On 15 September 2009, the United Nations General Assembly opened its 64^th session, with over 150 agenda items to be considered by the UN Member States within a year. Read a brief overview of our key priorities at the current session and our position on major agenda items.

Human trafficking

An active supporter of enhancing international coordination in fighting human trafficking, Belarus has initiated a number of critical processes aimed to improve global anti-trafficking activities. In particular, on the initiative of Belarus the UN General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council adopted relevant resolutions, an Interagency working group to help coordinate the UN work in this field was launched, the GA thematic debates and a large international conference, the first ever in the UN Headquarters, were held.

Now Belarus actively promotes an idea of elaborating a UN global plan of action on fighting human trafficking and of conducting for this purpose open-ended intergovernmental consultations within the GA.

Diversity of ways to progress

Our idea on recognition of the diversity of ways to progress seeks to support a global variety of countries with different political, economic and social systems that are emerging and developing on the basis of their historic and cultural heritage.

Securing this diversity is a prerequisite of stable and multipolar world based on mutual respect, as well as a contributing factor of stronger international security.

On our initiative, the idea on the diversity of ways to progress was reflected in a number of UN documents, including the 2005 UN Summit outcome document, and a few GA resolutions. Our idea was also embodied in several paragraphs of a number of critical documents of the Non-Aligned Movement.

A member of a few global initiatives, including the Alliance of Civilizations, aimed to encourage dialogue between states in different areas, with interreligious and intercultural dialogues at the heart of their activities, Belarus also advocates through these channels the importance of securing the diversity of countries’ ways to progressive development.

Closer co-operation between NAM and other organisations and countries

We aired this initiative for the first time at the 15 Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Egypt in September 2009. It aims to encourage mutually respectful and beneficial partnership of all global force centres in light of increasing international challenges that are a serious hassle for countries’ sustainable development.

Access of all states to cutting-edge energy technologies

Belarus consistently takes forward at the UN the need to ensure access of all countries to modern technologies in new and renewable sources of energy. We stand for the creation of a global mechanism whereby all states would have access to and transfer of such technologies, as well as for encouraging larger intergovernmental dialogue on energy issues within the UN.

On the initiative of Belarus and a few other UN Member States, the UN General Assembly held in 2009 a thematic debate on energy efficiency, new and renewable sources of energy that focused, among other issues, on our idea on the access of all countries to cutting-edge energy technologies.

Atomic radiation effects

Belarus stands for enlarging the membership of the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), a key UN body dealing with assessments over global nuclear security, and is interested in joining the UNSCEAR.

We are also interested to see the UNSCEAR keeping on its active work as we continue our long-term domestic policy in overcoming the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster seeking to recovery and rehabilitate the affected regions.

UN Economic and Social Council

A Member of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), a UN major body, Belarus supports the need for further intensification of the ECOSOC efforts on encouraging more fair global trade and on larger technical and consultative assistance to developing and middle-income countries.

Belarus believes that the role of the ECOSOC, as a specialized UN body dealing with global economic challenges and socio-economic agenda, is increasingly high during the world’s economic downturn. We therefore welcome the new forms of the ECOSOC activities that are designed to raise the efficiency of the ECOSOC, including the ministerial review of the priority issues of the global socio-economic agenda.

We also support the practiсe of high-level meetings featuring participation of senior officials from the Bretton Woods institutions, Word Trade Organization, International Labour Organization and World Health Organization. Belarus believes that a successful completion of the Doha negotiations within the WTO could play an important role in helping overcome the global economic downturn, encourage development and fight poverty.

Climate change

Our key priority is to ensure that the Belarusian amendment to the Annex B of the Kyoto Protocol is in force. A measurement of our carbon emissions, it will allow us to take full advantage of market mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol.

We urge all states-parties to the Kyoto Protocol, who have not yet done so, to speed up all internal processes to make sure the Belarusian amendment to the Annex B of the Kyoto Protocol enters into force.

Belarus also stands for stronger international dialogue on climate change that would see more countries joining that crucial process and its truly universal nature to ensure that two major goals – lower impact of the humankind on the global environment and better ecologic situation – are effectively delivered.

UN operational activities for development

Belarus attaches great importance to the UN work on the operational level. We stand for its intensification to help countries while they cut their social spending because of the global economic downturn.

Belarus welcomes decisions on the increase of financial resources of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank aimed to provide loans for the countries in need, as well as the practice of allocation of additional resources, stemming from cuts in administrative spending, for technical projects and other forms of assistance to the recipient countries.

We support the need to strengthen the role of the UN Resident Coordinators in the recipient countries and to ensure monitoring of how the information received from the Resident Coordinators is disseminated.

Belarus also stands for greater account of climate change in long-term strategies of financing for development and green economy by encouraging larger energy efficiency and usage of new and renewable sources of energy.

Global security, arms control and disarmament

Belarus considers the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NNPT) as a milestone of global security system and believes that sustaining and strengthening the NNPT is a priority goal of the international community.

Forging clear-cut and watertight security guarantees for the NNPT states-parties, that do not possess nuclear arms, under a legally binding instrument may help considerably strengthen the NNPT-based non-proliferation regime and become a tangible incentive for greater universality of the NNPT.

Belarus considers that strenuous development of space technologies and an increasing number of countries with space programmes reveal the need to continue efforts aimed at the adoption of additional legally binding standards on preventing the militarization of space.

We also stand for the need to continue a discussion within the UN on the control over small arms and light weapons (SALW). It is vital to ensure that the commitments under the UN Programme of action on the SALW and the International instrument on marking and tracing of small arms and light weapons are observed.

International drug control

Belarus wants to see a stronger UN role in the coordination of global efforts on fighting drug trafficking by, inter alia, tightening the international control over synthetic drugs and by prevention of using Internet for drug trafficking.

A critical role in global efforts on preventing drug trafficking belongs to states-parties conferences of major international instruments on crime prevention that seek to boost international co-operation, as well as to full leverage of the expert potential of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The UNODC considerably contributes to making relevant international documents more universal, to providing its expertise and technical assistance. Belarus supports the idea of enlarging the UNODC activities in other areas, in particular, in fight against terrorism and cyber crime.

UN reform

A stalwart supporter of the UN reform, Belarus takes forward proposals on how to revitalise the work of the General Assembly. Our efforts seek to bolster a stronger GA role in global issues, including peace and security. We also stand for closer interaction between the General Assembly and the Security Council, larger coverage of the GA activities, stronger role of the GA President and GA President’s Office, and more.

On the Security Council reform, Belarus supports the aspirations of the Eastern European regional group to have more seats among the non-permanent members of the Security Council.

Overall, Belarus wants to see the Security Council become a more representative body through, inter alia, larger representation of Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe, that would reflect current geopolitical realities.

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picture inside frame from www.un.org