Thank you Mr. President,

Mr. President,

The Kingdom of the Netherlands congratulates Saint Vincent
and the Grenadines for assuming the Presidency for the month
of November.

Subsequently, the Kingdom of the Netherlands expresses
gratitude for convening this timely and important Security
Council meeting on ‘Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace’, with
a focus on ‘Contemporary Drivers of Conflict and Insecurity’.

As we know there are a myriad of drivers for conflict and
insecurity, and all of these drivers are exacerbated by the
impact of the Corona-virus.

Besides a tragic loss of life, the pandemic heightens tensions in
already fragile areas, puts additional pressures on human
rights in certain societies, increases public discontent and puts
gains made in the area of peacebuilding at risk.

Now, more than ever, we need an effective and strong UN.

For the Kingdom of the Netherlands, three elements are of
crucial importance for the discussion today:

1. UN reforms
2. Financing for peacebuilding
3. Mental Health and Psycho-Social Support (MHPSS)

Mr. President,
Firstly, when it comes to UN Reforms, there is a clear need for
increased cross pillar cooperation (including on the
humanitarian, development and peace nexus) to achieve
sustainable peacebuilding goals.

Operational coherence and parallel progress on development,
security and human rights, are essential to achieve sustainable
peacebuilding goals. Along this line, UN actors in the field must
pursue cooperation and partnership under the guidance of the
Resident Coordinator. The effectiveness of joint coordination is
illustrated by the Peacebuilding Fund, of which the Kingdom of
the Netherlands is one of the largest donors.

Mr. President,
Secondly, regarding financing for peacebuilding, the Kingdom
of the Netherlands appreciates that this is a key issue when it
comes to peacebuilding efforts. Unfortunately though,
peacebuilding efforts remain greatly underfinanced, even if
needs continue to rise. We must come together and take action
to ensure sustainable and robust financing in the area of
peacebuilding.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands welcomes the
recommendations set out in the Secretary General’s 2020
report, and specifically supports the importance of financing
mechanisms that, when appropriate, ensure a smooth
transition from peacekeeping to peacebuilding.

There is value in new funding initiatives such as an annual
pledging conference as well as further action-based discussions
on financing and good peacebuilding donorship. Tangible
follow-up to the UNSG’s proposals could be tabled in these
discussions.

Mr. President,
Lastly, and importantly, it is key to highlight the element of
Mental Health and Psycho-Social Support (MHPSS). As also
becomes clear from the worldwide impact of the pandemic,
mental and psychosocial distress at an individual and
community level make sustaining social cohesion and peace
increasingly challenging. Structurally integrating MHPSS into
the building and sustaining of peace is of crucial importance to
mitigate and avoid cycles of conflict, to counter disintegration
and to increase the effectiveness of peacebuilding efforts. We
cannot build peace on broken minds and broken communities.
We look forward to continue working with UN member states, actors
of the UN Peace Building Architecture, civil society organizations and
other partners to make progress on these important topics.

I thank you Mr. President.