Joint meeting of the Economic and Social Council and the Peacebuilding Commission 2026

Excellencies, distinguished delegates.
I call to order the joint meeting of the Economic and Social Council and the Peace Building commissions on the theme from risk to resilience, advancing social cohesence through job creations in peace building context.
Excellencies, Ding delegates.
Welcome to this joint meeting of the Economic and Social Council and Peace Building Commissions.
It is our first since the adoption of the Twin resolutions on the 2025 review of the United Nations Peace architecture, which call for strengthened cooperations between our two bodies.
It also takes place during the inaugural peace building Week underscsing our shared commitment to advancing peace and development in a more integrated manner.
Today's theme from risks to resilience, advancing social coegence through job creation in peace building context goes to the heart of the connections between peace and development.
It also speaks directly to the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and the promise to leave no one behind.
Excellencies, it's reaffirmed at the Second World Social Summit in Doha.
Poverty eradications, full and productive employment and decent work for all and social integrations remain mutually reinforcing objectives that are essential for building peaceful, inclusive, and resilient societies.
For many people, living in fragile and conflict affected settings.
Peace is majors, not only by the absence of conflict, but by the presence of opportunity, the opportunity to earn a living, to support a family, to build a future.
When such opportunities are absent, Exclusions can deepen and trust can weaken.
When they are present, they can strengthen resilience, foster inclusions, and create hope.
This is why employment, entrepreneurship, and livelihoods matter.
Eight, for too many people, opportunity remained out of reach.
Young people continue to face significant barriers to entering the labor market.
One in five young people is not in employment education or training and young people are nearly 3.5 times more likely to be unemployed than adults.
Women continue to face barriers that limit their full participation in economic life and access to decent work.
The challenges are often most acute in fragile and conflict affected settings.
Behind these figures are people whose aspirations, whose talents, and whose potentials are not being fully realized.
Excellencies, distinguished colleagues.
The Eco special meeting I convened in May reminded us that crises do not occur in isolations.
The impacts are felt in people's daily lives.
Including their ability to earn a living, support their families, and plan for the future.
Building resilience therefore requires more than responding to crisis.
It requires creating the conditions for people and communities to thrive.
This means investing in people.
This means expanding access to skill development, supporting entrepreneurship and innovations, and creating pathways to decent work, particularly for young people and women.
It also means strengthening partnerships that can expand access to decent work and livelihoods at scale.
Expanding access to decent work and sustainable livelihoods is therefore not only an economic imperatives, but it is a peace building imperative.
Micro, small and medium sized enterprises are often the backbone of local economies.
They create jobs, they support families, and they help communities recover and thrive.
Improving access to finance and markets can help SMEs grow, create jobs, and strengthen local economies.
Supporting their growth is therefore an investment in stronger communities and lasting peace.
Youth engagement remains a priority of my presidency.
Young people are not only beneficiaries of peace building efforts, they are innovators, they are entrepreneurs, and they are agents of change.
Their ideas, their energy and their leadership are essential to building more resilience, more peaceful, and more prosperous societies.
Excellencies, the challenges before us do not fit innately within the institutional boundaries, neither should our response.
Today's discussion brings together member states, the United States systems, international finance institutions, private sector, and civil society.
Together, we must identify practical ways to strengthen the link between economic opportunities, social cogence and peace building efforts.
The people living in fragile and conflict affected settings are not simply asking for assistance.
They are asking for opportunities, opportunities to work, opportunities to contribute, opportunities to build a better future for themselves, for their families, and for their communities.
Helping to create those opportunities is one of the most powerful contributions we can make to sustaining peace.
Because when people have a stake in the future, they also have a stake in peace.
With this, I look forward to reach an action oriented discussion ahead.
I thank you.
I now hand over the conduct of the meeting to my co chair.
Excellency, you have the floor now.
Mercy.
Thank you, co president.
First and foremost, I would like to state that it is my pleasure and honor to co preside with a co chair with the President of EcoSC this joint meeting of the EcoSC and the PBC on a theme which is very relevant and very important from risk to resilience, enhancement of social cohesion through the advancing social cohesion through job creation peace building contexts.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin our panel debate, our panel discussion, which is deal with bringing together very important voices without whom employment cannot become a real lever for peace, that of international financial institutions who mobilize resources and shape development policies.
The voice of the guardians of norms for decent labor who see to it that every job that is created is also a dignified job.
The voice of the private sector and of entrepreneurship on the ground.
Who transform ambitions into concrete gains in salaries and jobs.
Lastly, the voices of civil society which serve as a reminder of the fact that social cohesion cannot be decreed.
Social cohesion is woven together at the community level.
Today, we are brought together by this important conviction in a fragile context.
Job is never merely a simple economic and statistic factor.
There is a need to create real jobs to rebuild trust between citizens and their futures.
It is moving from risk to resilience.
In this way, our panelists will now shed light on this situation in which to thank them in advance.
And before giving them the floor, I would like to remind speakers of the five minute limitation for each statement in order to provide the greatest amount of time possible for an interactive discussion to be held.
It is now my pleasure to invite the distinguished panelists, Madam Cynthia Samuel Alangois, Special Representative to the United Nations and Director of the International Labor Organization Office for the UN, Madam Maria Demetriou, Special Representative to the United Nations and Head of Multilateral Affairs at the World Bank.
Mr.
Roland Formanin, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Greenhouse Ventures, who is joining us through videoconference from Cameroon and Madame Genevieve Robi, program coordinator for Women Peace and Security at the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.
I now give the floor to Madame Cynthia Samuel Alanjois.
Thank you very much, Mr.
President of Acosc and thank you so much, the co chair, Ambassador Hilal, and the excellent co facilitators of the Second World Summit for Social Development.
I'll keep to time, I promise.
Today's discussion on advancing social cohesion through job creation within the peace building context is at the heart of the International Labor Organization's mandate.
Since its creation in 1919, after the First World War, along with the League of Nations, it has been guided by the conviction, and I quote that universal and lasting peace can only be achieved if it is based on social justice.
Conflict has severe implications for the world of work.
First, it limits the opportunities that workers have to be able to enjoy basic social protection and fundamental principles and rights at work.
But also, we have seen that poverty, unemployment, underemployment, and decent work deficits can themselves become triggers of vulnerability and fragility.
It's really exciting to be part of this excellent panel of colleagues who together we have worked over the years to see how we support member states to bring about meaningful change.
Despite the fact that it's known that there is a very important alignment or misalignment between employment and peace, in many of the conversations on peace building, employment has often been considered a secondary priority or not even a priority at all.
Within the context of the interagency collaboration to address this issue in a comprehensive manner, the ILO, PBSO, UNDP, and the World Bank in 2016, conducted an assessment to be able to see the contribution that employment makes to peace, but also identifying the key employment related drivers that accentuate or contribute to conflict.
This led to the theory of change on how dissent work contributes to peace building.
In addition, in 2017, for the very first time, there was an international normative framework that was agreed upon by the global community, providing guidance on addressing world of work issues in response to crisis situations, explicitly linking employment, social protection, labor rights, social dialogue to peace and resilience.
This is the ILO Recommendation 205 on employment and dissent work for peace and resilience.
Building on both the theory of change that came out of the interagency process and the recommendation two oh five that came out of the intergovernmental plus process in 2017, I will highlight three issues.
First, jobs matter, but dissent jobs matter even more.
Evidence shows that employment interventions are most effective when they go beyond the numbers, just beyond the quantity of jobs and look at promoting dissent work.
Which integrates social protection, labor rights, social dialogue, and inclusion.
Employment and dissent work programs in conflict affected settings contribute to dignity, social transformation, social cohesion, and social justice.
The president in his opening remarks, provided us with the start and provided us with a lot of issues I will not focus on since he's already addressed them.
It's important that special emphasis is placed on youth and women given their special needs and the challenges that they face in relation to crisis, conflict, and disaster.
Second, social dialogue and labor market institutions are essential.
I'd like to repeat that.
Social dialogue and labor market institutions are essential for prevention.
Peace building is strengthened when workers, employers, governments have the mechanisms to address tensions, negotiate solutions, and ensure participation.
Experience from across the board, global, south, global, north, and in different contexts demonstrate that social dialogue can help prevent conflict escalation by addressing grievances, strengthening institutional trust, and promoting inclusive decision making.
Third, partnerships help to translate evidence to impact.
No one institution can do it alone, and this was already addressed by the two co chairs.
Effective partnerships between governments, social partners, UN system, international financial institutions like the World Bank, civil society, the private sector are critical for scaling decent work approaches.
Integrating them into prevention strategies and ensuring that they respond to the emerging challenges like climate change, as well as dealing with the issues of displacement and youth unemployment that has been well addressed by the two core facts.
With this, and I'll end with this part, three priorities seem particularly important as we go forward.
One, we need to move beyond counting the jobs.
It's not just about quantity, quality matters.
We have to focus on decent work outcomes so we're not perpetuating poverty.
Second, we need to invest more systematically in local and national labor market institutions as well as social dialogue mechanisms.
Three, stronger partnerships between all the relevant partners and in all the pertinent fora is important for ensuring that the evidence of the role of employment, particularly decent work in peace building is applied and translated to bring about tangible and sustainable results on the ground.
As was reflected in the 2025 Peace Building Architecture review, prevention requires integrated approaches that address the root causes of fragility before crisis emerge or intensify.
Finally, in the same spirit, the Doha Political Declaration adopted at the Second World Summit for Social Development recognizes the mutually reinforcing relationship between social development, social justice, and peace and security.
This declaration also highlights the importance of full and productive employment, decent work, and social cohesion in building resilient societies.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, excellences, the world of work is very critical and makes unique contributions to building not only resilient societies, but sustaining peace.
Thank you very much for your attention.
Grain.
I thank Cynthia Samuel Anan for her statement.
This body the ILO is advancing a goal which is something which we share that jobs need to be decent in nature.
But when it's decent, it's more important.
It is in the dignity of labor that the difference is established between mere absence of war and a real peace.
I will now give the floor to Madam Maria.
Dmitrialdo.
Thank you very much, Ambassadors, Tapa and Tile.
Really great to be here and I'm really pleased as well to be next to partners.
I think next to my sister, Cynthia, definitely reflects a lot of our strong partnership with ALO.
Um, let me start with creating more and better jobs as an overarching framework that we have put in the World Bank Group to address poverty.
This requires investment in physical infrastructure as well as in human capital.
This is foundational infrastructure.
It requires building an enabling environment for the private sector to be able to grow and for companies to be able to grow and invest, and it requires mobilizing private capital.
Now, we know that creating jobs more and better jobs in fragile conflict and violence affected environments remains exceptionally challenging and this is for many reasons insecurity, weak institutions, limited access to finance, infrastructure deficits, and volatile business environments that often constrain investment and private sector development.
Yet sustainable employment at scale depends on a vibrant private sector.
This is why particular attention must be given to micro and small and medium enterprises which represent the largest sources of employment and economic activity.
Delivering on the jobs agenda in fragile conflict and violence affected situations is also a key priority of the refreshed FCB strategy of the World Bank Group, which was launched at the fragilityum earlier this month and we were very honored to have many, many of our partners, and you in Washington in contributing in deepening shared knowledge and understanding on these topics.
The focus of our pillar on job creation in FCV spaces is on supporting private sector development for job creation, including by promoting private investment, both domestic and foreign direct investment where possible.
I job rich sectors, including through flagship initiatives we have launched, for example, the M 300 aiming to provide access to electricity to 300 million people in Sub Saharan Africa by 2030 and Agri Connect, moving people from subsidence to agribusiness, but also supporting domestic, micro, small and medium enterprises to sustain jobs and provide essential goods and services and lay a foundation for future private investment opportunities.
Now on the very important question of how job creation initiatives can be designed and implemented to effectively strengthen social cohesion in conflict affected contexts.
Job creation can support social cohesion when it is inclusive, conflict sensitive and anchored in local realities.
I'm building on the excellent points that Cynthia has made.
Jobs alone do not create peace though, but when designed well, they can help reduce exclusion, restore confidence, and strengthen the social and economic foundations on which peace can endure.
