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Excellency,

In accordance with the Terms of the Reference of the 2020 review of the peacebuilding architecture endorsed in October 2019, I wish to share with you the main elements that have emerged from a series of consultations that the Peacebuilding Commission convened, and which were open to all Member States of the United Nations, relevant parts of the UN system, civil society representatives, and independent experts, with a view to contribute to the formal phase of the review. A substantively identical letter was sent to the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Security Council. Drawing from critical peacebuilding priorities in the Commission’s country-specific, regional and thematic engagements since the adoption of resolutions A/RES/70/262 and S/RES/2282 (2016) on the Review of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture, and building on the primacy of national ownership in peacebuilding processes, whereby the responsibility for building and sustaining peace is broadly shared by the Government and all other national stakeholders, the consultations focused on peacebuilding in UN transition contexts, women’s role in peacebuilding, and the importance of institution building, UN system-wide engagement, financing, and partnerships for peacebuilding, taking also into consideration the fast-evolving COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for peacebuilding. In view of the COVID-19 outbreak, the majority of the consultations were conducted virtually.