Mr. President

My delegation fully associates itself with the statement just delivered on behalf of the European Union.

At the outset I would like to congratulate you, Mr. President, for organizing this important debate. We highly appreciate the efforts of your country to promote the post-conflict peacebuilding. The July 2009 ministerial debate held from your initiative as well as today's folow-up is the best proof of Uganda's attachment to the peacebuilding.

Let me take this opportunity to stress that the Czech Republic fully shares your appreciation of the importance of the early post-conflict peacebuilding. Experience from the last decade clearly shows, that the UN peace-keeping operations alone are not sufficient for breaking the vicious circle of countries relapsing into new conflicts. Peacekeeping must be accompanied by the peacebuilding efforts from the early stages of the deployment of the UN peacekeepers. The character of the recent conflicts has changed and the UN has to adapt accordingly. The report of the Secretary General on peacebuilding in the immediate aftermath of conflict as well as his July progress report clearly demonstrate the general acknowledgment of this fact.

The Czech Republic devotes great attention to the work of the Peacebuilding Commission, a body within the UN system, which helps countries with their peacebuilding efforts. This year's review process of the PBC gave us an opportunity to take stock of achieved results and to formulate recommendations for the improvement of its future work.

We welcome the fact that the Peacebuilding Commission during four years of its existence established very fruitful working relations with the Security Council and the ECOSOC. But there is still room for improvement. Looking at the PBC working methods laid down in the founding resolutions we can see that the Commission has not yet started to formulate the exit criteria for its disengagements. Also, the cooperation with the Security Council could be further developed. According to its mandate, the PBC should advise the Security Council not only on the countries on its agenda but also on those in the process of becoming a subject of a future peacekeeping operation as well as those finding themselves in the phase of an operation withdrawal. In this vein, we welcome the decision to include Liberia on the PBC's agenda. For the first time a country where a robust peacekeeping operation is still deployed is placed on the agenda. That will create for the PBC new challenges and new experience will be gained.

In a country that is emerging from a conflict, everything is seen as a priority. To help such country in its vast peacebuilding efforts, it requires the availability of a broad scope of experts from different fields covering areas from security sector reform, DDR, restoration of core government functions, building of national administration, education and health to the revitalization of its economy. In such circumstances it is impossible to provide requested expertise without the civilian capacity. We must therefore improve the process of identification, employment and deployment in the field of civilian experts. Close co-operation with NGOs will be indispensable.

In welcoming the Secretary General's second report before us today, i.e. Women's participation in Peacebuilding, my delegation would like to underline the attention given to the role of women in the peacebuilding. Women represent more than a half of the active population and carry an important part of the peacebuilding activities. Without an active participation of women it would not be possible to succeed in the peacebuilding efforts. We therefore support the seven point Action plan contained in the SG's report.

In closing, Mr. President, I would like to stress the importance of forging close co-operation of all actors involved in the peacekeeping, including all parts of the UN system, financial institutions, regional and subregional organizations and donors. We are convinced that the United Nations should play a leading role in this process.

Thank you, Mr. President.