Job creation initiatives must be designed with inclusion at their core.
Exclusion is often one of the drivers of grievance and mistrust in the settings.
If job programs are seen to benefit only certain groups, regions, or networks, they can reinforce tensions rather than reduce them.
This means that targeting matters.
It means paying close attention to who is being reached, who is being left out, and that opportunities are created and distributed across communities.
This is particularly important for young people, for women, and for communities that have been marginalized or directly affected by violence.
In many fragile settings, these groups are not only economically excluded, they are also socially excluded.
Well designed job initiatives can help address both the economic and social dimensions by creating pathways to participation, dignity, and ultimately hope.
Job initiatives must be grounded in a clear understanding of the context.
In conflict affected environments, there is no silver bullet.
There is no one size fits all.
The right approach depends on the local political economy, the nature of conflict, the capacity of institutions, and the structure of the labor market.
What matters is interventions that are not designed in isolation from the realities of conflict.
They must be informed by local knowledge, by understanding of risks and grievances, and by close engagement with communities themselves.
Now, allow me to also refer to the importance of strengthening trust alongside livelihoods.
Social cohesion is not only about employment numbers, it is also about whether people feel that institutions are fair, that opportunities are accessible, and that progress is shared.
This is why implementation matters as much as design.
Programs that are transparent, locally grounded, and responsive can help build confidence between citizens and institutions.
Programs that bring communities together around shared economic opportunities can help rebuild relationships across lines of division, and programs that are linked to broader efforts in service delivery, governance, and resilience are more likely to have lasting impact.
And this is where partnerships across complementary mandates and strengths that the World Bank Group, the United Nations government, civil society, local actors, and the private sector can bring together in practical ways that support national priorities and respond to local realities.
To conclude, ladies and gentlemen, creating more and better jobs and economic opportunity is not only about growth.
It is also about reducing vulnerability, strengthening resilience, helping society move from fragility towards stability.
It is therefore central to central building, not peripheral.
At the World Bank Group, we remain committed and ready to continue working with all our partners to advance this agenda.
Thank you.
I thank miss Maria Demetridu for her presentation.
The World Bank reminds us of the truth that Nobody can deny, and that is that there is no lasting peace without the means to back the ambitions.
By channeling financing to the most fragile contexts and advocating betting for micro small and medium sized enterprises where others only see risk.
International financial institutions cannot just invest in economies, they must also invest in stability itself.
I now give the floor to Mr.
Roland Fendum Excellence, distinguished delegates, colleagues and fellow panelists, accept warm greetings from Africa, and thank you for having me.
I've listened to the previous speakers, I am really, really happy and delighted to be a part of this because it makes me believe that we have been on the right path.
Too often, discussions about fragility focus on what communities lack.
Yet, in many fragile regions, the challenge is not a lack of potential.
It is a lack of pathways that transform potential into opportunity.
Seven years ago, after I completed my education in Boston, Massachusetts, I returned to Cameroon with a mission to create those pathways through rural agricultural development.
I believe that agriculture could become a powerful driver of economic inclusion, creating sustainable livelihoods, while addressing many of the conditions that contribute to instability.
Today, my company, Greenhouse Ventures Group, we have built an ecosystem that combines agricultural training, modern finance, rural finance, and digital technology to help farmers manage risk, improve productivity, and access markets and finance, thereby providing high quality food at affordable prices to every consumer.
Since our inception in 2013, we have trained more than 7,000 people, men and women, young folks in the domain of modern agricultural production and agribusiness, many of whom have gone to establish farms, create businesses, and generate employment in their own communities.
We've also supported the installation of more than 2000 greenhouse units across Cameroon and expanded our work into seven African countries, demonstrating that locally led solutions scale across borders, Our success has been driven by a simple but holistic approach, a community driven model that fosters collaboration and shared prosperity.
First, we create economic opportunities through agricultural value chains, cooperatives and rural enterprises.
Second, we create access to finance through cooperative based financial systems and innovative social collateral models.
We have helped previously excluded farmers become bankable and invest in productive activities.
Third, we create access to markets.
By linking farmers directly to buyers, securing opt agreements with supermarkets, food processes, factories, and institutional buyers, we reduce uncertainty and create more stable incomes.
Fourth, we leverage technology.
Through agro cycle, we use satellite monitoring and data driven insights to help farmers detect risks early, improve productivity, and strengthen resilience.
Our work also contributed to import substitution by enabling commercial scale production of crops such as tomatoes, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and more, thereby creating strengthening national food security.
Our goal is simple to move people from subsistence to surplus and ultimately to enterprise.
Because when people move from dependency to productivity, they become stakeholders in stability, contributors to economic growth, and partners in sustaining peace.
As we look to the future, our greatest challenge is no longer proving that these models work.
The challenge is scaling them to meet the growing demand from vulnerable rural communities.
We envision rural communities equipped with tractors, warehouses, digital monitoring systems, and cooperative financial institutions.
Together, these systems build resilience, strengthen local economies, retain youth, and foster long term stability.
As development partners, governments, financial institutions, and the United Nations considers pathways towards peace building, we encourage greater investment in locally led solutions that empower communities to become architects of their own prosperity and stability.
We have learned that while fragile communities may differ in geography, many share similar challenges and many of the solutions can be adapted and replicated across contexts.
In every fragile community where we have worked, we have seen the same truth.
People gain access to opportunities.
They choose hope over despair, cooperation over conflict and resilience over risk.
The future of peace building would be achieved by empowering people to build livelihoods, create businesses, feed their communities, and participate meaningfully in economic life.
Peace the strongest when people can see a future for themselves, and resilience is even stronger when communities have the tools, opportunities, and institutions to shape that future.
We have brought our work in the various communities of Caroon and beyond, have proven that change is possible and it is feasible.
We stand ready to partner with you all here represented today to scale and replicate these models wherever they can help build resilient, prosperous, and peaceful communities.
Thank you very much for having me, and we look forward to working together with you.
I thank Mr.
Roland for his presentation and I'd like to particularly welcome him and I applaud him for joining us all the way from Cameroon, which goes to show, if ever we need to show it, that good ideas are not restricted to borders.
Behind each job created, there is an entrepreneur who has dared to try a land that is providing its fruits and youth choosing the future rather than exile and violence.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to Madame Genevieve Roubini.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to address you today, which is also on behalf of the women's major group, a global network of 1,500 feminist civil society organizations.
We really welcome this discussion about peace building and decent work because from a feminist perspective, it is crucial to use economic policy to address the root causes of conflict, violence, and injustice, including gender injustice.
Many of the crises in our world today, including record levels of armed conflict and the climate and ecological crisis, have been shaped by an economic system that values and enables unsustainable growth, extraction, and accumulation of wealth over people and planet.
Many of the barriers to achieving decent work for women rooted in patriarchal systems and norms are consistent around the world.
These include things that we know such as gender pay gaps, labor market segregation, informality, lack of access to finance, denial of land rights, and lack of protections.
Over 600 million women live in close proximity to conflict.
Globally, ILO research from a few years ago shows that people perform 16.4 billion hours of unpaid care work a day and women carry out 76% of that labor.
So when thinking about what societies need in order to survive and rebuild from armed conflict, this social reproduction is especially important.
Women care for children, the elderly and disabled people, mediate local disputes, defend land and human rights, teach, and provide essential counseling and psychosocial support.
This undervalued labor that sustains life, families, ecosystems, and societies is an integral part of social cohesion and conflict prevention.
Around the world, women are already doing this work.
In Ukraine, for example, Russia's full scale invasion sparked a surge in solidarity among Ukrainians where Ukrainian women have filled the gaps of austerity and taken on added unpaid and underpaid burdens of domestic care and social work, including a tremendous personal toll.
In Afghanistan, generations of armed conflict and collapsed social infrastructure mean that women are forced to absorb the costs and labor into their households and informal networks.
The Taliban's regime of gender apartheid might be formally blocking them from employment and public life, but this has not changed the fact that on the ground, their labor is what is keeping Afghan society afloat.
In Colombia, with widespread violence against human rights defenders and social leaders, women are creating feminist spaces for care, healing, and empowerment of women in conflict affected territories, caring for those who care for others.
Therefore, unpaid care work must be recognized as essential social and economic infrastructure and redistributed through investment in public care systems and social protection.
Some of the most gender equal societies in our world invest heavily in care and international development aid must support these care systems in context of conflict and fragility and must support the women and feminist movements to continue this work on their own terms.
Feminists have historically critiqued approaches that impose things such as privatization, austerity, and fiscal restraint while assuming that women will fill the gaps with our labor.
The private sector, including public private partnerships, is not a full substitute for universal public systems and global justice, such as tax justice, reduction and redirection of military spending and cancellation of unjust debt is vital for creating the necessary fiscal space to fund these programs.
It's also necessary to look at the implementation of the women's peace and security agenda and participation in decision making, including economic decision making, including over jobs and employment.
Women are still systematically excluded from peace and political processes, but in today's evolving mediation landscape, trends towards transactionalism and narrow deal making as well as impunity for grave violations of international law are opening the door for further exclusion and potential economic exploitation, which risks further cycles of violence and conflict.
This is being reinforced by anti gender backlash and rising authoritarianism.
Having the opportunity to discuss these things together, we know historically what has not worked and how many armed conflicts have been rooted in factors such as land dispossession, colonialism, neocolonialism, the extraction of wealth.
And to this end, a favorable investment and trade climate does not necessarily imply favorable conditions for social cohesion and peace.
Job creation programs cannot advance social cohesion if they are in sectors where the profits are entirely flowing abroad and where industries are creating further harm for ecosystems and for communities.
Therefore, our view is that conflict prevention cannot just be achieved through technical fixes or by merely expanding women's access to markets.
But I think we're all in agreement that this is through working alongside communities to design economies that work for them.
So some of the things that we hope to underscore in this regard include the full and meaningful participation of women and communities in economic planning and in peace and security decision making, enforcement of labor rights in line with ILO standards and conventions, including in relation to equal pay, the right to organize in collective bargaining and freedom of association, and eliminating gender based violence in the world of work, and investing in the public sector and in universal gender responsive social protection, including through the recognition of unpaid care work as essential economic infrastructure.
I thank you.
I thank miss Genevieve Ric Bi for her presentation.
Madam, your voice is essential here because your voice is right from the ground, from the grassroots.
It's the voice of the communities on behalf of who and for whom we are working.
Civil society reminds us that we must never lose sight of them.
Social cohesion cannot only be measured in job creation figures, but also a In terms of the people that we must not forget the most vulnerable youth, women, and those that the statistics often leave behind.
I'd now like to give the floor back to my co chair, so you have the floor.
Thank you.
Ambassad La, the chair of the PBC and Excellency distingu delegates.
We will now proceed to the interactive discussion.
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With this, Of Guyana and who is speaking on behalf of the Caribbean community.
Guya Yatla.
Thank you, Mr.
President.
Excellency's distinguished delegates.
I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the 14 member states of the Caribbean community, Cicom.
I thank the President of Ecosoc and the Chair of the Peace Building Commission for convening this important meeting.
Young people are essential to achieving the sustainable development goals and building peaceful, prosperous societies.
Yet across our region, too many are being left behind.
In 2024, youth unemployment in the Caribbean, excluding Haiti, stood at 17.6%, nearly four times the adult unemployment rate.
When Haiti is included, youth employment rises dramatically to 30.5%, exceeding levels recorded during the COVID 19 pandemic.
Young women face even greater challenges with unemployment rates 1.6 times higher than those for young men.
Many remain trapped in low productivity, informal, and insecure jobs, conditions that undermine long term growth and social cohesion.
The situation in Haiti is particularly alarming.
The country continues to grapple with successive economic shocks, unprecedented insecurity driven by gang violence, and a humanitarian crisis affecting more than 6.4 million people, more than half the population.
Nearly 45% of Haiti's population is under the age of 18.
For many young Haitians, poverty, hunger, displacement, and lack of educational and economic opportunities create fertile ground for gang recruitment.
When legitimate opportunities disappear, criminal networks step in to fill the void.
