UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Michelle Yeoh spoke during the High-Level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace, organized by the President of the General Assembly, Miroslav Lajčák, on 24 April 2018.
Mr. President Miroslav Lajčák, excellencies. Thank you for granting me the honor to address you this morning in my role as goodwill ambassador for the UN Development Programme. Thank you, Secretary-General for sharing your inspiring vision.
Over the past couple of years, as UNDP Goodwill Ambassador. I have met many men, women and children, who have been forced from their homes, who are struggling to make ends meet, who have been left behind. In many cases, their suffering was caused by violence, conflict or crisis. As the Secretary-General pointed out, more countries have experienced conflict over the last few years, then at any time in the past three decades.
What’s more? These conflicts are becoming more drawn-out, complex and deadlier, as civilians are no longer casualties, but have become targets. An estimated 65.6 million people are now forcibly displaced from their homes primarily due to violence and conflict. The number of refugees nearly doubled over the past decade, adding to the tragedy and heartbreak is the fact that more than half of the world’s refugees are children, many of whom, who have been separated from their families.
If the current trend continues, by 2030, the year in which we hope to achieve the 17 sustainable development goals more than half of the world’s poor will be living in countries affected by high levels of violence. Violent conflict affects men and women in very different ways. Too often, women and girls fall prey to sexual and gender-based violence, they become victims of human trafficking, sexual slavery and forced marriage. For children and youth, the devastating long-term effects of suffering through violence and conflict can lead to psychological trauma, and can have negative impacts on cognitive and social development. It can also put them at risk of perpetrating violence, or becoming victims of violence in later life. The human cost of war and violence is tragic, devastating and simply too high. But the financial costs born by the affected countries, regions, and the international communities are also enormous wide-reaching and have long-term consequences.
Much of the efforts and resources of the international community amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars have been dedicated to responding to crisis, once they have already broken out. What we should be doing instead is preventing conflict in the first place. It could save countless lives and billions of dollars. The UN Charter establishes the prevention of violent conflict, as the overriding objective of the United Nations with the aim to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. Conflict prevention is our mandate and we need to be able to fulfill it. Rebalancing the UN’s focus from reaction to prevention is at the heart of the sustaining peace agenda.
I thank the Secretary-General for declaring prevention, the priority of the UN. This includes not just the prevention of violent conflict, for which the concept of sustaining peace is critical, but the prevention of crisis and human suffering, including through actions, such as combating climate change and ensuring disaster preparedness. And we must not forget empowerment of women, the resolutions on sustaining peace place great emphasis on conflict prevention, they also underline the importance of inclusion, and the essential role women play in the process, inclusivity means staying true to the 2030 agenda pledged to leave no one behind. Inclusive and sustained peace building means the full participation of women in society, without which, neither peace nor prosperity can be assured over the long term. Women’s empowerment transforms our communities, and makes peace more sustainable. Evidence shows that peace building interventions are more effective, if they are directly tied to promoting gender equality.
What’s more? Women should be active agents in peace negotiations and peace building, not merely beneficiaries of services who need protection. The inclusion of women and women’s groups in conflict resolution and peace building processes, measurably strengthens protection efforts deepens the effectiveness of peace building, and helps to ensure the sustainability of peace accords.
The UN agency I work most closely with UNDP, knows from experience that this is the most effective approach, supporting the capacity of countries to prevent violent conflict, and sustained peace, and include women in the process, is a major part of UNDP’s work. For example, in Malawi, UNDP and the UN Department of political affairs supported the government in establishing a national peace architecture, that enables women and youth to act as national conflict mediators.
Gender equality contributes to durable peace and sustainable development. Systematic disparities between women and men in the economic social and political sectors stand in the way of sustainable development and durable peace. Women need to be engaged in all spheres of social life, and their priorities must inform the agenda for sustainable development. Conflict prevention, early recovery from crisis, lasting peace and resilience, to make this a reality, necessary funds and resources need to be allocated to advance gender equality, and women’s empowerment, especially in peace-building context. Promoting both the empowerment of women and maintenance of peace and inclusive societies are key elements of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. UNDP and other UN agencies have made women’s empowerment and sustainable development the center piece of their efforts to help, support and promote peaceful justice and inclusive societies.
UN agencies have been undertaking such prevention focused initiatives in many parts of the world. For instance, thanks to a few presences in nearly 170 countries and the breadth of his technical expertise, UNDP is able to provide tailored and integrated support to Nations and their leadership in many areas, including the rule of law, access to justice, Human Rights, elections, constitutional processes. local governance, sustainable livelihoods and climate adaptation. The fundamental premise of the recently released UN World Bank pathways for peace report is that we simply cannot achieve the 17 sustainable development goals without addressing and preventing conflict. In fact, the sustainable development goals provide a blueprint to help to eliminate the root causes of violence and unrest. Building and sustaining peace sits at the very core of the United Nations being.
If we are to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, sustainable development is imperative. But development is neither achievable nor sustainable in the absence of peace. It is critical that we work in concert tours attaining both sustainable peace and sustainable development.
As we know, UN member states carry the key responsibility to achieve and sustain peace. Realizing lasting peace is a long-term endeavor that involves building resilient institutions, securing economic transformation and addressing inequalities and grievances that can lead to conflict. We must recognize that this process can take years and even decades, and we need to give the UN system the time, space and resources to pursue such long-term strategies that yield lasting results.
Let’s focus this high-level meeting, on how we can work together to strengthen the UN’s abilities to deliver on its mandate, to eradicate the root causes of conflict, prevent the escalation of violence, bring about lasting peace, and leave no one behind.
Thank You!
