General Assembly President to Convene High-Level Meeting on Building, Sustaining Peace, in New York, 24-25 April
The President of the General Assembly, Miroslav Lajčák (Slovakia), will convene a high-level meeting on peacebuilding and sustaining peace on 24 and 25 April 2018 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
It is expected to be the largest gathering of Heads of State and Government and Ministers at United Nations Headquarters since the Assembly’s general debate in September 2017. World leaders, civil society and the private sector will be brought together to discuss and highlight the need for conflict prevention, mediation, dialogue and diplomacy. Speakers will include award-winning actor and United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador Michelle Yeoh and best-selling author and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) advocate Ishmael Beah.
Ahead of the gathering, Mr. Lajčák said: “The United Nations needs a new approach to peace. There is a growing understanding that the United Nations efforts should go beyond addressing the immediate needs of war torn countries. It needs to do better in supporting countries to make peace last.”
The two-day meeting is expected to reflect on the fact that violent conflicts are on the rise in many parts of the world today. It will consider the notion that preventing conflict — as opposed to responding to it once it has already broken out — can save countless lives as well as billions of dollars for the international community.
Among other things, participants at the high-level meeting will discuss how to address the root causes of conflicts; boost the United Nations capacity to build and sustain peace; increase funding to United Nations peacebuilding activities; strengthen crucial partnerships; and enhance the role of women and youth in conflict prevention and peacebuilding efforts.
Mr. Lajčák is convening the meeting in line with resolutions of the General Assembly (A/RES/70/262) and the Security Council (S/RES/2282 (2016)) on the review of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture. These resolutions from 2016 renew the United Nations commitment to conflict prevention as embodied in its Charter.
A media stakeout will be set up on the second floor of United Nations Headquarters, outside the main entrance to the General Assembly Hall, on 24 April from 9 a.m. to 1:20 p.m.
For more information, please visit www.un.org/pga/72/sustaining-peace or contact Brenden Varma, Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly, at +1-212-963-7238, +1-347-556-3433, or varmab@un.org. The hashtag for the event is #peace72.