PBF Advisory Group

An independent PBF Advisory Group has been appointed by the Secretary-General to provide advice and oversight of the speed and appropriateness of fund allocations and to examine performance and financial reports. In March 2007, the Secretary-General announced the composition of the Advisory Group: 10 eminent persons, from all regions, with significant peacebuilding experience.

Members of the PBF Advisory Group are appointed for a two-year period and the Advisory Group will meet at least twice a year. The Advisory Group met for the first time on 6 September 2007.

The second meeting of the PBF Advisory Group was convened on 5-6 March 2008. Prior to the meeting, the Permanent Mission of Finland to the UN convened a Seminar entitled "Catalytic Action for Peacebuilding: Examples of the UN Peacebuilding Fund", co-chaired by HE Ms Marjatta Rasi, Under-Secretary of State for Development in FInland and Chair of the PBF Advisory Group, and HE Ms Carmen María Gallardo Hernández, Permanent Representative of El Salvador to the UN and Vice-Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission. During the Seminar, presentations were made on Burundi by H.E. Ambassador Nahayo, Permanent Mission of Burundi to the UN, and on Liberia by HE Ms Estelle K. Liberty, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Government of Liberia. A summary of the Seminar is available here.

Members of the Peacebuilding Fund Advisory Group

PBF Advisory Group Chair:

H.E. Ms. Marjatta Rasi (Finland) The Secretary-General designated H.E. Ms. Marjatta Rasi as the first Chair of the Peacebuilding Fund Advisory Group. Ms. Rasi is currently the Under-Secretary of State for Development in Finland and the Governor for Finland in the Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank and Inter-American Development Bank. She is a board member of the International Peace Academy and Finn Fund, a Finnish Development finance company. Ms. Rasi served previously as Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations from 1998-2005. During her tenure, she was involved in the creation of the ECOSOC ad hoc advisory mechanism on countries emerging from conflict. Ms. Rasi has also served on the board of the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP).

PBF Advisory Group Vice-Chair:

Mr. Joseph Mutaboba (Rwanda) is Secretary General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.  He has also served as Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  He recently co-chaired the UN Permanent Advisory Committee on Security Issues in the Central African region (September 2006).  Since 2003, he participated in preparatory meetings of the International Conference on Peace and Security in the Great Lakes region.  He also served as Coordinator for Rwanda and Head of the Peace and Security Thematic Group. 

PBF Advisory Group Members:

Mr. Paulo Roberto Campos Tarrisse da Fontoura (Brazil) is currently Minister-Counsellor at the Permanent Mission to United Nations.  From 1995 to 2003, he was the Director of the United Nations Division at the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Relations.  He is the author of a doctorate level thesis on “Brazil and the United Nations Peace Keeping Operations” published in 1999.

Mr. Wu Gang (China) is currently Deputy Director-General, Department of Public Administrative & Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China.  From 1993 to 2000, he held various senior positions at the Ministry of Finance.  He acquired familiarity with the UN system, notably as a member of the Permanent Mission of China to the UN from 1988 to 1993 covering Fifth Committee affairs, including budget and contribution issues.

Ms. Nataša Mikuš (Croatia) is currently the Deputy State Secretary of the Central Office for Development Strategy and Coordination of EU funds.  From 2002 to 2005, she was the Head of the Department for National Programmes at the Directorate for Coordination of EU Assistance and Cooperation Programmes.  She served as Expert Assistant in the same Directorate from 2000 to 2002.

Dr. Mounir Zahran (Egypt) is currently an Attorney-at-Law.  He was a member of the Advisory Committee on Budgetary and Administrative Questions (ACABQ) from 2003 to 2005. He has been a member of the Council of the International Institute for Humanitarian Law, San Remo, Italy since 1995 and as a member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs since 1999. 

Mr. Yukio Takasu (Japan) is the Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations in New York.  Previously, he was Ambassador in charge of Human Security, Science and Technology Cooperation and Special Envoy on UN reform and a Visiting Fellow at the Harvard University conducting a research on the concepts of security and peace building.  From 2000 to 2001, he was Director General for the Multilateral Cooperation Department and was instrumental in promoting Japan’s initiative for Human Security and in launching the Commission for Human Security. Ambassador Takasu was in charge of Japan’s contributions to international efforts, including the drafting of the United Nations Peacekeeping Cooperation Law.

Mr. Vidar Helgesen (Norway) is the Secretary General of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) in Stockholm.  He was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2001 to 2005, and served as Special Adviser to the President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva from 1998 to 2001. He is the author of “Waging War for Human Rights” published by the Institute of Public and International Law of the University of Oslo (1999).

Mr. Dan Smith (UK) is the Secretary General of International Alert, a London-based international peacebuilding NGO.  He was the Director of the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo (PRIO) from 1993 to 2001 and Senior Adviser at PRIO from 2002 to 2003.  He was the chair of the board of the London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting from 1992 to 2006. He is the author of The State of the Middle East: An Atlas of Conflict and Resolution (2006).  He is also the author of several reports including the overview report of the Joint Utstein Study on Peacebuilding – Towards a Strategic Framework for Peacebuilding: Getting their Act Together (2004).