Thank you Mr. President,
I would like to congratulate Indonesia for assuming the Security Council presidency for the month of August and for convening this timely meeting today.
At the outset, please allow me to say few words about very worrying situation in Belarus. The presidential elections in Belarus on Sunday cannot be considered free, fair and democratic. As a result we are now witnessing unprecedented nationwide protests and excessive use of force by the government. Let me underline that violent crackdown of peaceful protests is unacceptable. We call on Belarus to immediately end political repressions against the opposition, to avoid any further violence and to uphold respect for human rights.
Mr President,
Coming now to the matters of sustaining peace I agree that the Security Council should not let new challenges to international peace and security fall under its radar. The focus of today’s debate on the effects of pandemics, including COVID-19 on conflict prevention, post-conflict recovery and peacebuilding is therefore very pertinent.
Conflict prevention ought to be at the core of the work of the United Nations. Estonia has been continuously advocating for, and contributing towards prevention, post-conflict recovery and sustaining peace initiatives. We attach great emphasis to the role of the UN Peacebuilding Commission and the Peacebuilding Fund. Estonia has been supporting the Fund’s activities since 2013 and we see great added value in their work contributing to favourable conditions for local organisations to play the necessary role in sustaining peace.
We welcome the Peacebuilding Commission’s renewed focus on conflict prevention in addition to its more traditional post-conflict recovery analysis and activities. The advisory role of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) to the Security Council is extremely important and is part of a holistic, cross-UN approach to conflict prevention and resolution. With this in mind, we see room for further strengthening the Commission’s advisory role to the Council. Analysis provided by the PBC to the Council would be an important part of an informed decision making process.
Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 pandemic puts an additional burden on already fragile situations. The economic, social and developmental pressures from the pandemic can essentially act as threat multipliers and exacerbate existing tensions. We have already seen this in the Sahel region where armed and violent extremist groups are cynically abusing the situation for their own advancement. This has in turn multiplied the responsibilities of UN peacekeeping missions. Estonia, together with other EU countries, has pledged its continued commitment to UN peacekeeping during the pandemic. We urge others, in particular large troop and financial contributors, to follow suit. Peacekeeping missions require our continued uninterrupted support to remain willing and able to operate during this pandemic: to deliver on their mandate, promote conflict resolution, support host States and protect civilian populations.
While it is important to discuss how UN peacekeeping missions could take more pandemic-sensitive approaches, this would only be a part of the equation. For peacebuilding and sustaining peace activities to be truly sustainable, we need political will and a strong sense ownership from governments and local communities. Peacebuilding processes need to be inclusive, taking into account the views of local peacebuilders, especially women and youth that are often at the forefront of such activities as well as the ones most affected by the conflict. There are encouraging examples from Afghanistan, Niger, Iraq and many other locations where the UN has successfully supported local peacebuilding capacities and initiatives, many of them led by women. This is especially important in the context of COVID-19, which has further exacerbated the vulnerability of the least protected in society. I would also like to stress that women’s needs have to be factored into the response to the pandemic and we need to ensure women`s equal representation in all COVID-19 response planning and decision-making processes.
In conclusion, Mr. President, the COVID-19 pandemic will most likely be with us for the foreseeable future. Regardless, we need to continue our work towards creative peacebuilding efforts, empowering local level initiatives and actively making sure that the pandemic is not being used as pretext for restricting human rights, limiting freedom of movement or hampering the UN’s peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts.
Thank you.