On 25 September, QUNO’s NY Director, Andrew Tomlinson, spoke at a high-level panel discussion arranged in the sidelines of the 74th Session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. The Ministerial level event, Delivering on Peace: Peace and Political Transitions, held at UN headquarters and convened by the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kenya to the UN, examined country-specific approaches to targeting the root causes of violence and furthering the peacebuilding and conflict prevention agendas. Mr. Tomlinson was joined by leaders in the foreign ministries of Kenya, Germany, Colombia, Timor-Leste, Hungary, as well as the Assistant-Secretary-General of the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.

At this meeting, which was attended by Member State and civil society, Mr. Tomlinson stressed the need for “Member States to reinforce and reinvigorate a multilateral rules based system that includes a range of stakeholders and creates a more effective external enabling environment that privileges the long term peace, development and human rights of all people and all communities.” He further emphasized that, “if we are to move beyond late stage reactive and ineffective responses to complex crises including those where Climate Change and migration are factors, then governments need to commit to preventive action by fostering resilience.”

QUNO is honored to have contributed to this discussion and understands that delivering on peace is a long-term endeavor requiring the consolidated efforts of a variety of stakeholders. To this end, QUNO will continue to engage with the UN and its membership in our shared goals of creating more peaceful and just societies.

Please find the video of the discussion here, with Mr. Tomlinson’s remarks beginning at 52:12.