UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has urged the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), a 31-member advisory body that supports peace efforts in conflict-affected countries, to play a larger role in contributing to the resolution of underlying causes of conflicts and disputes.
“Priority should be given to addressing the root causes of conflict: Poverty, inequality, competition over scarce resources, environmental degradation, and unresolved conflicts and disputes,” Ambassador Munir Akram told the opening of the Commission’s sixteenth session.
“All of these are causes of strife among and within nations,” he said, adding that the Commission could expend more time on contribution to the resolution of these underlying causes.
Ambassador Akram added that PBC’s advisory role allows it to submit substantive inputs and recommendations on peacebuilding, conflict resolution and thematic issues to the Security Council.
Noting that the very nature of conflict has changed, he cited growing foreign intervention in local conflicts and added that even internal conflicts now have cross-border impacts.
“We have to see the fact that there are financial interests which are involved in the scramble for natural resources,” the Pakistani envoy pointed out.
