Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus A.Dapkiunas holds meetings at the UN Headquarters in New York

30-01-2018

On January 29, 2018 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York the 56th session of the UN Commission for Social Development (CSocD) started its’ work. Delegation of the Republic of Belarus headed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Andrei Dapkiunas, participates at the CSocD session.

Background Information: The UN Commission for Social Development deals with the issues of poverty and social inequality reduction, as well as promotion of international policy in social justice for the most vulnerable people (low-income population, women. Children, people with disabilities, youth and aging people). Belarus is elected to CSocD for the term 2016-2020. The 56th session of CSocD will continue its’ work until February 7, 2018.

During the visit to New York, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus held a meeting with the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed.

The meeting took place in the run-up of the visit of A.Mohammed to Belarus to participate in the Regional Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Coordination Forum to be held in Minsk on February 21-22, 2018.

The parties agreed that the upcoming forum will allow participants from Europe and CIS to better understand common problems in the implementation of SDGs and will make an important contribution to global efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The UN Deputy Secretary-General commended the activities of Belarus in achieving the SDGs, noting particularly the involvement of all stakeholders in this work. A.Mohammed assured that the UN would actively support this process.

The sides also touched upon the issue of middle-income countries in the context of importance of these countries for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

A.Dapkiunas also held a meeting with the UN Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism, Vladimir Voronkov.

The sides exchanged views on the current situation and new challenges in the fight against terrorism.

The Belarusian diplomat informed V.Voronkov on Belarusian initiatives in combating terrorism within the framework of international organisations. A.Dapkiunas invited V.Voronkov to take part in the OSCE event on combating cyberterrorism slated for October 2018 in Belarus.

The Head of the UN Counter-Terrorism Office reported on the process of establishment of the OCT, as well as on the near-term plans, including the holding of the first in the history of the UN summit of heads of counter-terrorism agencies of the UN Member States in June 2018.

Background Information: The new Counter-Terrorism Office was established as part of the UN Secretariat in 2017, in what became one of the elements of the reform of the UN Secretariat initiated by UN Secretary-General A. Guterres. Under-Secretary-General V. Voronkov leads the OCT, and also serves as the Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Task Force and the Executive Director of the UN Counter-Terrorism Center.

V.Voronkov highly appreciated the efforts of Belarus in the field of combating terrorism and also expressed readiness for further cooperation, including convening joint events to combat terrorism in cyberspace.

русская версия      беларуская версія

print version