About PBSO
Established in 2005, the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) helps to sustain peace in conflict-affected countries by garnering international support for nationally owned and led peacebuilding efforts. The office assists and supports the Peacebuilding Commission, administers the Peacebuilding Fund, and supports the Secretary General's efforts to coordinate the UN System in its peacebuilding efforts.Assistant Secretary-General For Peacebuilding Support
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon administered the oath of office to Oscar Fernández-Taranco, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support. The Secretary-General (right) with Mr. Fernández-Taranco following the swearing in.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
Oscar Fernandez-Taranco of Argentina was appointed Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support on 2 September 2014 by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
With more than 30 years of experience in the United Nations System, Mr. Fernandez-Taranco worked both at Headquarters and in the field, managing development, political, peacebuilding, human rights and humanitarian operations in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific and Europe.
Prior to his appointment, he was Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs in the Department of Political Affairs since July 2009. He also served as United Nations Resident Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in the United Republic of Tanzania.
From 1994 to 1998, he served as Deputy Special Representative of the Administrator in the West Bank and Gaza Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People. He was also the Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Regional Director in the Regional Bureau for Arab States, UNDP, from 2001 to 2006, and Resident Representative, United Nations Resident Coordinator and Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Haiti from 1998 to 2001.
Mr. Fernandez-Taranco was educated at Cornell University, where he studied economics, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studying urban-regional economic planning. Born in 1957, he is married and has two children.
Support to the Peacebuilding Commission
General Assembly Debates Peacebuilding Commission and Fund.
UN Photo/Sophie Paris
The Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), established in 2005 during the World Summit, is an intergovernmental advisory body of the United Nations that supports peacebuilding in countries emerging from conflict. The Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) acts as a secretariat to the PBC.
The PBC consists of the Organisational Committee (OC), the Country Specific Configurations (CSC) and the Working Group on Lessons Learned. The OC consists of 31 Member States drawn from the Security Council (7), the General Assembly (7), the Economic and Social Council (7), the five top financial and troop contributors, as well as EU, World Bank, IMF and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Administering the Peacebuilding Fund
The Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) is the Secretary General’s Fund – launched in 2006 to support activities, actions, programmes and organisations that seek to build a lasting peace in countries emerging from conflict. The Fund addresses immediate needs in countries emerging from conflict at a time when sufficient resources are not available from other funding mechanisms and will support interventions of direct and immediate relevance to the peacebuilding process and contribute towards addressing critical gaps in that process. The PBF is managed by the Peacebuilding Support Office.
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