Kazakhstan and UN: Diplomacy of peaceful solutions

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Kazakhstan became a member of the UN on March 2,1992. Extensive coverage of the idea of closing the Semipalatinsk test site, peacekeeping activities in conflict zones, projects of peaceful use of nuclear energy, and now - a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council are the main milestones of the 25 years of country's membership in the organization. Kazinform in cooperation with the press service of Akorda has prepared an overview of the major successes and accomplishments of Kazakhstan, achieved under the auspices of the UN.

March 2, 1992 went down in the history of the independent Kazakhstan as a significant date when the UN General Assembly and its 46th session unanimously adopted the resolution 46/224 that recognized Kazakhstan as a new member of the UN. Today 15 representative offices of the organization work in Kazakhstan including UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNESCO and other.

At the OSCE Budapest Summit in December, 1994 In December 1994 President of Kazakhstan on behalf of the three states - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan proposed to create a battalion for peacekeeping actions in Central Asia. The initiative was adopted on December 15, 1995
 

In 1996, Kazakhstan carried out active work to promote peace-building initiatives and creation of CENTRASBAT. Representatives of other counties, including Sweden and Canada joined the work.
 
 

In March 1997, Kazakh delegation has been accepted as a full member of the UN Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations. Six months later, in September 1997, on the territory of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan a joint peacekeeping maneuvers "Centrasbat-97" were held with the participation of US, Russian and Turkish military units.
 
 

In 2000 the government of Kazakhstan decided to establish an independent peacekeeping battalion "Kazbat". From 2003 to 2008, the battalion was involved in international missions in Iraq including water purification and demining.

As the result in October 2003, Kazakhstan signed a memorandum on expanding cooperation in peacekeeping with the UN. The purpose of the Memorandum is to identify the specific resources that Kazakhstan can provide to the UN missions.
 

In 2007-2011Kazakhstan continuously allocated significant funds for humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. The country continues this activity, as the Chairman of the Security Council Committee on Afghanistan.
 

Official visits of the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on October 17-18, 2002 and Ban Ki-Moon on April 6-7, 2010 became important milestones in the development of cooperation between Kazakhstan and the United Nations. Ban Ki-moon as UN Secretary General represented the organization at the OSCE summit, which took place on December 1-2, 2010 in Astana.

During his visit to Kazakhstan in 2010, he also visited the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.
 

On Kazakhstan's initiative the United Nations has declared August 29th an International Day against Nuclear Tests. Since 2009, the date is marked annually across the globe. In December 2015 UN also adopted Nuclear-Weapons-Free World Declaration initiated by Kazakhstan.

Certainly one of the most outstanding achievements for Kazakhstan is its election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2017-2018 years. Kazakhstan's election to the UN Security Council has become a major success of its foreign policy in 2016. Kazakhstan's goals in UNSC include resolving the issues of water, energy and food security.
 

Kazakhstan's positions in the organization continue to grow stronger every year. In 25 years, Kazakhstan has become, if not the key, but certainly a very important member of the UN. Marking the 25th anniversary of its membership in the UN Kazakhstan faces new challenges such as intensive work in Security Council, promotion of peaceful use of nuclear energy and non-use of nuclear weapons in the world, as well as ensuring security in Central Asia.