U.N. calls for strengthening peacebuilding

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- The United Nations has called on the international community to continue to strengthen the U.N. peacebuilding architecture.

Miguel D'Escoto, U.N. president of the General Assembly, said the Peacebuilding Fund and Peacebuilding Support Office are doing invaluable work in preventing fragile countries from sliding back into war, the United Nations reported.

The U.N. Peacebuilding Commission, a 31-member body, was established in 2005 to help countries emerging from conflict with strategic support measures designed to prevent a return to war. The commission currently is supporting operations in Burundi, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau and Central African Republic.

D'Escoto called on countries to continue supporting the peacebuilding operations.

"Given the record of peace accords that have failed in their first years, these reform initiatives fill a long-standing gap in our peacemaking architecture," D'Escoto said in a statement.

"They are examples of the U.N. doing things differently and learning from past lessons of success and failure. They arise from efforts to find new ways to promote partnerships and solidarity in post-conflict situations that have been misunderstood and neglected in the past."