Macharia Kamau to head Eighth Advisory Group of UN Peacebuilding Fund
By Mary Wambui |
The Peace Building Fund is the UN’s financial instrument of first resort to sustain peace in countries or situations at risk or affected by violent conflict.
Former Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Macharia Kamau has been appointed the chairperson of the Eighth Advisory Group of the UN Peacebuilding Fund.
In a statement, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Ambassador Kamau and his new team will serve for two years.
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Other eminent persons appointed to the Fund include Jonas Alberoth, the principal senior adviser of Folke Bernadotte Academy in Sweden; Richard Atwood, the executive vice president of International Crisis Group, United Kingdom; former ambassador Yoka Brandt of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; Cheng Jingye from China; Kjersti Dale, senior advisor at the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, Norway; Mohamed Edrees, former ambassador, Egypt; Nathalie Kohli, ambassador of Switzerland in the Republic of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.
The candidates were appointed after consideration of gender and regional balance following their nominations by their member states.
Their appointment also follows the lapse of the tenure of the Seventh Advisory Group in August this year.
The Peace Building Fund is the UN’s financial instrument of first resort to sustain peace in countries or situations at risk or affected by violent conflict.
It is designed to support programming that needs to be started quickly and flexibly where requested.
It is domiciled under the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) which works together with partners to strengthen peacebuilding.
The UN noted that the appointment of the Eighth Advisory Group comes at a critical time when there's persistent conflict around the world, leading to immense suffering.
This has consequently led to a greater demand for funding for peace interventions across the world.
With peacebuilding being at the core of the work of the United Nations, and committed to providing more predictable and sustainable resources for the Fund, the group will be expected to come up with strategies that lead to an increase in voluntary funding to meet the growing demand.
"The Advisory Group will provide valuable guidance to the Fund's strategy and direction. The Group has been expanded to twelve members, to allow for greater inclusion. This is all the more important given the Advisory Group's role in providing recommendations and guidance for the use of the assessed contribution of $50 million annually to the Peacebuilding Fund, agreed in resolution 78/257 and starting in 2025," the statement said.
From 2006 to 2023, the fund has allocated nearly $2 billion to 71 recipient countries and territories.
"In 2023, the Peacebuilding Fund approved support amounting to $202 million in 36 countries and territories," said the UN.
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