Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 4 February (BelTA) – Belarus relies on the support of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in developing a new country program. The matter has been discussed at the first regular session of the UNICEF Executive Board. Belarus is taking part in the event as a full-fledged member of the Executive Board, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry.

Head of the Multilateral Diplomacy Department of the Foreign Ministry of Belarus Yuri Ambrazevich spoke with the UNICEF Executive Director. The Belarusian diplomat praised the efforts of the fund to help the member states improve children’s wellbeing and assured that Belarus supports UNICEF’s priorities. Yuri Ambrazevich upheld the efforts of the fund to protect children from the negative impact of modern communication technologies and urged to set up efficient partnerships for this purpose.

Speaking about the country priorities, the Belarusian diplomat expressed hope that the organization will provide practical assistance to Belarus in drafting a new country program. Yuri Ambrazevich called on UNICEF to pay due attention to the role of families in children’s upbringing, the protection of rights of children with disabilities and prevention of HIV/AIDS.

The representative of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry also touched upon the distribution of the organization’s resources. The amount of financial aid provided has a direct impact on the scale and quality of assistance to the member states, including middle-income countries. In this regard, he deems it necessary to apply a balanced and innovative approach to raising contributions to the organization with a view to ensuring the implementation of the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

The first regular session of the UNICEF Executive Board is taking place in the UN headquarters in New York on 3-5 February.