Excellencies, creating sustainable jobs is therefore not only an economic necessity, it is a peace building imperative.
Decent work provides income, dignity, purpose, and hope.
It strengthens communities, reduces vulnerability to violence, and offers young people a viable alternative to gang involvement.
Caricm therefore welcomes the United Nations Peace Building Fund project being implemented by the International Labor Organization on Youth, Agro ecology and Green jobs in Haiti's grand aunts region.
Through skills training, entrepreneurship development, and support for micro enterprises, this initiative is equipping young people with the tools to build livelihoods and contribute positively to their communities.
We also welcome the recent signing of the two year country program between the government of Haiti and the International Labor Organization, which places particular emphasis on employment opportunities for youth and women, as well as support for internally displaced persons and workers in the informal economy.
These interventions are especially important because they align with the broader regional direction articulated by our own Curricum Youth Development action plan, which provides a regional framework for advancing youth empowerment, resilience, inclusion, and social cohesion across the community.
This plan allows Carm to situate youth employment not only as an economic issue, but also as a matter of stability, protection, participation, and long term peace building, particularly in crisis and conflict affected settings.
In this regard, Haiti has also benefited in the past from our aspiring youth empowerment program and the Creativity for Employment and Business Opportunity Program.
Both of which support young people's entrepreneurial capacity, life skills, social and emotional development, and livelihood readiness.
However, there are presently no resources available to support implementation.
We would therefore welcome the support of the international community.
Caricm also remains deeply appreciative of the support of the United Nations system.
We look forward to continued collaboration through the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Haiti, particularly the shared objective of creating resilient livelihoods and diversified employment opportunities.
We welcome I thank the distinguished representative of Guana speaking on behalf of the Caribbean community.
Now, I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Croatia, to be followed by Mozambique, Angola, Armenia, and Dominican Republic.
Mr.
President of the Economic and Social Council, Chair of the PBC, Madam Assistant Secretary-General, thank you for convening this joint meeting and thanks to all debriefers and panelists.
Exchanges like this strengthen cooperation between our two bodies and improve coherence for the people we serve.
Ladies and gentlemen, job creation is central to prevention, peace building, and building resilience because economic pressure is often the root cause of instability, as we all know.
Resilience starts with expanding economic choices.
Jobs provide dignity, stability, and a stake in peace.
In fragile settings, unemployment, especially among youth, fuels frustration, exclusion, and mistrust.
It weakens institutions and heightens risks.
This is why job creation must anchor national prevention strategies.
Effective strategies link risk analysis with real economic options.
They identify who is most at risk, understand local markets, and target investment where job can ease tensions and inclusion is essential in that regard.
Early warning systems should also track labor market stress so responses come before grievances deepen.
Action must be early and sustained.
In Croatia, job creation played a central stabilizing role in Croatia's own post conflict reconstruction after our Homeland war and the libération of our occupied territories, helping communities recover economically, socially, and psychologically.
The reintegration of veterans through employment programs, return and reconstruction in war affected areas, through the rebuilding and return of displaced persons and targeted support for small and medium sized enterprises, and the empowerment of women and as well as youth employment with emphasis on vocational training is essential in rebuilding the social fabric.
Now, the Peace Building Commission can advance this agenda by aligning political support, financing, and expertise behind nationally led job creation priorities.
It promotes joint risk analysis, inclusive economic policies, and catalytic funding for visible livelihood gains in high risk areas.
EcoSc complements this by shaping global economic and social policies, supporting sustainable financing, and ensuring UN development programs integrate job skills and inclusion into national planning.
Finally, the goal is clear, move from risk to resilience by giving people meaningful economic choices, jobs build hope, hope builds cohesion, cohesion builds peace.
Croatia remains committed to this.
I thank you.
I thank the Director General of the Multilateral affairs of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Crusia for his statement.
Now I give the floor to the dist representative of Mozambique.
Thank you, Mr.
President.
Mr.
President Co chairs, Mozambique welcomes the convening of this session, marking the inaugurar Peace Building Week at the moment of particular significance.
20 years since the establishment of the Peace Building Commission and Peace Building Fund.
Peace building is not only about managing crisis after they erupt, it is about addressing the structural drivers of conflict before they deepen, such as exclusion, unemployment, inequality, weak institution, climate vulnerability, food insecurity, and the absence of opportunity.
Mr.
President, this is why the joint focus of EchoSc and the PBC on moving from risk to resilience through social cohesion and job creation is so important.
In many peace building contexts, unemployment, especially among youth and women is not merely an economic challenge.
It can become a source of grievance, alienation, and instability.
Conversely, decent work, access to skills, finance, entrepreneurship, and local markets can become instrument of dignity, trust, and reconciliation.
Progress on the SDG eight remains uneven.
Youth and unemployment, informality and labor rights deficit persist, and these gaps are widely precisely in the fragile and conflict affected setting this meeting is focused on.
Closing them requires the public and private sectors to act together.
Governments providing enabling policy and regulatory frameworks and private sector, particularly MSMEs, providing investment, innovation, and jobs.
The PBC has a unique convening role.
EcoSoc has a unique mandate to guide development cooperation and SDG implementation.
Together, they can ensure that peace building is not treated as a separate track, but as an integral part of sustainable development.
Mr.
President, Mozambique's three practical shift is essential.
First, a stronger country level coherence so that peace building and development planning reinforce rather than duplicate one another.
Second, predictable and flexible financing, including through the peace Building fund, international financial institution, and the private sector.
Finally, greater investment in youth, women, MSMEs, and local institutions because resilience is built closest to communities.
Thank you, Mr.
President.
I thank the Pomani representative of Mozambique.
Now I give the floor to the Pomani representative of Australia who is speaking on behalf of the McTa.
Thank you so much, President.
As you mentioned, I'm pleased to deliver this statement on behalf of MCTA, Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Turkey, and Australia.
It's particularly timely that this joint meeting takes place during the inaugural peace building Week.
Bringing together the UN Peace Building Commission and EcoSoc reinforces that there can be no peace without sustainable development and respect for human rights.
Close cooperation across the UN's three pillars is essential to addressing the root causes of conflict.
Colleagues, the Micta group offers three reflections today.
First, advancing inclusive job creation must be central to our efforts to prevent conflict, build stability, and sustain peace.
Lack of access to decent work, particularly for women and youth, is a key driver of instability.
Conversely, inclusive and sustainable employment and economic development opportunities support families, restore dignity, and foster trust between communities and institutions.
Expanding economic opportunities is therefore not only a development imperative, but a peace building priority.
Second, we reaffirm our support to strengthen the United Nations peace building and development architectures, including through adequate, predictable and sustained financing.
More must be done to ensure coherence and strategic alignment within the UN system, as well as between peace building and development actors on the ground.
This includes better aligning political development and financing tools to support nationally led priorities, including to support job creation and inclusive economic recovery.
EcoSOC, the Peace Building Commission, peace building UN resident and humanitarian coordinators all have distinct but important roles to play in bridging these efforts.
They play complementary roles in providing expertise, mobilizing support, and ensuring that peace building and development approaches are coherent and mutually reinforcing.
Strengthening the resident and humanitarian coordinator systems through UNA reforms will be critical to improve coherence and better align the UN's work with national and regional priorities.
Third, we emphasize the importance of conflict prevention as a shared and continuous responsibility.
Effective prevention requires sustained investment across the humanitarian development piece nexus.
In this regard, voluntary national led conflict prevention strategies are an important tool for aligning support for national efforts, including through policies that promote inclusion, opportunity, and resilience, and reduce vulnerabilities to radicalization and violence by expanding access to education, fair employment, and development.
And while we make all efforts to prevent conflict, MCTA countries are also committed to protecting those who protect others and as signatories to the Declaration for the Protection of humanitarian personnel, we are taking practical action to ensure greater respect for and protection of those who protect others.
Thank you.
I thank the Pomani Representative of Australia, speaking on behalf of the MICTA Group.
Now I give the floor to the Pomani representative of Angola.
Mr.
President, thank you for giving me the floor.
Angola welcomes the convening of this joint meeting between EcoSoc and the Peace Building Commission and thanks to the organizer for highlighting a topic that lies at the heart of sustainable development and sustaining peace, advancing social cohesion through job creation.
For Angola, job creation is not only an economic priority.
It is a pathway from risk to resilience.
Decent work promotes inclusion, dignity, and opportunity, enable individuals, particularly young people to contribute to their communities and participate meaningfully in the national development.
In doing so, it strengthens social cohesion and helps address vulnerabilities that can undermine peace and stability.
As a country that emerged in 2002 from nearly three decades of conflict and with a pdmently young population, Angola recognized that investing in youth is essential to building peaceful, resilient, and inclusive societies.
Employment, skills development, and entrepreneurship therefore remains central to our development and peace building efforts.
In recent years, Angola has invested in strengthening human capital, expanding social protection, and promoting local economic development.
Programs such as uenda, Angola's largest direct cash transfer initiative, established to address poverty through systematic social protection demonstrates that the value of linking social protection with economic inclusion, particularly for vulnerable households and communities.
We are also advancing economic diversification and regional connectivity.
The Lubito corridor, for example, is creating jobs, stimulating local economic activity, and strengthening regional integration while generating tangible development dividends.
Angola's experience demonstrate that sustainable peace, development, and social cohesion are mutually reinforcing.
Employment strategy in peace building contexts must therefore invest in skills, empower women and youth, support entrepreneurship, and enable small business to thrive.
As we advance the implementation of the UN 2030 agenda and the African Union Agenda 2063, we must continue to place people at the center of our efforts.
By expanding access to decent work and economic opportunity, we can build more inclusive, cohesive, and resilient society.
I thank you.
Am I thank the ambassador and Parent representative of Angola for his statements.
I now give the floor to the ambassador and Par of Armenia.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr.
Chair.
Thank you, Mr.
President.
As Vice Presidency of ESOok and a member of Peace Building Commission, Arbinia welcomes this joint meeting.
The 2025 Peace Building Architecture Review win resolutions reaffirm the value of strengthen ECSC PBC cooperation in accordance with their respective mandates.
We believe such regular exchanges can contribute to a more coherent approach to sustaining peace.
The colleagues in conflict affected settings and employment under unemployment and economic exclusion can deepen grievances, erode trust in institutions and undermine social cohesion.
Adré these risks requires sustained investment in inclusive economic opportunities and decent work.
We place particular emphasis on youth and women who are often disproportionately affected by exclusion yet remain indispensable agents of recovery, cohesion, and peace.
Employment focused peace building efforts should therefore prioritize skills development, entrepreneurship, and economic participation.
Armenia recognizes that women full participation in economic and public life is essential for building inclusive and peaceful societies.
Through gender policy strategy and national action plan, Armenia promotes women's economic empowerment and leadership while supporting resilience, including in border and refugee hosting.
Communities.
Armenia implements targeted employment programs for displaced persons.
More than 20,000 of them are currently engaged in formal employment, supporting both livelihoods and social inclusion.
We underscore the importance of micro, small and medium sized enterprises as drivers of job creation and local development and stress the need for stronger partnership among government International financing institutions, the UN system, and local stakeholders.
We also believe that education, skills development, and employment opportunities are mutually reinforcing investments in prevention and sustaining peace.
Earlier this month, the Armenia initiated J resolution Education for Peace was adopted by consensus and co sponsored by around 100 member states.
Finally, we believe that job creation should be viewed not only as economic objective, but also as an investment in prevention, recovery, and sustaining peace.
We encourage the UN system to continue supporting nationally owned and coordinated approaches that link employment and resilience while responding to the specific needs of communities on the ground.
I thank you.
I thank the permanent representative for his statement and I now give the floor to the permanent representative of the Dominican Republic.
Republic The Dominican Republic, thanks you for organizing this joint meeting to discuss a premise that we wish to take up ourselves also, there is no lasting peace without economic opportunity, social cohesion or decent work.
In context of protracted conflict, unemployment, and a lack of perspectives, especially for youth and women.
These things can turn into a source of grievances and a cause of instability among their consequences.
There's one that we are particularly concerned about, the recruitment of children and youth by armed groups, where we see poverty and a lack of opportunities, we are seeing the most vulnerable being pushed to armed groups who offer them an environment that they can't get elsewhere, income, production and identity and belonging.
