Meeting of the UN Resident Coordinator in Belarus and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus

Issues discussed included cooperation on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and mobilization of donor resources for SDG implementation in Belarus.  SDGs remain the central theme of the new UN Belarus Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for the period of 2021-2025. 

The meeting was an opportunity to reflect on cooperation in 2020; the UN Resident Coordinator presented the UN Belarus annual report to the Deputy Minister.

One of the areas acknowledged as priority by both sides was the UN support to the response to COVID-19 pandemic in Belarus.  Detailed priorities of cooperation in this area were laid out in the UN Socio-Economic Response Plan to COVID-19 in Belarus (SERP), presented officially in the first quarter of 2021.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged constructive engagement with key donors providing assistance to COVID-19 response in Belarus, including through the EU-funded WHO programme and other activities financed on a bilateral basis.

The UN and MFA also discussed the cooperation on human rights in follow-up to the recent meeting in Geneva between the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus.