Danish Statement at the High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly on Financing for Peacebuilding

Mr. President, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,

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Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has highlighted the cruelty of war and the unbearable human suffering, it causes. It serves as yet another reminder of why must do our utmost to prevent the outbreaks of violent conflicts – everywhere.  We condemn in the strongest possible terms Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked attack, which is a grave violation of international law and the UN Charter and a threat to peace and security worldwide. 

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The impact of Russia’s war reaches far beyond Europe. It is threatening food and energy security globally; hitting those who are already vulnerable the hardest. It risks deepening existing fragilities and exacerbating root causes of conflict. We therefore welcome the Secretary-General’s new Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance, which the Danish Prime Minister is championing together with other heads of state and government. We must do everything in our power to counter these emerging crises and stay committed to building and sustaining peace. The cost of failing to prevent conflict is one that we cannot afford.

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Conflict prevention and peacebuilding has long been a priority for Denmark. Through our years-long development and humanitarian engagements, we have contributed to preventing conflict by fighting poverty, inequality and displacement; promoting human rights; strengthening democratic institutions and building resilience to climate change – with a particular focus on conflict-affected and fragile countries. We seek to work across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus to promote long-term, sustainable responses, including by ensuring complementarity between multiple engagements and funding streams.

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Mr. President,

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Financing for peacebuilding remains a critical challenge and the Secretary-General has time and again called for adequate, predictable and sustained financing for UN peacebuilding activities. As a long-term major donor to the UN Peacebuilding Fund, Denmark has heeded these calls. We increased our contribution to the fund by 50% in our most recent multi-year agreement from 2021 to 2023. However, we are far from reaching our collective ambitions. We echo the Secretary-General’s call for prioritizing investments in prevention and peacebuilding. At the same time, we support exploring complementary funding modalities for the Peacebuilding Fund, including the option of assessed contributions. We must also leverage innovative financing mechanisms to support both the Fund’s work and peacebuilding activities more broadly. Engagement, coordination and cooperation with the international financial institutions – including the World Bank and the IMF – is crucial in this regard.

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A key aspect of building lasting peace is empowering women and ensuring their full, equal and meaningful participation in peace processes. Denmark welcomes the Secretary-General’s proposal to dedicate at least 15% of UN peacebuilding finance to gender equality and women’s empowerment. It is also crucial that we ensure adequate support for community-based and civil society organisations, including youth-based organisations. We further encourage financing for peacebuilding to promote climate sensitive and human rights-based approaches, as well as support strengthened results reporting.

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Mr. President,

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Preventing conflict and building peace are two sides of the same coin. We cannot do either without proper financing. Today’s meeting is an opportunity for us to reinforce our collective commitment to closing the peacebuilding financing gap. This has never been more important.

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Thank you.