11 June 2007

On 6 June 2007, the Peacebuilding Commission Organizational Committee adopted the “Provisional guidelines for the participation of civil society in meetings of the Peacebuilding Commission, submitted by the Chairperson on the basis of informal consultations,” (PBC/1/OC/12). The document sets forth guidelines in regard to the acceptance and participation of civil society in meetings of the PBC. The Chairperson of the Organizational Committee stated that, by adopting these principles, “the Commission is taking a step forward to broad based peacebuilding strategies for Burundi, Sierra Leone and others that may come in the future.”

Issues raised regarding the Provisional Guidelines for the participation of civil society include:

• Interpretation problems with various languages including discrepancies between the French, English and Arabic texts. Particularly within the French document which frequently uses the term ‘rules’ while the English text uses ‘modalities’.
• Member States pledged to look within the texts of their various languages to pinpoint clear examples of differentiation in order to present a clear, cohesive text within all languages interpreted.
• Requests were made for a working ad-hoc group to finalize and present to the Organized Committee the final draft of the Provisional Guidelines.
• Assistant Secretary General Carolyn McAskie stated that the PBSO will work closely with the working ad-hoc group in order to clarify any mistakes between the various text interpretations.

Other issues discussed included the adoption of the annual report required of the PBC by the General Assembly as the PBC faces its one year anniversary on 23 June 2007.

With respect to the issuance of the PBC annual report, a timeline to finalize the report and a tentative deadline, 27 June 2007, for its adoption by the GA were suggested. A final draft of the annual report is expected for 15 June 2007.

The final meeting of the first session will conclude on 27 June 2007, with the adoption of the annual report. On 27 June, the first meeting of the second session will also take place. During the meeting, a new Chairperson and Vice Chairperson for the PBC Organizational Committee will be elected.

-----------------------------------------
*This update is meant to be a summary of some of the main issues discussed during the meetings and does not represent a complete and official account of all positions expressed by Members of the Commission.

Prepared by Ashley Dittus