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Belarus Actively Participates In 61st Session of United
Nations General Assembly in New York
On 26
September, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Sergei Martynov made a
statement in the course of the GA general debate, which was the pivot of his
visit to New York.
Addressing the
UN General Assembly, Sergei Martynov stated Belarus’ approaches to the
development of international relations, building a multi-polar world,
promoting the UN in the worldwide processes.
Sergei Martynov
called free self-determination as the main ideology of the modern world.
"In the modern
world free self-determination is not only an issue of state independence and
sovereignty. This is also an issue of recognizing – not in word, but in deed
– a diversity of ways to progress of countries and peoples", the Foreign
Minister stressed.
According to
the Minister, international security and global stability are inseparable
from the solution of the world development problems. Inadequate reflection
of the priorities of development and development assistance in the 2005
World Summit outcome document was a serious mistake of the international
community.
Special
attention was paid to the necessity of a deep transformation of the Bretton
Woods institutions, which were established in a different era and for
different purposes. They should be changed and made to serve the cause of
global development.
Sergei Martynov
emphasized the necessity of undertaking practical efforts to implement the
Millennium Development Goals. In this connection Belarus’ rich experience in
overcoming the difficulties of transitional period was cited. Having been
left 15 years ago, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, without natural
resources and foreign markets, without her national currency and
international assistance, facing alone the Chernobyl disaster, Belarus has
achieved its economic and social objectives. Belarus was the first among the
CIS countries to restore and raise the level of GDP to 120 per cent of its
peak Soviet value, and create a market economy with a strong social
emphasis.
As a major step
towards the practical promotion of human rights and protection of victims of
one of the most acute and painful phenomenon of the modern world, Belarus
has elaborated a draft resolution on improving international coordination in
fighting human trafficking. Such a resolution would facilitate establishment
on a system-based approach of a Global Partnership Against Slavery and
Trafficking in Human Beings.
Sergei Martynov
highly appreciated the results of the recent Non-Aligned Movement Summit in
Havana. According to the Minister, the Summit has demonstrated a clear
aspiration of the majority of the nations of the world to move from the
self-exhausted unipolar world to the multipolar world, fair and stable,
based on the interdependency of diverse global and regional centers of
power. The Havana Summit has shown: humanity should be humane. This should
be the United Nations motto for the challenging 21st century.
In the course
of the GA general debate, Sergei Martynov met with President of the United
Nations GA 61st session Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa.
During his stay
in New York the Minister also held meetings with Algerian Foreign Minister
Mohamed Bedjaoui, deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Turkey Abdullah Gul, heads of the delegations of other states.
Belarusian
delegation continues its participation in the 61th session of the UN General
Assembly.
The Deputy
Foreign Minister of Belarus Viktar Gaisenak is expected to make a statement
at the Uited Nations GA plenary on the report by the Secretary-General on
the UN work in 2006. Belarus’ representative will give assessment of the UN
activities for the period under review and voice Belarus’ proposals on
raising their efficiency for the near future.
In the GA Third
Committee, Viktar Gaisenak will state the national position on the most
important social development challenges of today, and call for application
of more effective measures for realization of MDGs globally and
implementation of the UN reform, in particular, concerning Security Council
and ECOSOC.
In the course
of the session, the Deputy Foreign Minister is expected to meet with
high-level officials of the UN Secretariat, and permanent representatives of
a number of states to the UN. The meetings will focus on social development
issues, and prospects of the countries’ interaction within the UN.
Reports on
Belarus' participation in the current session of the United Nations General
Assembly are available at:
http://www.un.int/belarus.
Belarus
Partakes in WIPO Assemblies Session
The
Forty-Second Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of the Member States of
the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is being held from 25
September through 4 October at the WIPO headquarters in Geneva.
The Belarusian
delegation headed by Deputy Chair of the State Committee for Science and
Technology Vladimir Pranovich is attending the Forum.
The agenda of
the meetings includes the review of WIPO activities on the issues of
intellectual property protection and implementation of WIPO programs. Among
the most important agenda items are Program Performance Report for the
2004-2005 Biennium; Program Implementation Overview, January 1 to June 30,
2006; Report of the Provisional Committee on Proposals Related to a WIPO
Development Agenda (PCDA); preparation of the 2007 Diplomatic Conference for
the Protection of the Rights of Broadcasting Organizations. During the
sessions, the Belarusian delegation is expected to meet with WIPO Director
General Kamil Idris, Director of the WIPO Worldwide Academy Mpazi Sinjela,
and other WIPO Secretariat officials.
Belarus Partakes in UNECE Committee on Economic Cooperation and
Integration Session
The First
Session of the Committee on Economic Cooperation and Integration of the
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe was held on 27-28 September in
Geneva.
The session was
attended by delegations of ECE member states, representatives of UNDP, UNIDO,
OECD, EBRD, MFC, EC and other international organizations, as well as
delegates of educational institutions from Russia, Great Britain, Belgium,
Uzbekistan. Belarus was unanimously elected as vice-chairman of the
Committee. The Committee on Economic Cooperation and Integration was
established in December 2005 within the process of the ECE reform to assist
countries with economies in transition in innovative economic development
and raising competitiveness of enterprises.
The Committee
has adopted a program of work for the next year and took a decision on
creation of a group of experts tasked to provide a platform for exchanges of
national policy experiences and identification of best practice.
Subsequently, these outputs would be brought to the attention of the
Committee, which would serve as a forum for policy dialogue for member
states and elaborate relevant policy recommendations, guidelines and
standards. |
