UN Resident Coordinator in Belarus took part in the National Council for Sustainable Development meeting

On 18 November the UN Resident Coordinator in Belarus addressed the meeting of the National Council for Sustainable Development. “We see that the situation in the region continues to worsen,” Joanna Kazana-Wisniowiecki said.

“This has a negative impact on the sustainable development of Belarus and creates new threats to its economy, environment, and people. It also reverses progress in many areas and affects the country’s position in terms of achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.”

She added that last year Belarus ranked 24th in the global expert index rank of countries’ progress towards achieving the SDGs but now ranks 34th.

“In the context of this completely new reality, it is necessary to protect financing for SDGs, especially funding healthcare, education, social services as well as development of the private sector of the economy”, Joanna Kazana-Wisniowiecki emphasised. 

She added that the UN Country Team is ready to complement these efforts not only through UN agencies, funds and programmes represented in Belarus, but also through its 13 non-resident agencies such as UN Women, UNODC, ITU, FAO and others that are implementing the important initiatives in the country for sustainable development.

The UN Resident Coordinator in Belarus highlighted the work of the Joint Programme on SDG Financing, implemented by UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA and UN-Women and financed by the global Joint SDG Fund, the first results of which were presented during the meeting.  According to UNDP research, Belarus continues to closely align its national programmes with the SDG targets.  Monitoring and reporting of national programs’ implementation can be further enhanced, for example by systematic use of national SDG indicators developed by Belstat.