Events

25 Oct 2022

Opinion: Progress in sustainable development is a major factor of peace and security

An archive photo

MINSK, 25 October (BelTA) - Progress in sustainable development is a major factor of peace and security, Belarusian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yuri Ambrazevich said at an event held in Minsk on 24 October to mark United Nations Day, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Today we are celebrating and welcoming the most practical and clear for common people side of the United Nations work - assistance to the government in solving social and economic problems. The ongoing cooperation between Belarus and the UN system in this area is carried out, as before, strictly within the framework of the national priorities defined by the government on behalf of all the beneficiaries involved, including civil society structures,” the deputy minister said.

“Yes, the UN does not build schools or hospitals in Belarus. We are a state that has been solving such systemic things on our own for a long time. The UN however helps us improve the system. It brings us the best foreign experience, the best international expertise, thematic projects. Partnership with the UN of both the authorities and NGOs allows in a number of cases to reach those corners where the state-public machine does not have time to reach on its own due to objective reasons. In this case, no one's one-time problems are solved, but mechanisms of work are created and solutions are provided, which will properly serve people for many years and will become part of the national system,” Yuri Ambrazevich said.

He believes that no one should be left behind - this UN slogan is effectively applied in Belarus.

“We strongly believe that progress in sustainable development is essential to peace and security,” he said. “Today one hears a lot of talk about the UN losing its leadership in its primary role of maintaining global peace. Such statements reflect the objective state of international relations. Unfortunately, in many respects, the current UN has become a hostage to the degradation of international security and international law.”

Nevertheless, the Republic of Belarus still believes that the principles of interaction between states set out in the UN Charter have no alternative.

It is the UN ideals in the spirit of San Francisco that underlie the initiative of the President of the Republic of Belarus on global dialogue in order to form a new and comprehensive system of collective security.

The deputy minister emphasized: “As a founding country of the UN, Belarus sincerely believes that the UN Charter will not become a monument to ideals, but will become the living basis on which real renewed international cooperation will revive, in which the interests of all and every state will be taken into account, and no one will seek benefit at the expense of others.”