UN Deputy Chief Comments on Development, Peace at World Bank Forum

On Tuesday, March 1, 2016, the World Bank held a forum called the 2016 Forum on Fragility, Conflict and Violence. The forum aimed to end extreme poverty around the world by 2030. The vision of the forum is mutual and sustainable prosperity through international cooperation. This was a perfect platform for United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, to speak regarding his own vision of a peaceful future achieved through shared international interests coupled with universal economic development.

On Tuesday, March 1, 2016, the World Bank held a forum called the 2016 Forum on Fragility, Conflict and Violence. The forum aimed to end extreme poverty around the world by 2030. The vision of the forum is mutual and sustainable prosperity through international cooperation. This was a perfect platform for United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, to speak regarding his own vision of a peaceful future achieved through shared international interests coupled with universal economic development.

“Peace will only be sustainable if we make progress on development. Let us remember the fundamental formula from the 2005 UN Summit: There is no peace without development, no development without peace, and neither peace nor development without respect of human rights,” Eliasson said, speaking to the general assembly of the forum convened in Washington, D.C.

Eliasson suggested that political rivalries and the interference of outside nations in a practice sometimes known as “proxy wars” create economic inequality and volatility, retarding growth and sowing the seeds of political unrest. Coupled with weak governance, human rights violations, and a growing trend toward violent extremism, he argues, these practices create a powder keg of financial and social problems just waiting for the right spark to ignite it all.

“Between 2007 and 2014, civil wars almost tripled. Wars have recently grown in intensity and scale, becoming more deadly, more protracted, more complex and less amenable to settlement. There is a glaring disrespect and disregard of international humanitarian law,” he said. In response to these conflicts, he noted, the UN launched major reviews of various tools and practices aimed at curtailing these phenomena. Because of the findings, the UN determined that sustainable development was the surest path to world peace.

To that end, it launched a number of new initiatives aimed at mingling social improvements with fiscal ones. These included the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and the much-publicized Paris Agreement pertaining to climate change now tying these accomplishments together: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

“This overarching Agenda, agreed by Governments last September in New York, can be summarized in five words: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnership.” Eliasson stressed, however, that the UN’s sustainable development goals and aims for world peace would not be reached without the cooperation of all members of the UN.

“We must get better at stamping out the flames before they pose an existential threat to the social, economic and political fabric which underpins human development … Not only must we leave no-one behind, we must first reach those who are furthest behind. We need more attention and resources devoted to conflict-affected countries, and equally more attention and resources targeting the drivers of conflict.”