Recruiting a child is easy when there are no other alternatives.
Children are victims above all, and must be treated as such, prioritizing rehabilitation above punishment.
However, Tackling this is not enough if there isn't an alternative.
What they need is education, technical, professional training, and a pathway for a decent income, a competitive income in real terms, competitive to what armed groups can offer.
Employment is the best strategy for prevention and reintegration.
Recommendation 205 of the ILO establishes that decent work must be included during the very first moments when we are responding to crises.
On this basis, we proposed three lines of action linking reintegration of youth to programs and professional training, like in Haiti in 2026.
UNICEF warned in February that recruitment of children by armed groups increased close to 200% in 2025 and that 30 to 50% of the members of these groups are children, some only just 9-years-old.
The joint report of Benou and the high Commissioner for the United Nations for Human Rights in February 2026 recommends a comprehensive strategy to strengthen schools as spaces that protect young people and an expansion of professional training and youth employment.
We support security, and we believe that security is essential.
However, security without development does not break the cycle.
It simply just delays things.
The Dominican Republic reiterates its commitment, its solidarity to the Haitian people, and to a response that places children and youth at the center.
The stability of a country in conflict is also the stability of its region and we cannot build a better future with security alone.
We can only build it by providing each child and each young person with alternatives for the future and the speaker's microphone was cut off.
The chair thanks the permanent representative of the Dominican Republic and gives the floor now to the ambassador and DPR of Colombia.
Thank you, Chair.
My warmest regards to the top table, Madam Speja our regards and gratitude to all of you and our greetings on this important week.
In particular, this morning at this event where we are seeing joint dialogue between Echosoc and PBC.
We're aware that peace, development, and human rights are intrinsically linked to one another.
In Colombia, experience has shown that lasting peace requires us to transform the root causes of conflict, the structural causes, inequality, exclusion, poverty, and a lack of opportunities.
Where we see gaps, we see a weakening of social cohesion, and the right conditions for violence and lapsing back into conflict.
That's why for Colombia, decent jobs, in particular for young people is not just an issue of economic development, but rather a preventive policy also, providing economic opportunities is tantamount to strengthening the resilience of our communities and reducing vulnerabilities to recruitment, criminality, and other forms of violence that we see in our country.
Expanding opportunities for youth is one of the most effective tools and of prevention in both our country as well as elsewhere in the world.
Programs such as income for youth and Youth and Peace can break cycles of poverty and violence through access to education, conditions, transferred, and support for labor integration.
What's more, the Agency for reincorporation and normalization in Colombia has established schemes for economic reintegration for more than 100,000 signatories of the Peace Agreement with productive projects, employability and income as a basis for stabilization and for the building of what we call territorial peace.
Colombia's experience Chairman has shown that providing projects of life, inclusion, education, and employment reduces the risk of recruitment and being linked to the illegal economy in particular in regions affected by violence.
Colombia reaffirms its conviction.
And we call on the United Nations to talk about peace, not war.
And to talk about peace implies also talking about social justice, inclusion, opportunities, and dignity as the essential conditions required in order to sustain them.
Thank you very much, Chair.
I thank the permanent representative of Colombia and the Deputy Permanent Resident of Colombia.
I now give the floor to the representative of the European Union to speak on behalf of 80 states members of the European Union and aligned states.
Thank you.
Chair, Excellencies, I'm delivering the statements on behalf of the European Union and its member states.
The following countries also align themselves with the statement, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, as well as Armenia.
Chairs employment is a key factor for stabilization, integration, reintegration, and social cohesion.
We therefore welcome today's joint session on this important topic.
Today's discussion during the first day of Peace Building week underscores the vital role of sustaining economic opportunities as a cornerstone of lasting peace.
The peace building week is a clear and the visible result of last year's peace building architecture review in this regard.
Job creation, social cohesion, and economic development are key parts of successful peace building and conflict prevention.
Without them, fragility is certain to increase posing an acute and systemic challenge that extends beyond the impacted region.
Indeed, fragilities, if left unaddressed, carries direct consequences for international stability, security, and development.
This message is also part of the EU's approach to including the recently adopted council conclusions on a coherent approach to fragility.
Investing in economic development, addressing the key drivers of conflict and building resilience also by including women and youth are at the heart of our preventive approach to fragility and efforts to support sustaining peace.
Without decent jobs and fair incomes, fragility deepens and causes for conflict widen.
Jobs are not just an economic priority, they are central to stability, dignity, and hope, especially for young people.
Fstter this EU has a joint operational approach to post crisis assessments and recovery planning with the UN and the World Bank.
Workforce considerations are an essential component, particularly in highly affected sectors from disasters or crisis, for example, water sector, infrastructure, agriculture, education, and health.
One of the priorities is to assist people in swiftly ensuring income by creating livelihood opportunities.
The EU also continues to be the world's largest provider of official development assistance representing 48% of global ODA in 2025 and specifically supports conflict prevention, peace building, and mediation activities as key contributors for reducing fragility, strengthening resilience, and contribute to prevent conflict and sustain peace.
Finally, let me recall that in the current volatile world of unprecedented challenges and crises, the EU will continue to steadfastly support peace building and sustaining peace as a key part of our support to multilateralism.
Thank you.
So present.
I thank the representative of the European Union for this statement, and I give the floor now to the representative of Sierra Leone.
Thank you.
I than the president of EcoSc and the chair of the Peace Building Commission for convening this important discussion on the role of job creation in strengthening social cohesion and sustaining peace.
In fragile and conflict affected settings, unemployment and underemployment, particularly among youth and women are not only economic challenges, they can also deepen exclusion, grievances, and vulnerabilities.
Creating decent and inclusive employment opportunities is therefore not simply a development priority.
It is an investment in conflict prevention, resilience, and lasting peace.
It is in this regard that the government of Cier Leon in collaboration with International Labor Organization has launched the C Leon Labor Market information System, a real time platform revolutionizing job tracking and workforce planning.
The private sector must also be recognized as a key partner in peace building.
Governments can provide enabling policy frameworks and stability while businesses and small and medium sized enterprises can drive innovation, investment, and job creation.
Strengthening public private partnerships will therefore be critical to expanding opportunities in fragile contexts and ensuring that growth is inclusive.
At the same time, international cooperation must become more integrated Peace building, development, and the human humanitarian efforts should work together to address the root causes of fragility and ensure that investments translate into sustainable livelihoods and social cohesion.
In this regard, we wish to pose three questions for reflection.
First, How can we better integrate employment creation into peace building strategies so that economic exclusion is addressed as a driver of conflict and instability? Second, how can governments, international partners, and the private sector scale up opportunities for youth, women and small and medium sized enterprises in fragile and conflict affected settings? Third, how can we ensure that employment programs measure success not only by jobs created, but by their contribution to trust, inclusion, and lasting peace.
The pathway from risk to resilience requires that people have opportunity.
I thank the district representative for Sierra Leone.
Now I give the floor to the permanent representative of Brazil to be followed by El Salvador, Canas in Federation, and Germany.
Thank you, Mr.
Chair.
Sustaining peace requires a holistic view with sustained development at its center.
Decent work, inclusive growth, and reduced inequalities are not mere economic objectives.
They are tools of social cohesion, institutional strength, and thus of conflict prevention and peace building.
SDG eight remains central.
Public policies must combine growth with dignity.
Peace building and prevention strategies should address causes and drivers of conflict, including lack of access to labor markets and employment, education, health, public services, and housing.
The inclusion of women and youth as agents of development and peace is key.
Peace building must address barriers that prevent women, youth, and vulnerable groups from formal employment, income, and entrepreneurship.
Decent work is also key.
Labor inspection, protection of fundamental rights, the fight against child labor and forced labor, and the prevention of any form of slavery and human trafficking are central to inclusive growth.
Formal contracts, safe conditions, and respect for rights are foundations of sustainable peace.
Brazil values the role of micro and small businesses in generating jobs and income, instruments such as the individual micro entrepreneur framework, simplified taxation, easier access to credit, support for family farming, and the more productive Brazil program, improve formalization and sustainability in our country.
New industry Brazil is another instrument for combining industrial development, innovation, sustainability, decent work and socioeconomic inclusion.
Such initiatives, ready to be shared, could be emulated by countries willing to prevent conflict or sustain peace.
Income policy is equally important.
Strengthening families economic power reduces poverty and promotes inclusive economic growth.
Many countries go along with Brazil prioritizing the fight against inequality, hunger and poverty.
That's why we launched the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, now a vast coalition of countries, international institutions, and the private sector, which can become an important instrument in peace building and conflict prevention.
Finally, the catalytic effect of the peace Building fund can benefit projects that facilitate access to work and improve livelihoods.
Successful PBF projects may become pilot ventures for investments from IFIs and MDBs.
Mr.
Chair, the EcoSc and the PBC working in synergy can help ensure that peace building and conflict prevention produce success stories that will be emulated by a greater number of countries if their strategies are nationally owned, inclusive, and economically and socially sustainable.
Thank you.
I thank the Permani representative of Brazil.
Now I give the floor to the Permani representative of El Salvador.
Thank you, President.
We thank you for convening this joint meeting of EcoSoc and the PBC and we appreciate the presentations provided by the panelists this morning.
For my country, this discussion is a very concrete one.
We know from our own experience that peace cannot only be sustained thanks to the absence of violence, peace is also built when people, especially youth have real opportunities to study, to work.
To start a business or participate in the economic life of their communities and to be able to project a better future for themselves.
From this perspective, the youth peace and security agenda must occupy a central position in our discussions on development prevention and peace building.
Youth should not only be seen as beneficiaries of programs, but rather agents for transformation, innovation, and social cohesion.
Investing in youth is also investing in prevention, trust in institutions and more resilient communities.
Among the efforts being undertaken by the governments of El Salvador, we have the opportunities program that facilitates connections, links between persons that are looking for jobs and companies that need human talent.
We also have the up digital program that's geared towards youth 18-35 years of age with skills and tech, prioritizing the sectors that require the most opportunities, including persons with disabilities, returned migrants, and persons that are in the process of their social reintegration.
We can also underscore, um SMEs and their role in providing opportunities through the Cope program, we have promoted spaces for training for youth entrepreneurs, including using generative AI to optimize processes.
However, the creation of youth employment cannot be addressed in isolation.
It requires training, digital inclusion.
Support for entrepreneurship, access to markets, alliances with the private sector, and sensible public policies that are sensitive to the needs of those that face the highest barriers in this regard.
We have received support to boost our national efforts to strengthen social cohesion and also inclusion and prevention and believe that it's essential to ensure the strengthening continuity and predictability of the peace building fund, which we've benefited from.
If we really want the PBC to be able to effectively support countries, especially in prevention, youth employment, and resilience, we need to have adequate, flexible and sustainable financial resources.
Co chairs, the full version of our statement will be shared with all delegations, in particular, some concrete recommendations that we have on these points.
We'll share that in writing.
Thank you very much.
I thank the Perman representative of El Salvador.
Now, I give the floor to the Perman representative of Kenya.
Thank you, Mr.
President.
I would like to thank you and the PBC chair for convening this important discussion and for putting together a great panel.
Across conflict affected and fragile settings, unemployment and employment and economic exclusion continue to undermine prospects for lasting peace and sustainable development.
And in contexts where economic opportunities are limited, they elicit a deeper sense of grievance, weaken trust in institutions, and widen social divisions.
Whereas conversely, decent work provides dignity, agency, and a sense of belonging.
Employment initiatives that are designed inclusively and implemented in a conflict sensitive manner help address underlying drivers of instability and contribute to social cohesion, resilience, gender equality, poverty reduction, and ultimately the sustaining of peace.
The private sector, especially MSMEs play a pivotal role in job creation, in fragile settings, and yet these businesses face limited finance, weak infrastructure, and regulatory hurdles.
Unlocking their potential is key to growth, stability, and resilience.
From a peace building perspective, employment programs are most effective when they reflect local realities, align skills with market demand, expand access to financial services for underserved groups, and create a business friendly environment, and involve communities as partners in designing solutions.
