Just world order, sanctions weapons and sustainable development. Lukashenko sent letter to Guterres in response to invitation to SDG Summit
The President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, has received an invitation from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to take part in Sustainable Development Goals Summit, BelTA reports with reference to the Belarusian leader’s press service
The Summit will be held in September 2023. "Halfway through the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, it is time to face the facts. Without a sharp increase in commitments, solidarity and transformative actions, we will miss the main goals of the 2030 Agenda to eradicate poverty, reduce inequality and protect the environment," the UN Secretary General said in his letter. “I count on your support in providing the breakthroughs that our world desperately needs."
Antonio Guterres noted that the numerous crises of the last three years have dealt a serious blow to efforts aimed at implementing the SDGs. Nevertheless, the envisaged transformations remain possible and necessary.
"The SDG Summit will be the centrepiece of a number of events, including the Climate Summit, the High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development, a series of meetings on health issues and a ministerial meeting in preparation for the next 2024 Summit. The SDG Summit could be the moment when our world moves from fear to hope and from deepening pessimism to accelerating action. I look forward to your personal participation in the Summit and your contribution to making it a turning point for the SDGs," the UN Secretary General noted.
Aleksandr Lukashenko has sent a reply letter to Antonio Guterres, which reads, “Minsk fully welcomes this initiative. We believe that the upcoming event is a good opportunity to summarise the interim results of our common efforts. The Republic of Belarus is fully committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, they are effectively integrated into our national strategic documents. I am convinced that Belarus' experience in effectively organising work at the national level in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals will be interesting and useful for many other UN member states. We are certainly ready to share it during the Summit."
Aleksandr Lukashenko also stressed the importance of the Summit becoming a source of ideas and initiatives that contribute to the elimination of problems on the way to achieving the SDGs, "You quite correctly noted that ‘the numerous crises of the last three years have dealt a serious blow to efforts aimed at implementing the 2030 Agenda’. It is absolutely obvious today that there can be no sustainable development on the planet without peace. I said these words back in 2015, speaking at the UN Summit at which the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted. You have also repeatedly voiced a similar thought."
"The history of Belarus is permeated with sad memories of the war. That is why we value peace not only on our own land, but also on a regional and global scale. Over the past few years, we have been actively calling on all states to engage in a comprehensive security dialogue in order to form the foundations for building a new, just world order. Should a global catastrophe with millions of human losses occur for us to be finally heard? Against the background of a growing geopolitical confrontation on the planet, a dialogue in the true spirit of San Francisco is in demand today more than ever since the end of the Cold War,” the President added.
As noted by the Head of State, the upcoming Summit should clearly outline the relationship between peace and sustainable development and thereby give impetus to the start of a global dialogue on security, “Unilateral coercive measures, or sanctions, are a serious challenge to the common cause of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. These arbitrary and contrary to international law actions of a group of Western states limited by their interests and prejudices directly destroy progress in achieving the SDGs. How can poverty and hunger be eliminated, for example, if sanctions undermine global food security and, consequently, increase the scale of poverty and hunger up to entire regions and even continents? Sanctions have become a weapon. They are capable of killing!"
Aleksandr Lukashenko thanked the UN Secretary General for the invitation to the Summit and assured that Belarus would actively contribute to its preparation and take part in this important event at a decent level.
