Norway to provide NOK 115 million to UN Peacebuilding Fund

Norway is providing NOK 115 million in funding to the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund. ‘Conflict prevention is good development policy and smart aid. That is why we are now increasing our contribution to the UN Peacebuilding Fund,’ said Minister of Foreign Affairs Ine Eriksen Søreide.

The UN Peacebuilding Fund works to prevent armed conflict and to prevent countries that have been affected by conflict from falling back into a new cycle of violence. The Fund’s main focus is on Africa.

‘It is impossible to quantify the suffering that has been avoided as a result of conflict prevention efforts, but we can estimate the economic savings. Researchers have estimated that for every dollar invested in preventing conflicts, 16 dollars that would have been used to deal with the consequences of an armed conflict are saved,’ said Ms Eriksen Søreide.

Despite the excellent results it has achieved, the UN Peacebuilding Fund is severely underfunded. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for a substantial strengthening of the Fund, as part of the work to increase the UN’s capacity to prevent and resolve conflicts. With today’s contribution, Norway has fulfilled the pledge it made in 2016 to provide NOK 115 million to the UN Peacebuilding Fund over a three-year period (2017–2019). Norway will consider providing further support in 2018.

The UN Peacebuilding Fund was established to strengthen the UN system’s capacity for strategic, long-term peacebuilding. Norway has contributed to the Fund since its launch in 2006.

(Nadarajah Sethurupan)