June 2007 Monthly Forecast

Posted 31 May 2007
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PEACEMAKING, PEACEKEEPING AND PEACEBUILDING

Peacebuilding Commission

Expected PBC Action
In June the Organisational Committee of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) is expected to select a new chair and two vice-chairs. The PBC’s annual report should be finalised by the end of the month, along with integrated peacebuilding strategies for Burundi and Sierra Leone.

Key Recent Developments
A new chair and vice chair will be elected before the PBC session ends in June. Not all candidates are currently known. Japan may seek the chair while the Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC) wants to retain one of the vice-chairs.

On 22 May, Jamaica was re-elected and Georgia replaced Croatia for two of the General Assembly seats on the Organisational Committee. This maintains the geographical balance following General Assembly resolution 60/261.

Luxembourg and the Czech Republic replaced Belgium and Poland for two of the ECOSOC seats on the Organisational Committee in February. 

The membership of the top financial contributors seems likely to remain unchanged for another year.

PBC Annual Report
The PBC’s annual report is due by the end of June. After endorsement by the Organisational Committee, it will be submitted to the General Assembly and the Council.

PBC members agreed on the report’s contents in principle in early May. Along with a description of PBC activities and country-specific meetings, it may include a section on rules of procedure and the relationship of the PBC with the General Assembly and the Council.

Country-Specific Developments
Reports of the field missions to Sierra Leone and Burundi were submitted in May.  Integrated peacebuilding strategy drafts are currently under discussion. For more details on the PBC’s country-specific work, please see our April Forecast for Burundi and our May Forecast for Sierra Leone.

Key Issues
Relations with the Council and the General Assembly remain a critical underlying issue.  In January and February, during the debates on the PBC in the Council and General Assembly, there were many suggestions on harmonisation. (For more details, please see our March Forecast.) A key issue is how to proceed in a way that will allow both the General Assembly and the Council to have input in the PBC’s activities without reviving the tensions surrounding the PBC’s creation.

Publication of the PBC’s annual report may give rise to similar issues. General Assembly resolution 60/180, which established the PBC, requires that it be submitted to the General Assembly for debate. Resolution 1646 requests that the report also be submitted to the Council. 

PBC Dynamics
There appears to be agreement that the Organisational Committee chair should go to an Asian country and one of the vice-chairs to a Western member.

Underlying Problems
Some progress appears to have been made on modalities for civil society participation in the PBC. The ad hoc working group is expected to come up with concrete proposals early June.

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UN Documents

Selected Security Council Resolutions
  • S/RES/1646 (20 December 2005) decided that the five permanent members and two elected members of the Council will have seats on the PBC’s Organisational Committee.
  • S/RES/1645 (20 December 2005) created the PBC and the Peacebuilding Fund.
Selected Security Council Debate
Selected PBC-Related Documents
  • PBC/1/BDI/2 (21 May 2007) was the letter from the chair of the PBC’s Organisational Committee transmitting the report of the country visit to Burundi.
  • A/61/901-S/2007/269 (10 May 2007) was the letter from the chair of the PBC’s Organisational Committee transmitting the report of the country visit to Sierra Leone.
  • S/2006/1050 (26 December 2006) contained summaries of the October and December 2006 country-specific meetings.
Selected General Assembly Resolutions
  • A/RES/60/261 (8 May 2006) decided the General Assembly seats on the PBC’s Organisational Committee.
Other
  • GA/10570 (6 February 2007) was the General Assembly debate on the PBC.
  • E/2006/L.2/Rev.2 (12 April 2006) was the draft resolution adopted with the distribution of ECOSOC’s seats on the Organisational Committee.

Other Relevant Facts

PBC Organisational Committee Members (as of June 2007)
  • Security Council: the P5 (China, France, Russia, UK and US), Panama and South Africa
  • From the top ten financial contributors: Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and Norway
  • From the top ten military and police contributors: Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Nigeria and Pakistan
  • ECOSOC: Angola, Brazil, Czech Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Luxembourg and Sri Lanka
  • General Assembly: Burundi, Chile, Croatia, Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji and Jamaica
Chairman of the PBC Organisational Committee
Ambassador Ismael Gaspar Martins (Angola)
PBSO Head
Carolyn McAskie (Canada)
PBSO Budget
$1.571 million


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