THE United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) will host a special session on the Solomon Islands today during the annual meeting of the Commission on 07 June 2017 in New York. The session will be attended by the 31 Member States of the Commission, and an invitation was extended to all Pacific Member States and other partners.

The aim of the session is to present to the UN Peacebuilding Commission the experience of the Solomon Islands, including an update on the transition and peacebuilding efforts of the Solomon Islands in the context of the departure of RAMSI; national efforts to sustain peace; and the Government’s work to bring women and youth to the center of the peacebuilding and development agenda.

Ms. Regina Lepping, our youth representative at the UN… Photo courtesy
of Regina.

The chair of the PBC, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea, has invited H.E. Mr. Manasseh D. Sogavare, Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, to present the experience of the country on sustaining peace. Also invited to speak are Ms. Osnat Lubrani, UN Resident Coordinator to the Pacific; Ms. Regina Lepping, a youth representative from the country, and the heads of the UN Department for Political Affairs and the UN Peacebuilding Support Office.

This will be the first time that the PBC is organizing a special session on a country from the Pacific, providing a three hour-long forum for the Solomon Islands to share its peacebuilding experience with the United Nations in New York.

Today also marks almost a year since the UN’s peacebuilding support programme was launched in Solomon Islands. Together with the UN’s overall country portfolio, this programme illustrates the UN’s unwavering partnership with the Government and the people of Solomon Islands.

PM Sogavare

The UN’s peacebuilding programme is designed to support national efforts towards sustainable peace and stability in Solomon Islands in the context of RAMSI’s withdrawal. The programme has a particular focus on promoting national dialogues, strengthening national capacity and creating lasting and inclusive space for dialogue and reconciliation. A special emphasis has been placed on engaging women and youth who are playing a critical role in maintaining peace and accelerating development

The UN team, including UNDP and UN Women, has worked with the Government of Solomon Islands, particularly the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministries of National Unity, Reconciliation and Peace and Women, Youth, Children and Family Affairs, as well as with civil society leaders, other national stakeholders and colleagues across the UN network to implement this programme.

The UN peacebuilding support programme builds on the Solomon Islands Government’s national peacebuilding policy, which was launched two years ago, and will provide further technical support to the Government’s efforts to sustain peace and attain sustainable development goals. Neither the UN Peacebuilding Commission nor the UN peacebuilding support programme are involved in compensation issues in Solomon Islands.