Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus V.Rybakov visits New York

14 July 2016

14-07-2016

On July 13, 2016 the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Valentin Rybakov, met with the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Wu Hongbo.

In the course of the meeting, the sides discussed the issues regarding the reform of the UN development system, promotion of the Belarusian initiative on the support of the family, as well as preparation for the UNECE conference “Laying the foundation in the UNECE region for economic integration and sustainable development towards 2030” to be held in October 2016 in Minsk.

The Under-Secretary-General agreed on the approaches of Belarus that the UN development system member states should focus not on the restructuring of the entire system, but rather on the strengthening of the existing mechanisms, improving and enhancing their effectiveness while maintaining non-politicized nature of the system and leadership of member states in choosing the ways and methods of achieving of the sustainable development goals in accordance with national priorities and needs..

The parties agreed to maintain contacts for the promotion of Belarusian initiatives in the context of implementation of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.

During his visit to New York, V.Rybakov held a meeting with the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova.

During the meeting, the parties discussed the status of the campaign in the UN on selection of the candidate for the post of the next UN Secretary-General.

V.Rybakov also participated in the public event with candidates for the post of the UN Secretary-General held on the initiative of the President of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft.