Mr. President,
We would like to thank China for organizing this debate.
Today, it is - fortunately - almost a commonplace: there can be no peace without development, and no development without peace. The speeches by the Secretary-General, the President of the New Development Bank, Dilma Rousseff, and Professor Sachs illustrated this.
And never two without three: The third indispensable component for lasting peace is the realization of human rights in their entirety: economic, social and cultural, civil and political. As former SecretaryGeneral Kofi Annan used to say: "No development without peace, no peace without development, and neither without human rights.”
This observation was already at the heart of the founding of the United Nations, and has been reaffirmed many times by its member states. At a time when we are facing a world in deep crisis which must rediscover its humanity, it is important to remember the intrinsic links between the three pillars of the UN:
The founding countries of the UN resolved not only to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, but also to promote human dignity and improve the living conditions of every individual.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrined civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights in a single document. Today, this holistic vision has lost none of its relevance to the protection of individuals and the progress of societies.
By creating the peacebuilding architecture, the UN has given itself powerful instruments that can - in cooperation with this Security Council - even better ensure the link between peace, development and human rights.
By adopting Agenda 2030, UN member states have drawn up a roadmap for achieving these linked goals. Goal 16 anchors the consensus that development can only be sustainable if it is underpinned by peaceful, inclusive societies led by good governance.
The link between the three pillars has also been confirmed several times by this Council. Through its international cooperation, Switzerland has always sought to link these aspects.
Switzerland remains convinced that common answers can be found through constant and constructive exchanges. There is no magic formula: we need trust, dialogue and good faith. And we need to address our differences openly and honestly.
This approach must also guide us in implementing the New Agenda for Peace.
This agenda makes a very clear case for working together on what unites us, not what divides us. The New Agenda for Peace establishes that cooperation cannot work unless states respect their commitments and the UN Charter in their entirety.
If trust between states is vital for international cooperation, trust between governments and their populations is integral to the functioning of societies. Low levels of trust indicate weak social cohesion, which in turn is closely linked to high levels of economic inequality.
The New Agenda for Peace contains important recommendations for action that my country takes very seriously: preventive diplomacy, preventing the militarization of emerging issues such as digital space, accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda to tackle the underlying drivers of violence and insecurity, and addressing the links between climate, peace and security.
Mr. President,
This Council will retain its important role in these discussions only if it reinforces a holistic approach to fulfilling the prevention mandate envisaged by the UN Charter. A key element is the integration of the "women, peace and security" dimension into its work. No society can benefit from common development without the inclusion of all its members, and no society can prevent and resolve conflict without the equitable integration of women into peace processes. Their potential as peacemakers must be better used. By giving Peacekeeping Missions more tools to monitor the human rights situation, the Council can guarantee the sustainability of its commitments. In this respect, resident coordinators have an essential role to play in the interactions of the three pillars. In addition, the advice of the Peacebuilding Commission is invaluable, and can galvanize the efforts of other players such as the international financial institutions.
Mr. President,
In the course of its long-standing commitment to development cooperation, Switzerland has learned to harness the immense potential of the link between peace and security, economic development and human rights. It has learned this from the three-pillar principle in the Charter itself.
The negotiations of the Summit of the Future must be conducted not only on the basis of trust, but also with a willingness to compromise, to be humane and with the aim of ensuring that the next generations, who will preside over the destinies of our governments and of this organization, have the right instruments to do so.
The UN Charter still contains all the tools we need to evolve together and collectively to save future generations from the scourge of war.
This is our best, if not our only chance of achieving lasting peace.
I thank you.