UN Regional Director: Belarus' experience in achieving SDGs can serve as an example for Europe

Belarus has achieved many indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals and should be more ambitious in setting new ones – as stated by Gwi Yeop Son, the Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia of the UN Development Co-operation Office, during her meeting with the Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly, National Co-ordinator for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals, Valery Belsky

The Regional Director noted that she had held two productive meetings earlier in Minsk – with representatives of the United Nations team in Belarus and the Chairman of the National Statistical Committee. “They both were extremely informative. The Statistical Committee told me of an amazing progress that Belarus has made in different fields. In particular, we were interested in what success Belarus has demonstrated in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and collecting data on SDG indicators. We were informed that the possibility of transferring this data from the national to the regional level is being discussed, and this is a wonderful example of how a country can work. I believe this experience can be used as an advanced one among other European countries,” she said.

Gwi Yeop Son called for bringing the goals specified in the Sustainable Development Goals to the national level, “We suggest being more ambitious. The result has been achieved for many Sustainable Development Goals. The mission has been completed.”

In her opinion, the enhanced targets for Belarus will be timely in view of the planned summit on Sustainable Development Goals, which is to be held in September. “It will be organised by the UN Secretary General, and it is already known that the Head of State will be invited to participate. It will be possible to report there on this ambitious goal of Belarus, on the revision of the commitments undertaken to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as to demonstrate the achievements,” Gwi Yeop Son said.

The UN Regional Director added that an invitation letter addressed to the Head of State includes two requests from the UN Secretary General, “[One of them is] a request that the UN member states do everything necessary to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. [We also ask for] this work to be carried out taking into account the participation of representatives of civil society, the private sector and the government. We are ready to support the Republic of Belarus in this in every possible way.”

Gwi Yeop Son also reported that the term of Joanna Kazan-Vishnioviski’s tenure as the Permanent UN Resident Co-ordinator in Belarus is coming to an end in May, so she called her visit ‘to such a beautiful and wonderful country as Belarus’ timely.