However, the United States also has its own peacebuilding initiative—a bilateral peacebuilding initiative created in Washington in the State Department—which is dedicated to post-conflict reconstruction and stabilization. The role of this initiative is still a little vague, but the whole idea, similar to that of the United Nations, is to mobilize and coordinate the resources of the US government in order to respond more quickly and more effectively to post-conflict situations. Clearly, that whole notion has been driven by the US experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a few other places where it is still involved as well. One of the questions I have is how this capability, which is being built in Washington, is going to work with the multilateral capabilities that will be built up within the Peacebuilding Commission. It is not entirely clear how these two will come together.

You mention the Peacebuilding Fund, which has an initial target of US$250 million. Considering that the Fund will be composed of voluntary contributions, do you foresee that the Fund’s goals will materialize? Does a particular country stand to bear the brunt of financial obligations?

The idea was to have initial funding of $250 million from voluntary contributions, but the previous Secretary General has expressed his hope that over time, this fund will be replenished by regular contributions of UN member-states so that it would essentially become part of the normal operating budget of the United Nations. I certainly suspect that the current Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will have the same hope. The initial US$250 million was intended to jump-start this Commission, to get it off the ground while the budgetary details are worked out. One of the challenges in these kinds of funds is to make sure the burden is more or less equitably shared. Therefore, one of the first major tasks will be to figure out which countries are able to contribute. The European Union will likely be a major contributor, as will the United States and Canada, but it is my hope that other countries like China or even India—the newly emerging economies—will be major contributors as well. One of the keys will be getting people to sit down around a table to come up with a formula for how to share the burden of initial funding. Hopefully the United States and the European Union will help get the process going by making initial contributions and commitments, which will encourage others to contribute as well.