To make these lessons have a greater impact, we propose the following three things.
First, strengthening international cooperation and policy coordination across the humanitarian development and peace nexus through our whole of society approach, while emphasizing investments behind nationally owned priorities.
Second, creating enabling environments for sustainable job creation, that respond to local economic realities while placing women and the youth at the center of employment strategies.
And third, and finally, scaling up innovative approaches that combine skills, access to finance and social dialogue, including digital employment platforms, green jobs initiatives, social enterprises, and blended finance mechanisms.
Kenya calls for a unified approach that enables the transition from risk to resilience by advancing opportunity, dignity, and inclusion for all.
Mr.
President, we will also be sharing our detailed statement.
I thank you.
I thank the Pmani representative of Kenya.
Now I give the floor to the D representative of Russian Federation.
Blog.
We wish to thank the presidents of ECS and PBC for organizing this event.
Decent work and economic growth are among the most significant factors for stability and prosperity of any state.
It is important for employment to guarantee able bodied populations with sufficient income and social protection for their families as well as safety in their places of work, opportunities for personal development and integration into society.
With this, the very fact of having a job will not help to facilitate social cohesion.
On the contrary, this is liable to create dissatisfaction and to worsen inequality in society.
A area that requires appropriate attention by states in conflict or in post conflict recovery stages is combating poverty, illiteracy, and youth unemployment against the backdrop of complicated living conditions in certain countries, fertile ground is created for the spread of extremist ideology and radicalization of society.
Naturally, these phenomena are something which people of any age may be affected by but young people with their inchoate worldviews and in the absence of opportunities for self realization, they are the most vulnerable people in the face of radical ideology, most susceptible thereto.
Another challenge which is frequently goes hand in hand with conflict is the growth of displaced persons.
When there is a growing burden on economic and social infrastructure, the need to provide this category population with decent jobs is viewed as one of the key factors for greater stability and for preventing social tensions.
We believe that progress on the whole gamut of sustainable development goals, not just in the area of individual ones is an important factor for the reduction of potential for conflict in countries with political instability.
In this context, we see a significant role that can be played by the private sector, small and medium sized businesses in conditions when official development assistance is reduced and when the largest economies increasingly focus on their own priorities, the most realistic means of delivering support to these countries is expediting technology transfer technologies which help to mobilize domestic resources and to bring together the efforts of the state, private sector development partners, local financial institutions.
Russia has platform based digital technologies for taxation and banking services for small and medium entrepreneurship.
We propose partnerships to pool and coordinate efforts with other modern economies on the basis of the South South cooperation model and to begin the process of transfer of digital platforms of small, medium sized businesses to those states who are ready to incorporate them at home.
Thank you for your attention.
I thank the distinguished representative of Russian Friedrien.
Now, I give the floor to the Permanen representative of Germany.
Excellency, you have.
Mr.
President, first of all, thank you and thanks to the chair of the PBC for convening this meeting at the beginning of the peace building week under this topic.
I think it's very important because this week and especially this meeting give us the possibility to underline the link of economic prospects and peace.
In that sense, thanks to all the panelists for the very concrete and valuable contributions that you've made, what is important if we want to achieve peace and build peace.
Unemployment and underemployment are, of course, not only economic concerns, but political and social challenges and when young people see no realistic path to education, training, decent work, the frustration grows and when women are excluded from economic life, societies lose talent, resilience, and trust.
When communities compete over scarce livelihoods, existing grievances can deepen.
The opposite is also true.
Education, skills development, and decent work create prospects, but also a sense of dignity belonging in agency and they can open alternatives to violence, strengthen confidence in public institutions, and help communities experience tangible peace dividends.
I want to make two points.
First, we do have instruments that work and we need to strengthen them.
The peace building Fund is one of them where Germany is and remains the largest long term donor.
I would like to respectfully cite two more examples, others have been cited, of PBF work.
In Liberia, a PBF supported project on rural development opportunities for youth in conflict prone areas linked livelihoods with social cohesion and local dispute resolution.
It's reporting points to outcomes like improved participation of young people in land related decision making and stronger youth to youth and community engagement.
This is exactly the type of catalytic peace building investment we need.
In the Gambia, the PBF supports tensions among rural agricultural communities by combining livelihoods, climate adaptation, and peace building.
Just two practical examples.
What is key is that local businesses and entrepreneurs are central to this agenda.
Secondly, my second point is this, we need to do more with the instruments that we have and we need to scale them up and concretely to scale them up, We need stronger partnerships between the PBC, the UN system as a whole, and with international financial institutions and the private sector as difficult as that is, and we've been talking about this in the PBC quite a bit and we need to talk about it more this week.
I really look forward to the discussions under this peace building week's theme to explore further how partnerships can broaden pathways to nationally owned and locally led sustainable peace supported by the international community.
Let me assure you that Germany will very much remain engaged on this issue and in these discussions, not only Mercy.
I thank the distinguished Permanent Representative of Germany for the statement and I give the floor now to the distinguished Representative of Japan.
Thank you, Chair.
I welcome the convening of this session on such a timely and essential theme, a fitting choice to kick off the past ABR peace building week.
As highlighted in last year's PBA resolutions, this joint meeting contributes to enhancing the UN's ability to support transitions from conflict to sustaining peace and development.
Supporting a smooth and quick transition from dependence on humanitarian relief to sustainable livelihood for each individual is key to Early recovery from conflict.
This focus on building individual resilience aligns closely with Japan's longstanding commitment to human security.
In this speech, Japan has consistently supported job creation across fragile and conflict affected contexts.
Now, allow me to highlight two points.
First, inclusive job creation is critical to strengthening social cohesion and preventing conflict.
Employment initiatives that intentionally bring communities together can address the root causes of conflict and forced trust.
A critical first step towards this is ensuring that everyone has access to finance, even on a small scale.
In line with this approach, in Afghanistan, Japan has been implementing various grant projects for livelihood improvement.
As an example, Japan is implementing a grant project that provides entrepreneurship, training, and subsidized loans to local financial institutions, to women MSMEs to improve their market and financing access.
Second, it is essential to mobilize sustained and scalable financing from development partners and private sector to ensure that job creation efforts contribute to long term economic development.
The New World Bank Group FCV strategy for 2026 to 2030, which places job creation at its core, underscores the strong potential for deeper collaboration between peace building and development actors in this area.
Japan is playing its part by supporting UNDP's Steambuk two initiative, which seeks to mobilize public and private capital to foster youth led startups in Africa.
This initiative helps translate youth led innovation grounded in local needs into sustainable job opportunities, long term economic resilience, and social prosperity.
To conclude, I reaffirm Japan's commitment to working with partners to support sustainable livelihoods.
I thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of Japan for the statement.
I give the floor now to the permanent representative of Norway.
Chairs, colleagues, we are at a critical juncture for UNA to reform for the implementation of the Pact for the future and the PBR, and for the urgent need to accelerate progress towards the SDGs.
These common agendas converge on how we collectively can help societies to address human needs for safe, dignified lives with aspirations and opportunities for the future.
Lessons from decades of the UN's peace building work are clear, inclusive and integrated approaches rooted in fundamental human rights laid the foundation for sustained peace and prosperity for all.
The challenges ahead are significant.
Global conflict levels are soaring unemployment opportunities are not adequate, nor accessible to the 1 billion youth that will or is expected to enter the workforce by 2030.
Chairs, let me just emphasize two quick points.
First, we must prioritize and advance inclusive peace building to enable job creation, both public and private.
As we know, armed conflict and violence impede equitable growth and bereave youth from opportunities.
Future generations deserve far better.
We must invest in economic development and job creation and devote further efforts to include women and youth in the job market and also in peace building because only inclusive peace building leads to durable peace.
Second point, we must continue strengthening the UN system as an enabling platform to promote economic operation, job creation, and prosperity in close partnership with IFIs and private sector as mentioned by my colleagues.
Together, we must enable the UN to deliver better as one, both at country level and its engagement with IFIs and the private sector.
In addition, of course, to continuing the excellent work we do jointly on implementing and utilizing the PDF, the private sector does not thrive in uncertainty.
Businesses and investors need effective and robust institutions to thrive and to create jobs.
Responsive and inclusive institutions foster job creations, both public and private, and also trust and social cohesion, effectively contributing to peace.
Colleagues, this annual meeting is an opportunity to recommit to the Pact for the future and especially to recognize that peace as a precondition for sustainable development, economic growth, and also job creation.
Thank you.
I thank the permanent representative of Norway for the statement and I give the floor now to the distinguished representative of South Africa.
Thank you, Chair of the PBC and also President of Ecosoc South Africa is pleased to participate in this joint session.
We welcome the focus on how economic opportunities and decent work can promote inclusive societies, strengthen resilience, and sustain peace.
Our national experience demonstrates that inclusive economic participation is essential to rebuilding trust, addressing inequality, and reinforcing the social contract.
In fragile and post conflict settings, job creation can reduce grievances, limit recruitment into armed groups, and help communities transition from vulnerability to resilience.
South Africa has consistently highlighted the importance of youth empowerment and the positive role of young people in peace and security.
During our most recent term on the Security Council, South Africa, hosted an open debate on the role of youth in Africa.
With more than 60% of Africa's population under the age of 25, young Africans are expected to make up a significant share of global youth population by 2030.
Investing in youth is therefore both a development and a peace building imperative.
At the national level, South Africa's national youth policy prioritizes social cohesion and nation building in line with UN Security Council Resolution 22 50.
Youth employment and economic participation are therefore central components to our broader development approach.
Chairperson South Africa wish to emphasize four key points.
First, employment restores dignity, strengthens a sense of belonging, and contributes to social cohesion, helping to stabilize communities emerging from conflict.
Second, local ownership and socioeconomic inclusion are essential for sustainable peace.
National leadership ensures that priorities and solutions are legitimate, context specific, and responsive to local needs.
Third, public private partnerships and support for micro, small and medium sized enterprises can mobilize investment, expand economic opportunities, and ensure that benefits of peace reach communities directly.
Lastly, greater public policy coherence across the humanitarian development piece nexus is needed to ensure that employment focused interventions for youth and women are integrated into long term peace building strategies.
In line with the Pact for the future and the objectives of the African Union's Agenda 2063, efforts to promote social cohesion must be expanded and it must expand access to decent work and sustainable livelihoods, particularly for youth, women, and marginalized communities.
South Africa stands ready to work with all partners to advance job creation as a strategic tool I thank the distinguished representative for his statement, and I give the floor now to the distinguished representative of China.
President and Chair, China thanks to the PBC and Acrosoft for convening this dialogue on this important topic.
At the start of the inaugural peace building week, our discussions on development as a fundamental solution to the promotion of peace of great practical and long term significance.
Development is the foundation of security while employment is the cornstone of people's livelihoods.
In post conflict countries, the lack of livelihoods is often one of the causes for relapse into crisis and instability.
By taking a people centered approach, the international community should prioritize poverty eradication and employment for groups such as women, youth, and formal Coeence in peace building processes and provide rigorous vocational and technical training, micro loans, and support for small, medium sized and micro businesses so as to translate demographic advantages into development dividends and lay a solid foundation for social stability through improved livelihoods.
Peace building must adhere to the country owned principle.
The international community should fully respect the sovereignty and wishes of the countries concerned and closely align its efforts with local reality, societal conditions, stages of development, and actual needs when implementing employment projects and providing tailored assistance.
The unique strengths of IFIs and South South cooperation should be fully leveraged to help these countries boost self reliant development and self sustaining capabilities.
Peace building is a complex and systematic undertaking.
The PBC has specialized expertise in coordinating post conflict reconstruction and mobilizing international support, while the Ecosox serves as the authoritative platform for implementing the 2030 agenda.
China supports the two bodies in further strengthening their collaboration to channel peace building resources into job creation projects, deeply integrate short term humanitarian assistance with medium term employment support and long term sustainable development policies, and effectively enhance the risk resistant capacity and resilience of fragile states.
President and chair.
China has always been a builder of world peace and contributor to global development.
By implementing the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, we're offering development solutions for post conflict countries.
