Belarus takes part in the work of the Group of Friends of Children and the Sustainable Development Goals
13.01.2017The Group of Friends on Children and the Sustainable Development Goals held its regular meeting at the headquarters of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in New York. President of the UN General Assembly Peter Tomson and UNICEF Executive Director Antony Lake took part in the meeting.
Belarus actively participates in the activities of the Group of Friends of Children and SDGs, that also includes Australia, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, Guyana, Guatemala, Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Colombia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Malaysia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Peru, Republic of Korea, Senegal, Sweden, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States and Uruguay. The Group’s goal is to promote the children’s interests in the course of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
At its meeting the Group discussed the most effective ways to teach children and adolescents about the sustainable development goals, including in the context of implementation of a new global education initiative “World’s Largest Lesson”.
Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN Andrei Dapkiunas took part in the discussion. Since the members of the Group compose only one-sixth of the total number of the UN Member States, the Head of the Belarusian Mission suggested that the Co-Chairs of the Group take practical measures to inform all Members of the UN General Assembly on the Group’s activities and priorities and facilitate their involvement in the promotion of the SDGs among the young generation.
Belarus actively participates in the UN work related to child support. In 2006 the Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN Andrei Dapkiunas served as the President of the UNICEF Executive Board. This year Irina Velichko, Deputy Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN, was elected to the Bureau of the UNICEF Executive Board as its Vice President.
