• Print
• Share

Update Report No. 1: Peacebuilding Commission

Update Report in Word Format • PDF Format

Expected Action
The Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) is expected to hold elections on 23 June to select its new chairman and vice-chairs. Elections for new members to the PBC by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the General Assembly are also awaited. The PBC’s annual report is to be finalised and released by end of June.

Elections Background
In accordance with the PBC founding resolutions (S/RES/1645 and A/RES/60/180), the Commission’s 31-member Organisational Committee consists of:

• seven members from the Security Council;
• seven from ECOSOC;
• five top providers of assessed contributions to UN budgets and of voluntary contributions to UN funds, programmes and agencies, excluding committee members already selected from the Security Council and ECOSOC;
• five top providers of military personnel and police to UN missions, excluding committee members already selected from the Security Council and ECOSOC or selected based on assessed and voluntary contributions to the UN; and
• seven members determined by the General Assembly with consideration given to equitable regional distribution and post-conflict experience.

The term of membership in the PBC Organisational Committee is two renewable years, with the only exception being the five permanent members of the Security Council, who have permanently assigned seats.

Recent Developments
With effect from 23 June, Sweden and Canada will replace Norway and Italy for two of the five seats assigned to the top UN financial contributors on the Organisational Committee. The other remaining top financial contributors currently serving are Japan, Germany and the Netherlands.

Nepal will replace Ghana among the top five troop contributing countries (TCCs) represented in the Organisational Committee. The remaining serving TCCs are India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nigeria.

The General Assembly has not yet elected its representatives to the Organisational Committee. It has been awaiting the selection of the ECOSOC representatives. The practice so far has been for the General Assembly to hold its elections after the other categories of assigned seats in the Organisational Committee (e.g. ECOSOC, TCCs, etc.) have held their elections, in order for the overall equitable regional distribution to be reflected in the final composition of the Organisational Committee.

The election of ECOSOC members to the PBC was originally expected to have taken place by the end of April; however, protracted disagreement about which region should occupy the remaining two seats after the initial distribution of a seat for each to the five UN regional groupings (the African Group; the Asian Group; the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC); the Eastern European Group; and the Western European and Others Group or WEOG) delayed the election. Since the PBC’s inception, the African and Asian Groups have each occupied one of the extra two seats left over from the initial regional distribution. However, GRULAC has insisted this year that it should be given one of the extra seats to allow two of its members (Brazil and El Salvador) to be elected from ECOSOC. (Other GRULAC members Chile and Uruguay are pursuing their candidacy for election to the PBC through the General Assembly.) The African Group insisted on retaining two ECOSOC seats. The Asian Group wanted to ensure that at least eight of its members will be represented on the PBC at any time, including through ECOSOC elections.

An understanding was finally reached among ECOSOC members on 30 May to establish a rotation process for the two remaining seats on a biennial basis. One seat is to be rotated between the African and Asian Groups, beginning with Africa this year and ending in 2010, when Asia will take its turn. The remaining seat will rotate among GRULAC, WEOG and the East European Group, starting with GRULAC this year.

The PBC founding resolutions assure the Security Council of seven seats in the PBC at any given time (i.e. the five permanent members plus two non-permanent members). However, the Council operates on a different calendar in terms of the time of selection of its non-permanent representatives to the Organisational Committee. Two elected Council members are selected for one year terms commencing in January. Belgium and South Africa are the elected members of the Council selected to serve on the Organisational Committee until the end of the 2008.

Country Specific Configurations
Brazil and the Netherlands are expected to retain their respective chairs of the Guinea-Bissau and the Sierra Leone country-specific configurations.

Norway will be giving up its chairmanship of the PBC Burundi configuration with its exit from the Organisational Committee, but it seems that it will continue playing an active role as a member of the country-specific configuration. It is not yet known which country will assume chairmanship of the Burundi configuration. While there is no rule stipulating that the chair of a country-specific configuration should be an Organisational Committee member, the practice so far has been incumbency of the chair by Committee members. (Country-specific configurations are made up of Organisational Committee and other interested countries, entities and organizations.)

PBC Annual Report
The content of the 2008 annual report was agreed in principle by PBC members in late May, and it is expected to be issued to the General Assembly and the Council after endorsement by the PBC Organisational Committee in June.

PBC Dynamics
Japan is expected to step down as current chair of the PBC Organisational Committee on 23 June. Similarly, the incumbent vice-chairs, Ghana and El Salvador, are also expected to give up their posts. No candidatures have yet been officially announced, mainly because the Organisational Committee has not decided on what criteria to use in assigning the seat of the chair. Going by the English alphabetical rotation, it may be said that it is the turn of the Eastern European Group to occupy the post, after Angola (African Group) and Japan (Asian Group) respectively had held the chairmanship of the PBC since its inception in 2006. However, the Organisational Committee has not yet clearly defined the criteria for selection of candidates. At press time, the East European Group had not indicated interest, while Chile was reported to have hinted about its preparedness to put forward its candidature for the post of chair of the Commission on behalf of GRULAC.

UN Documents

Other Relevant Facts

• Print
• Share

• Share or print this post