August 21, 2024
Mr. President,
I would like to thank Assistant Secretary-General, Ms. Spehar, Mr. Adeoye, as well as Ms. Sawai and Mr. Descardes, for their briefings.
I would also like to thank Sierra Leone for organizing this open debate on a topic that is essential for rethinking collective security.
In this regard, France would like to commend the work accomplished by the Secretary-General through the New Agenda for Peace, with a view to the Summit of the Future. This event offers us the opportunity to reflect collectively on the future of the United Nations’ tools to work towards international peace and security.
This collective effort should start with a reflection on the causes of crises, in order to contain their emergence more effectively. This requires investment in all sectors, including the rule of law to education, healthcare, climate change and biodiversity. France also calls for the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in peacekeeping, and the full implementation of the “Women, Peace and Security” Agenda. The fight against poverty, job creation and support for vulnerable communities as part of comprehensive development strategies are also essential elements of prevention.
In the event of a crisis, the international community must be able to provide appropriate responses to each context. France is fully committed to adapting these tools through its support to crisis and conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peace reform. In this respect, peace operations remain invaluable tools, with a wide range of adaptable models, based on close dialogue with host countries. They aim to strengthen host states, and support the local security forces capacities. UN special political missions support political processes. Our collective response also involves complementary initiatives, and I am thinking in particular of the adoption of Resolution 2719 on African peace operations, which now provides us with a clear framework to work jointly with the African Union.
Mr. President,
Post-conflict situations must also benefit from increased international support. This is the aim of the peacebuilding commission and its fund, which have been active in more than forty countries over the past fifteen years. France, one of the fund’s biggest contributors, is delighted that the fund will now be able to benefit from long-term funding to provide the best possible support in transitional contexts.
To provide this multi-dimensional response to collective security, all stakeholders need to be mobilized. At national level, close collaboration between political authorities, institutions and civil society players is essential. At regional level, coordinated efforts can provide an effective response; there are many examples of this, and I’m thinking today in particular of the efforts of the South African Development Community in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Finally, at international level, the entire United Nations system must continue to play its part, while full coordination of UN funds and programs with development banks on the ground must continue to develop.
France will continue to lend its full support to peacebuilding. Together, we can and must better prevent conflicts.
Thank you.