Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 23 January (BelTA) - Belarus pays special attention to the comprehensive effort to reformat the United Nations, to reposition the development system, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Belarus to the United Nations Valentin Rybakov said in his speech at a second briefing by the Secretary General on the repositioning of the UN development system, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Valentin Rybakov noted the systemic nature of the second report of the Secretary General on repositioning and expressed his full support for the direct recognition in the document of the necessity to give a new impetus to assistance provided to middle-income countries and unconditional respect for the principle of national ownership. The Belarusian diplomat drew attention to a number of the Secretary General’s proposals on repositioning the development system that require additional comments, among which is the concern over a significant increase in the financing of the system of resident coordinators.

The Permanent Representative also called for a more detailed justification for a proposal to create a new body in the UN development system – Joint Steering Committee to Advance Humanitarian and Development Collaboration, expressing the doubts about the necessity to inflate the bureaucracy by creating additional bodies/mechanisms and as a result increasing the financial burden on the Member States.

At the end of his speech, Valentin Rybakov emphasized the commitment of Belarus to the purpose of aligning the development system to agenda 2030. On the sidelines of the event, the Permanent Representative had a small talk with the UN Secretary General.