The Peacebuilding Fund is the Secretary General’s Fund – launched in 2006 to support activities, actions, programmes and organisations that seek to build a lasting peace in countries emerging from conflict.
The Secretary-General has delegated overall management responsibility for the Peacebuilding fund to the Peacebuilding Support Office. The PBSO approves projects and programs and monitors implementation. The United Nations Development Programme’s Multi Partner Trust Fund Office administers the Fund.
At the country level, management of the Fund is delegated to the Joint Steering Committee, co-chaired by the national Government and the United Nations with a broader membership representing national and international stakeholders.
An independent PBF Advisory Group is 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. The group consists of 10 eminent persons, from all regions, with significant peacebuilding experience.
Members of the Second Peacebuilding Fund Advisory Group
- Mr. Dan Smith (UK) is currently the Secretary General of International Alert, a London-based international peacebuilding NGO, and an outgoing member of the first Advisory Group of the PBF. 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, and has held fellowships at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo (2001), and the Hellenic Foundation for Foreign and European Policy in Athens (2003). He is the author of the State of the Middle East: An Atlas of conflict and Resolution (2006) and several reports including the overview report of the Joint Utstein Study on Peacebuilding – Towards a Strategic Framework for Peacebuilding: Getting their Act Together (2004). He was re-nominated by UK to the Advisory Group.
- Ms. Louise Anten (Netherlands) is currently Head of the Conflict Research Unit, Netherlands Institute of International Relations “Clingendael’, focusing in nexus between security and development particularly the (re)building of governance in post-conflict situations. From 2004 to April 2008 she was the Head of the Peacebuilding and Good Governance Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accountable to both the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Development Cooperation. She has extensive experience working on and in Africa and the Middle East.
- Dr. Mohamoud H. Farghal (Egypt) is currently Director, Cairo Regional center for Training on Conflict Resolution and Peacekeeping in Africa, and since 2005, a member of the Board of Directors at the Middle East News Agency Training Center. From 2002 to 2005 he was Founder and Director of the Center for Research and Middle Eastern studies, Middle East News Agency. He served in various senior government positions including: as Advisor to the Minister on Inter-Civilization Dialogue (1999-2002); Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs (1997-2001); First Deputy Minister and Chief of Cabinet (1997-8) and prior to that Director of the Institute for Diplomatic Studies (1997-2001). He held ambassadorial posts in Canada (1993-7) and Poland (1988-92).
- Ambassador Nathan Irumba (Uganda) is a career diplomat & the current Chief Executive Director of Southern and Eastern African Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI). From 1996 to 2004 he was Ambassador of Uganda to WTO, the UN Office and other International Organizations in Geneva. Chief Negotiator of Uganda in WTO trade negotiations in Geneva and Ambassador/Director, and Head of Multilateral Organizations and Treaties Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1988-1996). He was Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, New York (1984-88) after holding various positions in the foreign services and government.
- Mr. Jan Knutsson (Sweden) is currently the Director General for International Development Cooperation at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. His previous diplomatic assignments have taken him to Washington, D.C. where he served as the Political Counselor at the Swedish Embassy (1997-2001) and also to Paris, Moscow and Beijing. He was a member of the Policy Planning Staff at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Stockholm (1992-1995). Before taking up his post in Washington, D.C., he was Deputy Head of the Department of European Security Policy at the MFA. Before taking up his current position in November 2006, he was Deputy Director General and Head of the Department for Global Security Issues (UN Affairs, Conflict Management Humanitarian Affairs, and Counter-terrorism).
- Ambassador John Ludvig Løvald (Norway) retired from the Norwegian Foreign Service in 2008 after a long and distinguished career, which included service as Norway’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York. Ambassador Løvald was also Chair of the Burundi Configuration of the Peacebuilding Commission (2006-2008). From 2000 to 2003, he was Deputy Secretary-General responsible for Foreign Policy, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ambassador to Canada (1996-2000) and Political Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1994-1996). He was Deputy Director General (1994-1996) and Assistant Director General (1994-96) in the Political Departments of the Ministry.
- Ambassador Khalid Mahmood (Pakistan) is a career diplomat who joined foreign services in 1964 having worked as a lecturer in Political Science at the Government College, Lahore (1963-64). He was Ambassador of Pakistan to Iraq (1984-87), the People’s Republic of China (1991-1994) and was concurrently accredited as Ambassador to Mongolia (1992-1994). He was Ambassador of Pakistan to the Islamic Republic of Iran (1994-1997), and to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1997-2000). He served in various government and Foreign Service posts including: as Director General (United Nations) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1978-81), as Pakistan’s Deputy Permanent Representative to United Nations, New York (1981-84) and as an Additional Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1987-91) dealing with Asia, Pacific, UN and other International organizations, and Africa.
- Norberto Moretti (Brazil) Head of the International Peace and Security Division at the Ministry of External Relations, Brazil. Prior to this appointment, he was the Minister-Counselor at the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations. He holds degrees in philosophy, history and diplomacy. He has held several positions at the Ministry of External Relations, HQ which include the following: Assistant to the Under-Secretary-General for Policy Planning (1991/1994); Assistant to the Secretary-General of External Relations (1995); and Head of Division of Trade Remedies and Safeguards (2002-2004). He has also held the following position abroad: As Head of Trade Policy Section II, Embassy of Brazil in the US (1995/1999); Head of MERCOUSUR Section, Embassy of Brazil in Argentina (1992/2002); Head of Economic Section, Embassy of Brazil in Canada (2004/2007); and Minister-Counselor for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United (2007/present).
- Ambassador Yukio Takasu (Japan) is currently Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations. Ambassador Takasu served as the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), during which he also represented the Asia region on the Advisory Group on the PBF. Prior to this assignment, Ambassador Takasu was in charge of Human Security, Science and Technology Cooperation and was special envoy on UN reform, where he concurrently served as a visiting fellow at the Harvard University to research on the concepts of security and peace building. During the Gulf war, Ambassador Takasu was in charge of Japan’s contributions to international efforts, including the drafting of the United Nations Peacekeeping Cooperation Law. He was re-nominated by Japan to the Advisory Group.
- Ms. Raquel Zelaya (Guatemala) is currently Executive Secretary of the Association for Research and Social Studies (ASIES), the most prestigious, private think-tank in the country. She is also a member of the “Grupo Barómeter” of the Guatemala Forum’s Executive Committee, representing the ASIES. She is a member of State Council representing the Women’s Associations of the country. She has also played important roles as the Academic Sector representative on the National Commission of the Peace Accords in 2007, and served as Secretary in the Peace Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic of Guatemala during 1997-1999. She has also served as coordinator at the Peace Accords Oversight Commission during the period 1997-1998 and previously in 1996, as a member of the Peace Commission COPAZ, representing the Government of Guatemala. Prior to this, she held the position of Minister of Finance of Guatemala in 1991.
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