Second day of the visit of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus A.Dapkiunas to the UN Headquarters

03-04-2019

On April 2, 2019 during the visit to the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Belarus, Andrei Dapkiunas, took part in the panel discussion on five regional reviews of the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), organized on the margins of the 52nd session of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development (CPD), as a keynote speaker.

On behalf of the European region, the Deputy Minister presented to the UN Member States the results of the review of the ICPD Program of Action in the region of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

Background Information: In October 2018 in Geneva Belarus co-chaired the high-level regional conference “Enabling Choices: Population Dynamics and Sustainable Developmen”, where the results of the review of the Program of Action in the UNECE region were presented.

A.Dapkiunas presented main demographic challenges of the European region, as well as the ways to overcome them in Belarus, as example.

Among the most relevant demographic trends for the UNECE region, the Deputy Head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry noted low fertility and population aging.

The Deputy Minister informed the participants that a special state policy for senior citizens is being developed in Belarus. A Dapkiunas noted that realizing the seriousness of the long-term and progressive aging process of the population of Belarus, last year the country began to develop a National Strategy for Active Aging. The Strategy is aimed at creating conditions for social inclusion of older people and full realization of their human potential.

The Deputy Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed the need for a comprehensive response to low fertility in the region, taking as an example the policy of encouraging birth rates in Belarus.

A.Dapkiunas drew attention to the need to link further work on the implementation of the ICPD Program of Action with the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

The Deputy Minister A.Dapkiunas also met with the UN Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism, Vladimir Voronkov. During the meeting, the sides discussed current issues of organizing and holding a high-level international conference on countering international terrorism with new and emerging technologies, scheduled for early September 2019 in Minsk. The diplomats paid special attention to other promising areas of cooperation between Belarus and the UN in the field of counter-terrorism, as well as on topical issues on the international agenda in this field.

On the same day, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs took part in the opening ceremony of the photo exhibition-presentation dedicated to the II European games in Belarus in the run-up to the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, which is celebrated annually by the international community on April 6.  The exhibition was organized by the Permanent Mission of Belarus to the UN in cooperation with the Foundation «Directorate of the II European Games 2019».

The Director of the Foundation «Directorate of the II European Games 2019», Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus, G.Katulin, addressed the participants of the event with welcoming speech.

During the presentation, the audience was presented with information about the II European games, tourist attractiveness and economic potential of Belarus, visa-free regime of travel to Belarus for sport fans.

The event was attended by the UN Under-Secretary-General, Vladimir Voronkov, representatives of the diplomatic corps in New York, the UN Secretariat and other guests. V.Voronkov supported the efforts of Belarus in holding the II European games.

During the event, tickets for the II European games were presented to American partners.

print version