UNSС members approve Kazakhstan's presidency programme
The diplomats noted the high-level consideration of the program by Kazakhstan. In particular, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia stressed that knowing Kazakhstan perfectly as no other member of the Council and taking into account the historical factor and traditionally close relations, the Russian side is confident in the success of the work of the Kazakh delegation as the Council President.
The Russian diplomat announced that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part in a high-level UNSC briefing themed "Non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: confidence-building measures" that will be held with the participation of the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev on January 18. US Ambassador Nikki Hailey and other ambassadors of the Council Member States noted the substantial and eventful programme of Kazakhstan for January focused on the key issues of non-proliferation through the prism of confidence-building measures and the inclusion of the ministerial-level debate on Central Asia and Afghanistan in the UNSC Agenda.
The same day, upon the initiative of Kazakhstan, a solemn ceremony of raising the flags of the newly elected six non-permanent members of the UN Security Council, namely Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Peru, and Poland, was held for the first time in the United Nations history. The event was attended by Foreign Minister of Peru Ricardo Luna. The ceremony gathered a large number of representatives of the Member States of the UN Security Council and the UN, international media, UN agencies, and NGOs.
Many delegations believe that the event has become a vivid landmark of the beginning of Kazakhstan's presidency that created a new tradition in the UN. In addition to the novelty of that step, they also underlined its high symbolic value, emphasizing the high responsibility of the new members of Council before the world community, which entrusted them with solving the international peace and security problems. The initiative is already regarded as an element of the heritage of Kazakhstan's presidency over the UN Security Council. For instance, the Permanent Representative of Equatorial Guinea said that his delegation will fix upon the tradition and follow up the ceremony during its presidency over the Security Council - in January next year.
The January Programme of Work of the Council was officially approved during a meeting of the Security Council members. After that, Kazakhstan's Permanent Representative Kairat Umarov presented it to the UN Member States within the framework of a separate briefing. The delegations participating in the meeting congratulated Kazakhstan on assuming the post of the UNSC President and wished achievements in the forthcoming work. A number of countries (Morocco, Chile, Colombia, and Tajikistan) highlighted the topicality of the key issues, which were selected by the Kazakh side within the presidency, related to non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and building regional partnerships in Afghanistan and Central Asia as a model for the interdependence of security and development.
The Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan answered a number of questions raised by the member states as to the Programme of Work under Kazakhstan's presidency.
During a traditional briefing, Kairat Umarov clarified the key priorities of Kazakhstan's presidency, as well as the January Programme of Work of the United Nations Security Council, for the journalists accredited to the UN. The representatives of the international press focused on a high-level event in the field of non-proliferation through confidence-building measures with the participation of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the situation around North Korea, Iran, Palestine, and the status of Jerusalem, Myanmar, which is planned to be hosted by Kazakhstan. Several questions covered the problems of Syria, the humanitarian situation in Yemen, climate change, and the promotion of green technology initiatives and developments by Kazakhstan.
The correspondents of the world's top media such as Al-Arabiya, Huffington Post, Associated Press, Agence France Press, CBS, FOX News, Nikkei, Mainichi, Fiji TV, Tokyo Shimbun, NHK, etc. got detailed answers describing Kazakhstan's stance on major international issues in the light of President Nursultan Nazarbayev's initiatives.
In general, the first day of Kazakhstan's presidency over the UN Security Council was productive. Besides, it again bears the evidence of the respect and high international standing of Kazakhstan and President Nazarbayev.