We continue to deepen our cooperation with the UN and regional organizations by supporting small and effective agro technical assistance projects, Sharing dreams, how cultivation techniques and creating model villages for poverty reduction will empower people to lift themselves out of poverty through their own efforts and ignite their hope for peaceful lives through development.
Together with all parties, China will continue contributing to creating job opportunities, strengthening capacity building and achieving lasting peace in post conflict countries.
I thank the distinguished representative of China for his statements.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Rwanda.
Thank you very much, Chair and thank you very much, Mr.
President, for convening us as a member of PBC Rand really appreciates the theme which goes to the heart of peace building.
President and colleagues, sustaining peace cannot be built where largest segments of society, particularly the young people and women remain excluded from economic opportunities.
According to the Secretary-General report, 2026 on sustainable development goals, nearly 20% of young people remain unemployed, educated in training while youth unemployment remains almost four times higher than that of the adults.
In fragile and conflict affected settings, these realities can deepen even further to fuel instability.
Colleagues, today in random, younger people constitute more than 60% of our population.
Recognizing this demographic reality, Randa has invested heavily in youth employment, entrepreneurship, and skills.
Through our initiatives such as Youth Connect launched in 2012, hundreds of thousands of young people have benefited from mentorship, entrepreneurship, training, access to finance, and employment opportunities and possibilities.
Beyond creating jobs, these programs have helped foster a sense of a shared purpose and shared responsibility in national belonging.
Peace building, therefore, remains an important player in these realities.
Its advisory work should continue to focus and emphasize on youth employment, women's economic empowerment, and private sector engagement as an important component of conflict prevention and peace building strategies.
As we implement the Pact of the future and the recommendations of the 2025 Peace Building Architecture Review, we should strengthen cooperation between the Arcsoc and Peace Building Commission to ensure that this economic inclusion is fully integrated into peace building efforts.
Peace building is more likely to endure when people have a stake in their society's future.
Therefore, investing in decent work, entrepreneurship and opportunities for young people and women, we are not simply creating jobs.
We are building trust, strengthening social cohesion, and laying the very foundation we need of lasting peace and security in our societies.
Thank you very much, Mr.
President and Chair.
I thank the Distribute Representative Rwanda.
Now I give the floor to the distribute representative of Mali to be followed by Somalia, Egypt, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia.
Thank you, sir.
President tobacco Sack chair of the PBC.
Molly, welcome to the opportunity to participate in this joint session.
I wish to thank our panelists for their valuable briefings.
Enhancement of social cohesion through job generation in fragile and post conflict contexts is a particular importance for my country, whose population is largely young and they're facing limited economic opportunities which are exacerbated by the pooled consequences of insecurity, climate change, forced displacement, and weak infrastructure.
In this context, the creation of decent and inclusive jobs, particularly for young people and for women needs to be viewed as a strategic lever for conflict prevention and for peace building.
And for this reason, in Mali, we are very pleased at projects that are financed by the Peace Building fund insofar as this helps to increase economic opportunities for young people and for women while fostering social cohesion in conflict affected regions.
These initiatives in have supported local entrepreneurship income generating initiatives and vocational training and inclusion for young people helping to reduce factors of fragility.
I would like to highlight three key projects.
The first is enhancement of strengthening state institutions and community based resilience in the face of violent extremism and terrorism in Mali, which is financed by UDP UNODC and UN Women.
The second is preventing conflict related violence around natural resources and climate change from San to tailb financed by UNPS and the third project is support for governance accountability and the impact of the portfolio of the peace Building Fund in Mali.
The aim is to which is implemented by UNDP in order to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the results of initiatives undertaken by the Fund of the country.
These reflect the ongoing commitment of the United Nations to integrated approaches for peace building resilience, economic inclusion, lasting peace in the Sahel and beyond.
Together, we are in a position to transform the current challenges into real opportunities for those who are most vulnerable.
Thank you.
Geng the Pomani representative of Mali, now I give the floor to the digal representative of Somalia.
Thank you, Mr.
President.
At the outset, my delegation as a member of the Peace Building Commission welcomes this joint meeting of EcoSC and the Peace Building Commission.
We commend the theme focusing on job creation as a driver of peace building, social cohesion, and resilience.
Mr.
Chair, for countries affected by conflict and fragility, unemployment is not only an economic issue, it is also a peace building concern.
When young people, women, and vulnerable are excluded from decent work and opportunity, grievances deepen, trust weakens, and instability can take root.
Peace becomes meaningful when people can work, support their families, and contribute to their communities.
Decent employment provides dignity, strength, resilience, and reduce vulnerability to violence, exploitation, and recruitment by criminal or extremist groups.
We welcome the focus on youth, women, micro, small and medium sized enterprises and public private partnerships.
In many peace building contexts, the public sector alone cannot meet the demand for job Local businesses, entrepreneurs, cooperatives, and private sector actors are essential partners in sustaining peace.
Employment programs must be inclusive, conflict sensitive, and rooted in local realities.
They should expand access to skills, finance, markets, and infrastructure while helping communities repel trust across social and geographic dividers.
Somalia also underlines the need for stronger coherence across the United Nations systems.
EcoSc brings development expertise, the Peace Building Commission brings political accompaniment and country specific engagement.
Together, they can help ensure that economic recovery, social cohesion, and peace building reinforce each other.
In conclusion, Somalia encouraged three priorities.
First, placing youth and women at the center.
Second, scaling up support to micro, small and medium sized enterprises and third, ensuring predictable, flexible, and long term financing for job creation in fragile and conflict affected settings.
Somalia remains committed to working with all partners to advance inclusive development, resilience, and sustainable peace.
Thank you.
I thank the dismissed representative of Somalia.
Now I give the floor to the Permanent representative of Egypt.
Christin.
Thank you, Mr.
President.
I would like to thank the Economic and Social Council and the Peace Building Commission for organizing this joint meeting at the beginning of the peace building week.
Egypt believes that sustainable peace cannot be achieved through political or security arrangements alone, but rather requires addressing the root causes of fragility and conflicts.
Foremost among these reasons is unemployment, especially among the youth.
In addition to economic and social marginalization, widening development gaps and unequal opportunities.
The absence of the absence of economic opportunities not only weakens the trust in the state, but also creates an environment for violence and extremism and recruitment by armed and criminal groups and terrorist groups.
From this perspective, we believe that job creation is not merely a development goal, but a direct investment in conflict prevention and social cohesion.
Decent and sustainable jobs contribute to consolidating a sense of belonging and strengthen the social contract between citizens and the state and support the resilience of societies in the face of crisis.
Investing in women and youth and empowering them economically represents one of the most effective tools to build stable and peaceful societies.
Here, the national ownership is the cornerstone of any relevant efforts.
This is what we work on establishing through the programs for the Egyptian Agency for Partnership for Development and the Cairo Conflict Resolution and Peace Building Institute in a number of African countries.
We also emphasize the importance of job creation efforts being an integral part of national peace building strategies.
And to be based on national priorities identified by concerned governments in consultation with their communities.
We also believe that coordination between the UN system, IFIs, regional development banks, and banks, and the private sector should be strengthened in order to mobilize the necessary investments and create sustainable economic opportunities in countries emerging from conflicts or vulnerable to fragility.
The microphone has been cut off I thank the permanent representative of Egypt.
Now I give the floor to Distinguished representative of Indonesia.
Thank you, Mr.
President, Chair, Indonesia aligns itself with a statement delivered by Australia on behalf of MA and wishes to add the following in its national capacity.
Risk and resilience are two ends of the same road.
Between them lie schools, markets, small businesses, and decent work, the everyday foundations of social cohesion and lasting peace.
The question is whether we are investing enough in that middle ground.
For Indonesia, that middle ground is where peace and development reinforce one another.
Sustainable peace cannot take root where exclusion, inequality, and lack of opportunity persist.
Equally, development cannot be sustained without peaceful, inclusive, and cohesive societies.
Allow me to offer three points.
First, national ownership remains the basis of effective peace building.
Employment strategies are most impactful when they are aligned with national priorities and local realities, and local stakeholders are fully engaged as well.
We welcome the direction set by 2025 Peace Building Architecture Review on strengthening coherence across the UN system and fostering stronger partnerships with national actors.
Second, prevention must move from slogan to system.
Shifting from a strategy of reaction to a culture of prevention and job creation is vital.
Inclusive and sustainable employment supports families, restores dignity, and builds trust.
By expanding opportunities for women and youth, as well as promoting skills development and entrepreneurship, we can address drivers of exclusion and reduce the risk of future tensions while strengthening cohesion within and across communities.
Third, achieving SDG eight on decent work and SDG 16 on peaceful, just, and inclusive societies requires adequate, predictable and sustained financing.
This includes supports for MSMEs, access to finance, enabling policy environments, and stronger public private partnerships.
South, South, and triangular cooperation can further facilitate the exchange of practical solutions tailored to national circumstances.
Mr.
President, Chair, decent work prevents conflict.
Inclusion sustains peace, and partnership delivers both.
By investing in people, opportunities and social cohesion, we can address the root causes of instability while advancing progress towards the 2030 agenda.
Indonesia remains committed to promoting decent work, strengthening social cohesion, and advancing inclusive and sustainable development as foundations for lasting peace.
I thank you.
I thank the Distrt representative of Indonesia and now I give the floor to the distingt representative of Saudi Arabia.
Mr.
President, I would like to thank you and also would like to thank the chair of PBC for convening this meeting at the beginning of the peace building week.
Excellency's, distinguished delegates.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is honored to join this joint session of Ecosac and the Peace Building Commission.
The theme before us highlights the critical dimension of peace building, the ability of societies emerging from conflict to rebuild their economies, create jobs, and strengthen social cohesion.
Sustainable peace is most achievable when people have access to livelihood that restore dignity and stability.
Saudi Arabia firmly believed that economic empowerment, skills development, and inclusive growth are essential, pillars for transforming fragile environments into resilient and cohesive communities when individuals, including youth and women can participate meaningfully In economic life, they become active contributors to stability and long term recovery.
Excellence is the single delegates.
Saudi Arabia works closely with the UN system, international organizations, and development partners to support communities recovering from conflict.
The kingdom contributes to programs that rebuild local economies through vocational training and job creation initiatives.
Also support small and medium enterprises as engines of community resilience, empower women and youth with skills needed for employment and entrepreneurship.
Also strengthen essential services and local institutions to enable long term recovery.
These efforts reflect the kingdom's commitment to the humanitarian development and peace nexus, ensuring that assistance not only addresses immediate needs, but also lays the groundwork for sustainable development.
The Kingdom also underscores the importance of predictable financing for peace building, including through the peace building fund and encourages deeper coordination between EcoSc, the PBC, international financial institutions and regional organizations.
Excellency, Saudi Arabia remains committed to working with all partners to help societies transition from fragility to resilience by expanding economic opportunities, strengthening local capacities, and fostering inclusive development.
I thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of Saudi Arabia for the statement.
Can I give the floor now to the distinguished representative of France.
President President of Esc, Chair of the Peace Building Commission.
Distinguished colleagues I wish to take this opportunity to applaud the participation of the panelists in today's meeting, which raises an important question.
What are the modalities for action in the face of increasingly numerous and complex crises bringing together the three pillars of our organization.
At the national level, I wish to share some comments in addition to the statement delivered by the EU on behalf of the EU.
And 27 member states, we welcome the declaration adopted following the Second Doha World Social Summit, which sets out a clear assessment, which is verified in all conflict and post conflict zones.
Social development and social justice are of vital significance for the attainment of peace.
They cannot be achieved without peace, nor without respect for human rights and basic freedoms.
At the heart of this aspiration, this was reminded by this is called by the representative ILO, the creation of high quality jobs on the one hand and decent work on the other hand, these represent key key points.
Through employment, it is possible to restore sustainable livelihoods for people when they exit from crisis.
Through employment, it is possible to rebuild decent lives through jobs.
It is possible to rebuild social ties by creating interdependency between employers, workers, and the communities surrounding them.
In improving access to decent work as a leverage for preventing forms of unfair competition and for enhancing economic resilience amid global shocks is key when it comes to facing the current energy crisis.
