Delegation of Belarus takes part in the Ministerial Segment of the High-level Political Forum on sustainable development
18.07.2017Marianna Shchotkina, Deputy Chair of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus, National Coordinator for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, took part in the general debate of the Ministerial Segment of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development at the UN headquarters in New York on July 18, 2017.
In her speech (video in Russian), M.Shchotkina informed participants about the steps taken by Belarus to implement the new Agenda, in particular, noted the establishment by the President of Belarus of the institute of the national coordinator for the SDGs, and the creation of the Council for Sustainable Development as an advisory body under the National Coordinator for SDGs with the participation of the heads of the relevant ministries and regions of the country.
M.Shchotkina stressed the intention of Belarus to create the mechanism of parliamentary hearings and national consultations with the participation of a wide range of partners, including civil society, in order to achieve the SDGs.
The head of the Belarusian delegation drew the attention to the problems of middle-income countries, without the solution of which it is impossible to achieve the SDGs. Belarus, which is part of this group, together with partners from different regions of the world promotes their interests in the UN. Noting the specific problems faced by middle-income countries, M.Shchotkina stressed the importance of adequate technical, consultative and technological support of this category of countries by the UN system.
The representative of Belarus also noted the importance of regional structures as a liaison at the global and national levels and suggested using the UN Economic Commission for Europe as a platform for discussing ways of interaction between the region's integration associations.
Also, during the Forum M. Shchotkina, held meeting with the head of the delegation of Azerbaijan, Deputy Prime Minister, Ali Ahmedov. The parties discussed bilateral cooperation issues, including in the context of the SDG achieving, and agreed on close interaction at the level of national boards on the SDGs achievement.
