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Romanian Ambassador to the UN, Dr. Ion Jinga, at the Security Council open debate on the Review of the Peace Building Architecture
On 23 February 2016, the Permanent Representative of Romania to the UN, Ambassador Ion Jinga, delivered a statement at the UN Security Council open debate on the Review of the Peace Building Architecture.
Quoting former Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold, who stated that “The United Nations was created not to lead mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell”, Ambassador Jinga underlined that the UN has saved millions of lives from wars, poverty, disease and starvation, but that its role is once again dramatically tested by the multiplication of threats posed to the international peace and security.
“In less than 10 years, the number of major civil wars almost tripled and now more than 1.5 billion people live in conflict zones. The nature of conflicts changed, too: we witness volatility of border, disintegration of states, trafficking of natural resources that finance terrorist groups, appalling violations of human rights and of the international humanitarian law. In many cases, lack of solid institutions and of fair and transparent governance, corruption and mismanagement of public funds (which cost the global economy 2.6 trillion USD), made states vulnerable to terrorism and violent extremist groups.”
Underscoring that conflict prevention is intrinsically linked to peace building, Ambassador Jinga stated that, in terms of financial and human resources, preventing is considerably less expensive than responding to crisis and that “The adoption of preventive measures is also less divisive in the international community, including in the Security Council, than finding solutions after the outbreak of crisis. The UN has an impressive array of tools to build peace at its disposal, which we also see in the Agenda 2030, particularly in SDG16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).”
Ambassador Jinga also quoted Boutros Boutros-Ghali - who was elected Secretary General in 1991, when Romania was chairing the Security Council - who said that: “Without democratic institutions to channel popular pressures for development and reform, popular unrest and instability will result. The reality is that no State can long have the potential to pursue a successful and sustainable development strategy, if its citizens are prohibited from participating actively and substantially in its political processes and economic, social and cultural development.” Thus, he argued that an increased involvement of the Security Council in preventive actions could help generating a strategic planning for peace building at global level.
Ambassador Jinga highlighted that Romania, as a UN member state, is an active participant in preventive diplomacy, conflict prevention, peace building and mediation.
”Ever since becoming an ODA donor country in 2007, Romania devoted resources, including at the UN level, to capacity building for public institutions, election assistance, public order, anti-corruption, youth and education. As a Security Council member, in 2005 Romania promoted the Resolution 1631 on the cooperation between the UN and regional organizations in the maintenance of international peace and security. In this respect, we may also think to increase the Security Council engagement with regional organizations, consistent with Chapter VIII of the UN Charter, from a more integrated perspective.”
The Romanian Ambassador concluded by stating that: ”We need to restore trust in our global order and we can only do this through peace and stability. Building peace requires good governance, opportunities for young people and fighting violent extremism. These are the main challenges to a sustainable Peace Building Architecture”.