We applaud the efforts of the peace building fund, specifically the initiative supported by the fund in Haiti and Mauritania, in generating green jobs.
This also contributes to promoting climate resilience.
I would like to conclude by mentioning UN 80.
With support and international solidarity, France particularly supports the efforts of the PB Peace Building Fund.
I would note the efforts of the Fund in Haiti, Mauritania, for the creation of green jobs, which also helps to improve climate related resilience.
Mr.
President, I now turn to the UN 80 initiative of the Secretary-General.
This initiative encourage us to be more coherent and effective and efficient in our efforts to benefit the people our organization works for The method embraced by the fund, which brings together relevant funds and programs around a common objective is correct.
We wish to see this enhanced wherever possible through effective and efficient coordination of local UN country teams.
Absolutely.
I thank the distinguished representative of France as the chair for his statement.
I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Algeria.
President of Ecoso chair of the PBC, my delegation welcomes the convening of this joint meeting.
I also thank the distinguished panelists for their insightful views.
For many developing countries, the interlinked risks of protracted conflict, economic exclusion, and social division remain structural challenges.
We must acknowledge that high rates of unemployment and underemployment are ultimately drivers of instability and fragility.
With global youth unemployment rates remaining nearly four times those of adults, generating decent work is an absolute peace and security imperative.
This was strongly underscored during last year's in depth review of SEG eight by the high level political forum.
Colleagues, lasting peace cannot be achieved through short term security stabilization alone.
It demands resilient, inclusive societies with sustained economic opportunities in conflict affected areas where labor markets face heavy informality, we must actively empower MSMEs as the primary engines of job creation.
Move effectively from risk to resilience, we wish to highlight three strategic pathways.
First, we need to strengthen public private partnerships.
National government must improve enabling policy and regulatory frameworks, while private actors bring investment and innovation into local labor markets.
Second, skills must be aligned with market demands.
Employment interventions must be combined with skills development, local procurement, and conflict sensitive approaches that restore the social fabric.
Third, we need to enhance UN institutional coherence.
We must bridge institutional silos by fostering collaboration between Ecosoc and the PBC, fully implementing the recommendations of the 2025 peace building architecture Review.
In conclusion, Algeia underscores that a successful movement from risk to resilience relies on swift adherence.
Two, national ownership, supported by predictable international cooperation and adequate funding.
We must ensure that in our post of peace, we truly leave no one behind.
I thank you.
For D.
I thank the distinguished Representative Algeria for the statement and give the floor now to the distinguished representative of Cambodia.
Mr.
Co chair, excellency distinguished participants.
Cambodia commends the president of EcoSx and the chair of PBC for these timely meetings.
We appreciate their leadership in advancing peace building and addressing the root cause of instabilities.
This discussion provides a valuable opportunity to exchange experiences and strengthening collective efforts toward more resilientient and peaceful societies.
Cambodia firmly believes that sustainable peace requires more than the absence of conflicts.
It requires inclusive developments, economic opportunities, and strong social cohesion.
In this regard, job creation is not merely an economic objective, it is a powerful instruments for fostering trust, strengthening resilience, and sustainable peace.
Having endured decades of conflicts, Cambodia deeply cherished peace and recognizes it as the indispensable foundation for the development.
Our journey from conflict to lasting peace has demonstrated that improved livelihood and economic opportunity are essential to strengthening social coercion and preventing the recurrent of conflicts.
In peace building context, defense and productive employment, particularly for youths and women can reduce vulnerabilities, foster a sense of belonging, and strengthening trust within communities.
Employment generations also served as a bridge between humanitarian development and peace building efforts, enabling communities to move from security towards resilient and self reliant.
With more than 60% of our population under the age of 30, Cambodian considers investments in youths and investment in peace.
We are integrating peace educations, moral values, and global citizenships into our national curriculum while expanding access to vocational training, digital skills, and entrepreneurship opportunities.
At the same time, stronger international cooperations, adequate financing and partnership among governments and United Nations systems, international financial institutions, and private sector, and civil society remain essentials.
Empowering micro, small and medium sized enterprise I thank the distinguished permanent representative of Cambodia.
Thank you for your statements.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Bangladesh.
Thank you, Mr.
Chair.
Bangladesh welcomes this joint Ecosof PBC meeting, particularly for convening during the inaugural peace building week.
I thank the distinguished panelists for the very insightful and useful discussion.
Mr.
Chairman, in fragile and conflict affected settings, employment is not just an economic tool, but a strategic peace building mechanism.
Unemployment and underemployment, especially among youth and women are not only the economic challenges, but also accelerate grievances, exclusion, and instability.
To this end, job creation is the most effective tool for building trust, reducing tensions, and fostering inclusive recovery when it is local, inclusive, and integrated into peace building strategies.
Our national experience demonstrates that micro, small and medium sized enterprises are critical engines for job creation, income generation, and local economic resilience.
They are the major employers for women, youth, and vulnerable groups, and especially in fragile settings, they can provide livelihoods where formal employment is scarce.
To advance social cohesion through job creation, we must have compassionate societies where opportunities are accessible to all and where dignity and equality are upheld.
But this vision cannot be achieved in isolation.
Bangladesh has placed people and the planet at the center of our policies.
We have prioritized rural development, women's empowerment, social protection, and inclusive finance.
Nearly 15% of our national budget is allocated to social protection.
Our social protection scheme covers programs related to employment generation and food security.
We must ensure safe environment for the women and youth.
It is equally essential to ensure decent work and unhindered access to resources for women and youth during disastrous or humanitarian crisis.
We need to safeguard adequate, predictable, and sustained financing for implementation of the WPS agenda.
Finally, to accelerate progress on decent work and economic growth and the broader 2030 agenda, international cooperation and policy coordination must be strengthened through aligned frameworks, shared goals, integrated action, and innovative approaches.
Innovative approaches combined job creation, social inclusion, and local ownership to build resilience and reduce tension.
I thank you.
I thank the distinguished permanent representative of Bangladesh for his statements.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Nepal.
Thank you, Mr.
Chair.
Nepal commences the convening of the timely joint meeting of EcoSoc and the Peace Building Commission.
We also thank the panelists for their valuable insights.
Mr.
Chair, peace building efforts underpinned by economic opportunities and inclusive growth are more likely to foster sustainable peace, humane dignity, and resilient societies.
Today, peace is being challenged on multiple fronts.
Prolonged conflicts continue to inflict immense human suffering and economic deprivation, persistent inequalities and unequal distribution of opportunities, fuel exclusion, grievances, and instability.
Economic downturns exacerbate vulnerabilities while widening political and social divisions, erode trust and weaken the social fabric that binds communities together.
We believe that a holistic and coherent approach to peace building that promotes social cohesion can serve an effective guardrail against conflict outbreak and proliferation.
We underscored strengthening peace and development nexus in a mutually reinforcing manner.
Employment opportunities therefore play a critical role in post conflict recovery and rehabilitation, while helping address the diverse that often give rise to conflict and instability.
Drawing lessons from our nationally led and one piece process, Nepal recognized the tastic role of social cohesion, supported by decent jobs and economic opportunities in advancing sustainable peace.
Mr.
Chair, allow me to highlight four key points.
First, advancing Agenda 2030, especially as GG eight must remain a priority.
Fostering economic growth, entrepreneurship, innovation, diversification, and accessible financing, particularly for MSMEs can generate productive employment and decent work opportunities.
Creating an enabling environment for the private sector through inclusive policies and partnership is equally important.
Second, post conflict recovery and abilities and must be accompanied by meaningful economic opportunities.
International support and partnerships should prioritize national ownership, institution building, and investment that generate sustainable livelihoods in communities most vulnerable to conflicts.
Third, targeted investment in human capital, particularly among youth and women are indispensable.
Exclusion, unemployment, and lack of prospects can become drivers of conflict and instability.
Skills development, digital literacy, entrepreneurship support, and access to productive resources must be aligned with local market needs and future economic opportunities.
Fourth, addressing the root causes of conflict, including poverty, inequality, underdevelopment and exclusion must remain at the center of our collective efforts.
Doing so reduces incentives for conflict, ist trust among communities and creates pathways for hope, dignity, and sustainable peace.
Mr.
Chair, the lessons from peace building efforts are clear.
Jobs create not only incomes, but also confidence, inclusion, and resilience.
Let me conclude with the question.
How can progress under STG on inclusive economic growth and decent work, be better leverage to advance the SDG 16 and extend peaceful, just and inclusive societies, particularly in Frazier and conflict affected settings.
Thank you.
I thank the Disted representative of Nepal.
Now I give the floor to the Dist representative of Guatemala.
Thank you, co chairs, Guatemala.
Thanks you for convening this joint meeting and for preparing the concept note and thank you also for the presentation this morning that shows the growing link between job creation, social cohesion, and peace building and the context marked by conflicts, inequalities, and growing challenges to development.
Guatemala wishes to underscore three priorities that are based on our national experience.
The first one is the creation of economic opportunities.
We agree that decent jobs should not only be seen as an economic tool, but also as a strategic investment in prevention and peace building.
Guatemala's experience shows that expanding real opportunities for youth, reducing risk factors associated with exclusion, and strengthens social stability.
An example of this is the apartes for peace program for youth in rural areas that benefits from PBF funds.
The second is promoting inclusion, participation, and social cohesion.
National experience shows that results are more sustainable when economic opportunities are coupled with spaces for dialogue and participation.
Within this framework, 73% of youth saw positive changes in their communities, seeing higher social cohesion as well as more opportunities for participation for women and youth.
The creation of youth networks, community boards, and consultation mechanisms contributed to strengthening trust between local actors and the ability to effectively deal with community challenges.
The third priority is strengthening alliances.
No actor can address these alone.
Governments, the UN, international financial institutions, the private sector, and civil society have complementary responsibilities for broadening economic opportunities and strengthening resilience.
Guatemala experience shows the value of alliances between youth municipalities, community organizations, and public institutions to achieve sustainable results with local ownership.
Chairs, Guatemala reaffirms its commitment to the promotion of economic opportunities, inclusive ones as well as tools to strengthen social cohesion prevention peace and rather achieve peace and achieve sustainable development.
Thank you.
Representative of Guatemala, now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of International Associations of Youth and Students for Peace.
Mr.
President, Mr.
Chair, distinguished delegates, speaking on behalf of the SDG 16 Global Youth Caucus convened the Major Gup of Children and Youth and the International Association of Youth and Students for Peace, we approach this conversation from the conviction that decent work is essential to human dignity and that human dignity is a substrate of any durable peace.
Decent work alone, however, does not produce social cohesion a young person can hold a job and still feel unseen, unheard, and unattached to the community around them.
Employment becomes peace building only when it is embedded in relationships of trust, civic belonging, and shared purpose.
This is why SDG eight cannot be separated from SDG 16.
The 20% of young people not in employment, education or training are also often disproportionately disengaged from civic life.
The same conditions that exclude them from labor markets exclude them from political voice.
Solving one without the other will not hold.
We make three calls.
First, recognize youth led organizations, including MSMEs founded by young peace Builders as legitimate delivery partners under the peace building Fund.
They are already creating jobs in fragile settings, often at lower cost and with deeper local trust than external implementers.
Second, integrate peace and civic education into employment programs financed by the peace building Fund.
Where radicalization takes hold, civic formation is the firewall that skills training alone for youth cannot build.
A welder who understands her stake in her society is a peace builder.
Skills create livelihoods, civic formation create stakeholders in peace.
Third, measure social cohesion outcomes alongside employment outcomes.
What gets counted gets built and what gets built is what gets funded next.
If we only count jobs, we will only get jobs.
If we count trust, agency, and belonging, we may get peace.
I thank you.
I thank the district representative of International Association of Youth and Students for peace.
Excellencies, colleagues.
Now we have heard the last speaker on our list.
I will now invite the panelists to respond to the comments made and questions posed by the delegations.
With this, I would like to invite miss Cynthia Samuel Alonzo.
Thank you so much, Mr.
President.
Let me start by really thanking the president of EcoSoc and the chair of PBC for bringing us all together.
