Statement by H.E. Ambassador OSUGA Takeshi, Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations, at the Joint Meeting of the Economic and Social Council and the Peacebuilding Commission on Fostering global solidarity and conflict sensitive responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and its socio-economic impacts
2020/11/19
Thank you, Co-chairs for convening this meeting.
As the Vice-chair of PBC for this year, I will focus my intervention on the merits of enhanced collaboration between ECOSOC and PBC, not only in the context of COVID-19, but also against the backdrop of the entire UN peacebuilding architecture, since we are in the midst of once in five years’ process of its review.
The pandemic has tested the capacity of national and local institutions to cope effectively with the public health emergency, in the conflict-affected countries and in the most developed countries alike. The lack of resilience in national health systems is an obvious example, but weaknesses have also surfaced in other institutions, including those related to basic service delivery, security and judicial sectors, and border control.
Mr. Chair,
Many speakers before me put emphasis on the need for financing. Japan perfectly agrees. However, financing alone will not enable us to accomplish the heavy task of overcoming the COVID-19, nor of building and sustaining peace. If financing was the only key, why then, the richest nations among us are still struggling so hard against COVID, while some poorer nations are handling it much better?
In Japan’s view, nationally owned measures supported by effective, accountable and inclusive institutions are key to nurturing people's trust in their government, which is a precondition for tackling root causes of social unrest and conflict. I was very much encouraged by the intervention by the Deputy Director of Africa CDC emphasizing the importance of building resilient systems.
In our view, financing and institution-building are the two wheels of a cart. They should go hand-in-hand as the two most important means of implementation for peacebuilding and sustaining peace. This is why our Leaders, when they decided to establish “a Peacebuilding Commission” at the 2005 World Summit, they declared that the “Commission should focus attention on the reconstruction and institution-building efforts”.
Mr. Chair,
Since March this year, Japan has supported the developing countries including conflict-affected countries to cope with COVID-19:
- by providing over 1.5 billion USD for medical and health related assistance, and
- by establishing a bilateral “COVID-19 Response Emergency Support Loan” of up to 4.5 billion USD to sustain economic activities.
For example, Japan provided over 11 million USD to four Sahel countries alone through UNDP and UNICEF to support their work for strengthening health systems and social safety net, training health workers, building crisis management capacities etc. These are not mere financial support. They aim to enhance institutional capacities to fight back COVID-19 and prepare for future public health emergencies.
Finally, financing for development as well as institution-building in the social and economic areas both fall under the core mandate of ECOSOC. Closer cooperation between ECOSOC and PBC, stressed in the 2016 architecture review, is even more relevant as we face the human security crisis posed by the COVID-19.
The PBC should take advantage of 2020 Peacebuilding architecture review process to strengthen its role, including by collaborating more with ECOSOC while focusing on the two critical means of achieving development and peace, namely, financing and institution-building, that cut across every aspect of peacebuilding efforts.
Thank you.
As the Vice-chair of PBC for this year, I will focus my intervention on the merits of enhanced collaboration between ECOSOC and PBC, not only in the context of COVID-19, but also against the backdrop of the entire UN peacebuilding architecture, since we are in the midst of once in five years’ process of its review.
The pandemic has tested the capacity of national and local institutions to cope effectively with the public health emergency, in the conflict-affected countries and in the most developed countries alike. The lack of resilience in national health systems is an obvious example, but weaknesses have also surfaced in other institutions, including those related to basic service delivery, security and judicial sectors, and border control.
Mr. Chair,
Many speakers before me put emphasis on the need for financing. Japan perfectly agrees. However, financing alone will not enable us to accomplish the heavy task of overcoming the COVID-19, nor of building and sustaining peace. If financing was the only key, why then, the richest nations among us are still struggling so hard against COVID, while some poorer nations are handling it much better?
In Japan’s view, nationally owned measures supported by effective, accountable and inclusive institutions are key to nurturing people's trust in their government, which is a precondition for tackling root causes of social unrest and conflict. I was very much encouraged by the intervention by the Deputy Director of Africa CDC emphasizing the importance of building resilient systems.
In our view, financing and institution-building are the two wheels of a cart. They should go hand-in-hand as the two most important means of implementation for peacebuilding and sustaining peace. This is why our Leaders, when they decided to establish “a Peacebuilding Commission” at the 2005 World Summit, they declared that the “Commission should focus attention on the reconstruction and institution-building efforts”.
Mr. Chair,
Since March this year, Japan has supported the developing countries including conflict-affected countries to cope with COVID-19:
- by providing over 1.5 billion USD for medical and health related assistance, and
- by establishing a bilateral “COVID-19 Response Emergency Support Loan” of up to 4.5 billion USD to sustain economic activities.
For example, Japan provided over 11 million USD to four Sahel countries alone through UNDP and UNICEF to support their work for strengthening health systems and social safety net, training health workers, building crisis management capacities etc. These are not mere financial support. They aim to enhance institutional capacities to fight back COVID-19 and prepare for future public health emergencies.
Finally, financing for development as well as institution-building in the social and economic areas both fall under the core mandate of ECOSOC. Closer cooperation between ECOSOC and PBC, stressed in the 2016 architecture review, is even more relevant as we face the human security crisis posed by the COVID-19.
The PBC should take advantage of 2020 Peacebuilding architecture review process to strengthen its role, including by collaborating more with ECOSOC while focusing on the two critical means of achieving development and peace, namely, financing and institution-building, that cut across every aspect of peacebuilding efforts.
Thank you.