On the occasion of the opening of the ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development, Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Chair of the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), Omar Hilale, chaired a strategic dialogue in New York with Executive Directors of the World Bank, aimed at reshaping cooperation between the UN peacebuilding architecture and the Bretton Woods institution.
This third high-level dialogue, following previous sessions held in Washington in 2024 and 2025, sought to strengthen the link between peace, development, and financing, positioning both institutions for deeper operational collaboration.
In his address, Omar Hilale emphasized that peace is the foundation of sustainable development. “Without peace, development gains cannot be sustained, and without development, the conditions for peace remain fragile,” he stated, highlighting the need for an integrated approach in fragile, conflict-affected, and violence-prone contexts.
He noted that more than half of the world’s extreme poor live in such environments, calling on the World Bank to maintain sustained attention to these settings. He also welcomed the ambition of the 21st replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA), which focuses on prevention and resilience.
Drawing on the Peacebuilding Commission’s recent mission to the Central African Republic, Hilale highlighted progress in security stabilization, the expansion of state authority, and advances in transitional justice, while stressing the need for continued World Bank engagement.
He outlined four priority areas for enhanced cooperation: increased financing for community reintegration, support for security and justice reforms, alignment with the World Bank’s Prevention and Resilience Allocation (PRA), and strengthening the joint monitoring framework involving the UN, the African Development Bank, and the European Union.
Hilale also announced the first United Nations Peacebuilding Week, scheduled for 22–26 June 2026 in New York under the theme “Partnership for Innovation, Inclusion and Impact,” and invited World Bank Group President Ajay Banga to participate, stressing the symbolic importance of the PBC’s 20th anniversary.
The interactive discussion confirmed broad convergence around three key principles: the integration of peace and development, national ownership of processes, and financing as a decisive lever for stability.
Participants concluded by calling for more operational cooperation, including systematic sharing of Peacebuilding Commission notes with the World Bank Board, joint preparation of PRA requests, co-organization of thematic sessions during Peacebuilding Week, and closer coordination between country configurations and the Bank’s Fragility, Conflict and Violence (FCV) teams.
This meeting underscores the growing role of Morocco within UN peacebuilding mechanisms and highlights its contribution to strengthening the interface between global peace and development agendas.
