Kazakh Vice FM takes part in the United Nations events

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - This week Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Ashikbayev attended the United Nations events, main theme of which was the discussion on the synergy of peace, security and sustainable development, Kazinform has learnt from the Kazakh MFA's press service.

On 23 January, the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United Nations in collaboration with the delegations of Belarus and Suriname, as well as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) convened a joint event entitled "Responsible Governance, Disarmament and Non-proliferation for Progress and Sustainable Development". UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and CIS countries Cihan Sultanoglu moderated the event. UN General Assembly President Peter Tomson, ECOSOC Chair Frederick Shava, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Lenni Montelya, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Valentin Rybakov, representatives of the UN accredited diplomatic missions, as well as academic circles delivered their statements.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan underlined the international initiatives of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, including the Manifesto "World. XXI century" and the idea of allocating 1% of the annual defense budget of UN Member States in the UN Fund for Sustainable Development Goals. The latter initiative will allow re-direct financial flows from the defense sector to the UN Agenda for sustainable development.

On 24 January, Ashikbayev participated in High-level Dialogue "Building Sustainable Peace for All: Synergies between the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Sustaining Peace", convened by the President of the UN General Assembly. UN Secretary General Antoniu Guterres, President of the UN General Assembly Tomson, President of ECOSOC Shava, senior officials of the UN Secretariat, diplomats, representatives of NGOs, civil society and academic community gathered to generate and promote innovative ideas and initiatives, and, thereby, to contribute to implementation of sustainable development goals and the maintenance of peace on the basis of interdisciplinary dialogue within the UN system and beyond.

Along with the above mentioned global initiatives of our country, Ashikbayev voiced the measures taken by Kazakhstan towards practical implementation at the national level of the UN Global Agenda for sustainable development until 2030, including the Statement of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan reaffirming country's commitment to internationally agreed commitments.

On the sidelines of the event Ashikbayev held a bilateral meeting with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Rybakov.