Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
This has been a truly inspiring event. The Ministerial is a critically important gathering for UN Peacekeeping. We rely on this gathering to help generate the support we need to strengthen our operations.
For the success of this event, I would first like to express my appreciation to our host. Thank you, Ghana, for answering the call to serve UN Peacekeeping once again. Thank you for being such a gracious, generous and effective host.
I would like to thank the Member States who made pledges today. I am humbled by the overwhelming response to our request for support. UN Peacekeeping moves forward on much surer footing today than yesterday.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We also come together today to mark the 75th anniversary of UN peacekeeping, reflecting back, but also looking forward to express a collective commitment to ensure the success of peacekeeping in the present and into the future. Over the span of 75 years, about two million brave women and men have served peacekeeping in the face of adversity, returning home knowing that their service helped societies move from conflict to peace.
Some current and former host-states are with us today and we have heard their testimony about the effectiveness of UN peacekeeping and their efforts to give back by joining UN peacekeeping. Peacekeeping is the most visible symbol of multilateralism and at the heart of the United Nations commitment to peace and security.
I am grateful for all the expressions of support to strengthen UN Peacekeeping. Effective peacekeeping demands the right capabilities and mindsets. The pledges you made today will go a long way to stock our Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System, including with rapidly deployable capabilities, to be ready when called upon.
Your commitments have gone far beyond this, however. In line with the thematic focus of the Ministerial, the pledges to enhance the safety and security of peacekeepers, through pledges of training and capacity-building partnerships, equipment and to leverage technology are much needed.
As discussed in the third session today, we need to build on our successes with strategic communications and address the mis- and disinformation that has become a pervasive concern across host-states and many societies affected by conflict.
I appreciate Ghana’s leadership to focus our collective attention on mental health support for uniformed peacekeepers. The many pledges in this area showcase the importance of the issue across the wide range of our Member States – troop and police contributing countries as well as those supporting capacity-building and training efforts.
Similarly, Ghana’s commitment to the Women, Peace and Security agenda, including women’s participation in peacekeeping, is genuinely welcomed. I appreciate the efforts of our T/PCCs so far in contributing more women personnel to our operations and creating an enabling environment for their meaningful participation. I hope your pledges, and your commitments as gender-responsive leaders, will move us closer to our goal of achieving UN peacekeeping’s gender equality objectives.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Peacekeeping is recognized for having continuously adapted to ever‑changing contexts and achieving results in crucial areas ranging from the preservation of ceasefires to the protection of civilians from violence. We also know that peacekeeping operations have limitations in addressing complex, longstanding armed conflict when there is inadequate political support for ambitious mandates or little prospect of political solutions.
To meet tomorrow’s challenges, discussions around the New Agenda for Peace will be critical. The New Agenda for Peace makes clear that peace operations remain an indispensable component of the UN’s peace and security toolbox, allowing the Organization to mount tailored operational responses, including by mobilizing and funding Member State capacities and capabilities that no single actor possesses.
I am confident that, building on today’s event, with your continued support we will together chart a successful path ahead.