Sierra Leone, Slovenia and my own country Switzerland have placed conflict prevention at the centre of our consecutive presidencies of the Security Council. While the Security Council remains focused on addressing urgent crises, the need for long term investment in prevention becomes increasingly apparent.

Today, the Security Council will deliberate on how to strengthen prevention by anticipating the impact of scientific developments on international peace and security. One month after the adoption of the Pact for the Future, it is time to tackle its implementation and identify joint actions to prevent conflict and violence not just today, but also tomorrow.

We therefore need to continually assess and improve our conflict prevention strategies to adapt to emerging challenges and opportunities. Rapid scientific advances can accelerate the realization of the aspirations of the United Nations across all three pillars of its work - sustainable development, human rights as well as peace & security.

We intend to prepare the Council for the future, to act early and manage uncertainty. To that end, we will seek expert advice and collaborate with academic and research institutions to provide the Council with the needed evidence-based information or other relevant assistance. In this vein, the Security Council needs to anticipate conflict trends in order to better fulfil its preventive mandate.

We should not let scientific and technological developments outpace the capacity of normative frameworks to manage the risks. International law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law applies to these developments, their deployment and their use. We will support efforts to implement existing rules and regulations, as well as to strengthen safeguards that prevent negative impacts on international peace and security.

As we support the UN Secretary-General’s New Agenda for Peace, we remain committed to working with Council Members to develop and evolve our prevention strategies and fostering collective willpower to drive us toward peace. By equipping ourselves with the latest scientific and data-based knowledge, the Security Council must act decisively today to ensure peace tomorrow.