Omar Hilale, Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, chaired the annual session of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) in New York on Thursday, in his capacity as the body’s president. The session, held in the presence of UN Secretary General António Guterres, was convened under the theme “Celebrating 20 Years of the UN Peacebuilding Architecture.” Morocco’s presidency of the PBC is described as a reflection of renewed international recognition of King Mohammed VI’s vision and initiatives in support of peace, security and stability at the regional and international levels.
The session brought together a high-profile gathering. Guatemala’s President Bernardo Arévalo, responding to an invitation from Hilale, sent a video message to the conference. Liberia’s President addressed a written message read by Foreign Affairs Minister Sara Beysolow-Nyanti, and Haiti was represented by its Minister of Planning and External Cooperation, Sandra Paulémon. The Security Council was represented by its president of the month, Colombian Ambassador Leonor Zalabata Torres.
In his opening remarks, Hilale said the 20th anniversary of the PBC calls on the international community to honor the spirit that presided over its creation, recalling the founding conviction that no peace is irreversible and that every peace remains within reach of collective will. He underlined that in two decades the Commission has fully served the purpose of its founding resolution, providing sustained attention to countries on its agenda while bringing together the UN development system, international financial institutions, regional organizations, civil society and the private sector at a single table.
Hilale framed the anniversary not as a celebration of institutional longevity but as a validation of an idea — noting that member states had, by consensus, recently entrusted the Commission with an even more demanding mandate. Secretary General Guterres, for his part, highlighted the PBC’s role in helping countries develop national peacebuilding and prevention strategies in line with the Pact for the Future. He recalled that the Commission was created to nurture the seeds of peace long enough for them to take root, and urged member states to use it as a platform for sharing progress and rallying international partners to national priorities.
The session also featured an interactive panel chaired by Hilale, which brought together Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, First Vice-President of the African Development Bank Group; Maria Dimitriadou, the World Bank’s Special Representative to the UN; Casu Gounden, Executive Director of the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD); Linda Dempah, Director General of Adeba Laboratories; and Issah Toha Shamsoo, West and Central Africa Regional Coordinator for the Global Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY Peacebuilders).
