Kjersti Dale to advise UN’s Peacebuilding Fund

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Former Director of CARE Norway appointed to serve on the Seventh Advisory Committee

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One of the main priorities of the Peacebuilding Fund is to foster inclusion through women and youth empowerment.

MARIT FOSSE
Geneva

In accordance with the Terms of Reference of the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund adopted by the General Assembly, the Secretary-General appoints ten eminent individuals for a term of two years, taking into consideration gender and regional balance. Candidates are nominated by member states, and this year Ms. Kjersti Dale, Director, International Development CARE, will represent Norway. Ms. Dale has a considerable international career behind her already, having also worked for SOS Children’s Fund Norway and WFP in Somalia.

The current conflicts and political turbulence around the globe illustrate vividly that peacebuilding cannot be put on hold while the world grapples with the pandemic. Indeed, violent conflicts are on the rise, as are fragile situations, precisely owing to the ongoing health and financial repercussions of COVID-19, as well as risks arising from an expanding global food security crisis.

Recognizing and consolidating opportunities to build peace is an important task for the international community. The Peacebuilding Fund is designed to support programming that needs to be started quickly and flexibly where requested. The Fund is the Organization’s financial instrument of first resort to sustain peace in countries or situations at risk, or already affected by violent conflict.

The Peacebuilding Fund’s Strategy 2020-24, the most ambitious yet for the Fund, aims to invest $1.5 billion over a five-year period in peacebuilding. The Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) continues to be committed to working together with its partners to further strengthen peacebuilding.

From 2006 to 2021, the Fund allocated nearly $1.67 billion to 65 recipient countries. In 2021, amid deteriorating political and security conditions, and against the backdrop of the continuing pandemic, the Fund scaled up its commitments and approved a record-high investment of $195 million in 32 countries.

The full list of members appointed by United Nations Secretary-General includes:

  • Professor Emmanuel Asante, former Chairperson, National Peace Council, Ghana;
  • H.E. Mr. Jingye Cheng, Ambassador (ret.), China;
  • Ms. Kjersti Dale, Director, International Development CARE, Norway;
  • H.E. Mr. Mohamed Edrees, Ambassador (ret.), Egypt;
  • H.E. Ms. Lise Filiatrault, Ambassador (ret.), Canada;
  • H.E. Mr. Macharia Kamau, Principal Secretary, Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kenya;
  • Ms. Sara Pantuliano, Chief Executive, Overseas Development Institute, United Kingdom;
  • H.E. Mr. Stéphane Rey, Ambassador-designate of Switzerland to Zimbabwe, Zambia & Malawi, Switzerland;
  • Ms. Marriët Schuurman, Director, Stability and Humanitarian Aid, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands;
  • Ms. Almut Wieland-Karimi, Executive Director, Center for International Peace Operations, Germany.

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Marit Fosse

Marit Fosse trained as an economist from Norwegian school of Economics and Business Administration in Bergen (Norges Handelshøyskole NHH) and then earned a doctorate in social sciences. She is the author of several books. Nansen: Explorer and Humanitarian, co-authored with John Fox, was translated into Russian/Armenian/French. In addition, Fosse is the editor of International Diplomat/Diva International in Geneva, a magazine set up 20 years ago for diplomats and persons working in the international organizations in Geneva but also elsewhere. In her free time, Fosse is an accomplished painter.