asked by the public and journalists alike whether the United Nations is still worth it if it cannot end the devastating wars currently under way.<\/p>\n Yet wars that never happen because of these efforts, because of our \u00a0peacebuilding efforts, because of conflict prevention, or sustainable development, rarely make headlines.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, there is no glory in prevention.<\/p>\n Yet we know that prevention and peacebuilding is the most noble thing we can do to ensure peace.<\/p>\n \u201cSaving succeeding generations from the scourge of war\u201d therefore means first of all valuing peacebuilding and conflict prevention as core parts of the work of the United Nations.<\/p>\n And for sure, and without doubt, we all have to do better, to bring peace to Sudan, Ukraine, Gaza, and Lebanon.<\/p>\n And to conflicts that too often escape global attention, including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or the situation in Haiti, and elsewhere.<\/p>\n Yet we should also value the successes, which are there, but as I said earlier, hardly make the headlines.<\/p>\n Such as in Central Asia – where Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have engaged positively on transboundary water issues intensively, and the empowerment of women, and regional cooperation, backed by the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy.<\/p>\n This not only solved a years\u2019 long struggle along borders but also helped them move forward on water management \u2013 building peace, building trust, preventing further crises.<\/p>\n This is preventive diplomacy across the region. This is the core of the work we are doing here for 8 decades,<\/p>\n In the Pact for the Future, therefore Member States committed to strengthening preventive diplomacy and dialogue between States.<\/p>\n The Pact recognizes the importance of national efforts to sustain peace and enhance international security, while also pledging to give the Peacebuilding Commission a more strategic role.<\/p>\n Furthermore, the 2025 Peacebuilding Architecture Review, adopted in November by the General Assembly and the Security Council, builds on twenty years of experience to strengthen the impact of peacebuilding efforts.<\/p>\n That experience includes Liberia, where, after 14 years of civil war, the Commission supported national efforts on transitional justice and the women and youth agendas.<\/p>\n It is a powerful reminder of what can be achieved when peacebuilding is treated as a core priority.<\/p>\n Yet, like everything else, peacebuilding is only possible when properly resourced.<\/p>\n The Pact affirms that Member States bear the primary responsibility for preventing conflict and building peace in their own countries and supports nationally owned efforts.<\/p>\n But national ownership does not mean countries should carry these burdens alone.<\/p>\n External support remains essential.<\/p>\n And the Peacebuilding Fund is exactly the tool leading to this aim.<\/p>\n Since 2006, the Peacebuilding Fund has supported 75 countries and territories and invested more than 2 billion dollars, sustained by the voluntary generosity of more than sixty Member States.<\/p>\n For example, the PBF became the first contributor to the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Multi-Donor Trust Fund in Colombia, which has mobilized more than 217 million dollars for the implementation of the 2016 Peace Agreement. This is the core work of the United Nations \u2013 preventive diplomacy.<\/p>\n In the Central African Republic, the Fund supported the 2025\u20132026 electoral cycle, including presidential, legislative, regional, and municipal elections. The completion of that cycle marked an important step towards extending Government authority across the country.<\/p>\n It also helped widen political participation, with women making up 45 per cent of elected municipal councilors, including the newly elected mayor of Bangui. This shows again, how our work on peace is deeply interconnected with delivering on our SDGs \u2013 the goal on strengthening public institutions, justice as the core for peace.<\/p>\n And we all know these resources work best when they build upon, and work in concert with national strategies.<\/p>\n Therefore, this first Peacebuilding Week is our chance to show what peacebuilding achieves and to rally the support it deserves, knowing that we are always Better Together.<\/p>\n I thank you.<\/p>\n Watch Full Broadcast Here.<\/a><\/p>\n