I knew it was going to be an exciting conversation, but I didn't know it was going to be this deep and this engaging.
It really has been wonderful listening to all the interventions by my fellow panelists and also by your Excellenc's and distinguished representatives of the member states.
I doubt that in the time I can do justice to all the issues that have been identified, but I'll just use the time to reiterate a few points.
The first point that I want to just reflect on is the understanding, the shared understanding, the shared recognition that came from all the interventions that dissent work is not just a development issue.
It's not just an economic issue, but that it's a critical tool for prevention.
As a critical pathway for dignity, for building trust, for inclusion, for resilience, and for lasting peace.
I have quite a lot of wonderful specific statements that I have written down and I will use them.
I hope there's no copyright infringement from the member states.
I promise I'll use them because they really demonstrate in a very clear way the importance of decent work for resilience and lasting peace.
The second point that I would highlight and it's to thank the member states who identified, including the last points that was made by the representative of the civil society.
The important point that was made on the importance of SDG eight in this conversation.
I want to tie this to the several comments that came out on the need for flexible sustainable and adequate financing for SDG eight, particularly within the context of crisis and fragility.
I also want to thank the member states who gave specific examples of work that has been done and is being done to support member states in facilitating the strategic nexus between humanitarian development and peace.
In this regard to I the representative of Guyana speaking on behalf of Carcon, giving the example of the work that has been done in Haiti, the representative of Sierra Leone, giving an example of the work that has been done in Sier Leon, recognizing has been reiterated by several speakers, that there has to be enhanced collaboration.
There has to be engagement within the UN system, with the international financial institutions, but also with other partners and reiterating the critical importance of the private sector, of the workers' movement, of those in the civil society, as well as different arms of government coming together for an inclusive and locally responsive decent work interventions that will contribute to lasting peace.
I want to also use this opportunity to reiterate that for the International Labor Organization, Partnership and collaboration is in our DNA.
We work with business, we work with workers organizations and with government and in the area of peace building, in the area of addressing issues within the fragile settings, we have consistently worked with other partners and we will work very closely with you, Mr.
President, Mr.
Chair of PBC, to provide the needed support in an integrated manner.
To our member states.
Again, really thank you so much for your inputs.
Really thank you for the reassurance that we're all on the same page and I can assure you that the ILO remains your committed partner in this endeavor.
Thank you so much, Mr.
President.
Thank you.
I would like to invite miss Maria Demitro Dow Padre.
Final remark.
Thank you so much.
I agree there was a consensus among the panelists, but also around the room.
This is not by accident.
This is because we do work for many years on the ground together and this has created this common understanding of what are the challenges? What is the analysis? What are the approaches that work? I think the examples that were mentioned around the room are being implemented by many of us on many occasions together.
I think there is scope to bring more concretely this discussion, these examples here to explain and share them because collaboration is not something random, it does happen on the ground.
How it can be scaled up further is by being targeted, mission driven, and that's why we have been in the World Bank Group referring, pointing to nationally owned development agendas that evolve around nature initiatives, be it on agriculture, on energy, on water, and beyond.
Now, Ambassador Tap, I have been thanking you and the EcoS colleagues and you and SA colleagues throughout the EcoS cycle for inviting the World Bank Group to contribute and raise awareness about what we do, build consensus on common understanding.
But now I will shift my attention to my colleague Elizabeth Spearhar and her team and thank you because this has been really a valued engagement from the World Bank Group to bring in the development perspective and together move this agenda further.
So we very much look forward to continuing this discussion.
I will participate during the week.
My colleagues from the fragility conflict and Violence and Development Economics will be contributing around the week and continue the great discussion we started earlier this month in the fragility forum.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Now, I would like to invite Mr.
Roland Pmundam for final comments as well as to respond for the comments made and some questions posed by the delegations.
I think you are muted.
Can you unmute? Mr.
Panda, if you could unmute your microphone.
Roland, can you unmute? Now, I would like to invite June Behalf Roveni for your intervention.
Thank you very much to the presidents of EcoSc and the PBC and we're also so grateful to all the member states in the room for your engagement in this important discussion.
It was really great to see the broad based recognition of the importance of addressing root causes of conflict, prevention, and also the central role of women in youth and gender approaches.
Policy coherence also was something that we're really pleased to see come up throughout the discussion.
I think I'll just be brief to say that when we're thinking about what peaceful economies look like, what feminist economies look like, Moving from economies of war to economies of peace, it is really important to think about the structural transformation that's needed so that this economic development does not continue to reinforce harm and instead promotes economic justice, whose voices are heard, whose labor is valued and counted.
Then I would also underscore again, really the centrality of care work and about all of this work that's done both during armed conflicts and in post conflict periods and just really around the world that is sustaining the fabric of societies.
We really look forward to continuing the discussion and also to just say that the partnerships with civil society are also really crucial at this moment, partnerships with feminist movements and with those on the ground who are doing a lot of this work.
It's a difficult time in international cooperation and with rising crises, with the climate crisis and with rising conflict and instability.
And so it's really important to sustain these partnerships and to continue the dialogue together so that we're working towards prevention and peace.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Can I again invite Mr.
Ron Ronald Pmunda for final remarks? Sir, apologies.
The first button needs to be black, not red.
I think there was some problems in the connections.
Now with this, I thank all our panelists for excellent interventions, also your presentations.
With this, I now hand over the conduct of the closing of the meetings to my co chairs, the chair of the PVC.
Thank you very much, co chair and President of EcoSOC.
It's now my pleasure to give the floor to miss Elizabeth Shar, Assistant Secretary-General for Peace Building and Peace Support at the Department of Political and Peace Building Affairs to make a closing statement.
Miss Beyer, you have the floor.
President.
I'd like to start by thanking very sincerely both Ambassadors apa and Ambassador Hiale for convening this meeting and for all of the speakers with their excellent remarks, as well as the participating member states, so many of you today, a lot of insightful comments and as many have said already, really quite a lot of convergence on what the challenges are and what needs to be done.
I think it's an excellent way to start peace building week with our strong emphasis on partnerships as the overarching theme.
We've heard from various speakers in peace building contexts, economic exclusion and fragility are deeply interconnected.
A lack of economic opportunity can deepen grievances, erode trust, and reinforce the divisions that sustain conflict.
Conversely, creating decent and inclusive employment opportunities can help address underlying drivers of instability.
In this closing segment, I would like to touch on progress made through our peace building architecture here at the UN and to extract a few lessons learned that we have gleaned, which have also been validated various times by others in the course of today on the challenge of advancing social cohesion through job creation and related economic opportunities.
Regarding progress, I'd like to highlight the particular role of the Secretary-General Peace Building Fund.
I'd also like to thank the various representatives here of member states who actually provided some concrete examples of PBF work around the world in this field.
I think that help.
Yeah.
That underscores the fact that supporting the economic dividends of peace has been a core priority of the peace building fund for its two decades of existence.
2015-2024, the PBF invested approximately $573 million in initiatives that combined livelihoods, economic recovery, and broader peace building objectives across 48 countries, representing more than a third of its total allocations during that period.
Let me give you one more example.
In Colombia, the PBF invested in Umanis DH, an organization founded and led by former FAC EP combatants, which was established as a specialized humanitarian de mining NGO.
Today, Umanimos is one of the country's officially recognized de mining operators, which created jobs for former combatants, contributing both to productive reintegration, employment, and territorial security.
The PBF also mobilized catalytic grant capital to connect small, medium, small and medium enterprises in conflict affected areas in Colombia to value chains, credit markets, and new economic opportunities.
By deploying only $2 million, the PBF leveraged $13 million in private investment through a blended finance structure, demonstrating that for peace building and fragile contexts, job creation is not a byproduct, it is at the core.
I can say I think it points very much to the way in which the fund can be even more important in its future iterations.
Regarding learning, I'd like to highlight four key lessons that have resonated throughout our discussions today.
First of all, as Ambassador Thappa outlined, at the outset, micro small and medium enterprises are among the most effective drivers of job creation and economic inclusion in conflict affected settings.
Embedded within communities, these enterprises are engines of job creation and help build the economic foundations for lasting peace.
Second, job creation can be a powerful peace building tool.
Especially when it is deliberately designed in a manner that strengthens social cohesion and is thus peace intentional.
Inclusive and conflict sensitive programs that are rooted in local economies and communities can help build trust and resilience.
Thirdly, job creation in fragile conflict and violent settings is more impactful and the impact is more sustainable when it is part of a broader prevention and peace building strategy.
Including strengthening key institutions for justice and security that can help build or rebuild trust between governments and their citizens.
Fourthly, the importance of the women peace and security and youth peace and security agendas, as well as attention to other excluded groups.
This is absolutely critical for a successful jobs creation, social cohesion effort.
For the path ahead, our collective challenge is to bring successful, employment focused peace building initiatives to scale.
Supported by the partnerships and financing needed to achieve transformative impact and to ensure that this is embedded in broader peace building approaches.
Excellencies, in conclusion, EcoSoc and PBC working together can provide an invaluable platform for countries to seek support on peace building and development issues such as the one that we've been exploring today.
I would encourage member states to continue to consider options to strengthen the collaboration of these two bodies, focusing on concrete, country specific or regional situations and utilizing expert level discussions to ensure follow up and impact on the ground.
I thank you.
I thank the Assistant Secretary-General for her comments that recalled us with her authority from thanks to her experience on the ground, a simple fact that in societies tested by conflict, decent jobs are not just an economic question, but one of the most tangible bases for achieving peace.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, please allow me as I adjourn this meeting to first of all thank my co chair, the president of EcoSoc His Excellency, the ambassador whose enlightened leadership has enabled us to rise to the stakes of this meeting.
Also, our panelists from Washington to Geneva and Cameroon, they made concrete contributions and we opened this week the first week on peace building around a simple conviction that this debate I think has It's been driven in long suffering societies where they are facing these issues, where unemployment is so important, it's much more than just providing people an income.
It's a reason to hope rather than lose hope.
It's an alternative to migration.
It is the first ray of hope of trust between communities and citizens and citizens in the strait.
The What are the main lines that went through our exchanges? I have four observations, four takeaways from it.
First of all, job creation is one of the most powerful points of entry towards social cohesion and resilience.
Decent work that provides security, dignity, and a sense of belonging.
It helps people move away from their grievances and it establishes links where conflict causes divisions.
Second, this effort cannot succeed without the private sector.
Whether public sector reaches its limits, it's SMEs, small and medium sized and micro enterprises that can provide employment.
Structure Infrastructure, predictable regulatory environment can help the private sector to respond through investment, innovation, and hiring.
Public private partnerships are not a circumstantial formula.
They are an absolute need.
They're absolutely essential actually.
Thirdly, we will not build anything lasting if we leave the people who will shape the future by the wayside, young people whose unemployment rate is still four times higher than adults.
Women face disproportionate stumbling blocks on the jobs market also, and no peace can be achieved by excluding youth and more than half of the population.
Fourthly, good intentions are not enough.
We need the means allocated to achieve these things.
The PBF has shown this by Supporting livelihood, social cohesion, just like Madam Spiel said just a few moments ago about her experience in Colombia, which is a real model or benchmark for the work of the PBF and the PBC.
However, the UN's resources are just one lever.
We also require engagement with international financial institutions, the development of skills, access to finance, and conflict sensitive approach.
This can really change the scale of our results.
Asman distinguished colleagues, this shows that the review of the peace building architecture 2025 is really calling us to do.
De compartmentalize and ensure that we engage in dialogue on the pillar of peace and development.
The proximity this morning between EcoSc and the PBC and coherence between them that we must now ensure continues in the future.
This morning, we've seen a focus on programming and financing for the future and our colleague and friend here asked when she said, that she hopes that she wouldn't be attacked for stealing your intellectual property this morning.
Basically, we need to make sure that we do these things.
Now, the fact is that behind each and every job, there is a face, an individual, a young person, and finding their autonomy and empowerment, someone who dares to believe in the future, and those are the people that we are working for, and it is through them that peace will become possible again.
Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, the joint meeting of the Economic and Social Council and the Peace Building Commission is concluded.