State Secretary Dr Raščan participated in the first part of the plenary session of the peacekeeping conference. In his address, he highlighted Slovenia’s peacebuilding efforts and presented the activities of the Peace Operations Training Centre (POTC) and the ITF Enhancing Human Security (ITF) foundation. The State Secretary pointed out that global challenges are intertwined with conflicts, which is why the UN action in this area is all the more important. He underlined Slovenia’s commitment to peacebuilding and recalled the country’s additional financial contributions to the UN peacebuilding mechanisms this year. He went on to give assurances of Slovenia’s support for the Seoul Initiative on Technology and Medical Capacity Building in Peacekeeping as well as the Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) and Action for Peacekeeping Plus (A4P+).

The objective of the conference in Seoul held on 7 and 8 December 2021 is to close capacity gaps and strengthen the UN peacekeeping mechanisms with concrete commitments, including by improving the effectiveness of the UN peacekeeping operations in line with the new Action for Peacekeeping Plus.

The programme of the conference’s plenary session consists of four thematic areas, i.e. peacekeeping; partnership, training and capacity-building; performance and accountability; and protection of civilians and safety & security.