After U.S. President Donald Trump invited around 60 countries to join his newly-minted Board of Peace for Gaza, the responses have not been all that flattering. New Zealand has become the latest country to decline the offer after Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said in a statement on Jan. 30 that his country had decided not to join the Board in “its current form.” New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters elaborated this on his official X page on Jan. 29, writing that “New Zealand would not add significant further value,” to the process of peace in Gaza. “As a leading founder and longstanding supporter of the United Nations, it is important that the Board’s work is complementary to and consistent with the UN Charter. It is a new body, and we need clarity on this, and on other questions relating to its scope, now and in the future.”
The obvious parallel between Trump’s Board of Peace and the United Nations has been noted by many. Last weekend Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was asked about joining the Board of Peace. He responded by referencing remarks he made at the United Nations, “where I spoke about the pillars of our policies, including support for multilateralism. We’ll give it further consideration, but Australia has been a founding member of the United Nations.”
