Opinions & Interviews

GRODNO, 24 October (BelTA) – Belarus will continue its work to protect traditional family values and focus its efforts on advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Belarusian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Valentin Rybakov said at a press conference with the participation of the heads of the regional bureaus of the UNDP, WHO, EU, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNAIDS in Grodno on 24 October, BelTA informs.

“The launch of the UN70 Express initiative and the UN train journey around the oblast centers of Belarus is so far the biggest unifying and educational country project of the United Nations Organization. We even did not believe it was possible. Our country, however, has a political will in respect to the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” said Valentin Rybakov. He thanked UN/UNFPA Resident Coordinator in Belarus Sanaka Samarasinha for the initiative and fruitful cooperation, and wished him to build a “UN home” in Belarus.

“The action plan on the Sustainable Development Goals maximally reflects the goals and tasks of every state. It will become a basis for the promising development of the UN member states. I hope that the SDGs framework program that envisages the achievement of 17 goals and the implementation of 169 concrete tasks will be implemented in Belarus in time taking into account the country’s national interests,” said the Deputy Minister.

Valentin Rybakov also noted that among Belarus’ interests that are not in the program is the protection of traditional family values. “We will continue the work in this direction,” he said.