UN informed of Belarus' recuperation programs for children from other countries, including Ukraine

Belarusian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yuri Ambrazevich held a number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the High-Level Political Forum 2023 under the auspices of ECOSOC at the UN headquarters in New York, BelTA learned from the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Yuri Ambrazevich met with UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba. The parties discussed international and regional security in the context of the conflict in Ukraine and its impact on the situation of children. Yuri Ambrazevich reaffirmed Belarus' commitment to ensuring protection, safety and well-being of children and expressed the interest of the Belarusian government in achieving concrete results in the interests of children affected by armed conflicts. He spoke about recuperation programs at Belarus' health camps for children living in war zones ," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed.

The Belarusian deputy minister of foreign affairs invited the special representative to visit Belarus and assured her of Belarus' readiness to strengthen cooperation with her office in order to comply with the principle of ensuring the best interests of the child.

The Belarusian diplomat also met with UN Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights - Head of the UN Human Rights Office in New York Ilze Brands Kehris to discuss cooperation in the field of human rights. "The parties reviewed the cooperation with the UN, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights, and examined the prospects for cooperation between Belarus and the UN High Rights Office. Belarus was praised for timely presentation of periodic reviews on the implementation of human rights conventions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted. "Yuri Ambrazevich also spoke about Belarus' track record of hosting children from foreign countries for health improvement purposes, including children from Ukraine."

Yuri Ambrazevich and UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Li Junhua discussed Belarus' progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the context of unilateral economic measures by Western states. "Yuri Ambrazevich explained in detail the negative consequences of export restrictions on Belarusian potash fertilizers for global food security. An agreement was reached to consider the possibility of a visit by the UN Under-Secretary-General to Belarus for the national forum on the SDGs in 2024," the Foreign Ministry said.

Prospects for further cooperation in various areas, including sustainable development, and the international technical assistance projects in Belarus were high on the agenda of a meeting with Executive Director of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Olga Algayerova.

The current level of cooperation between Belarus and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and promising areas of cooperation with the Belarusian government were discussed at a meeting between Belarusian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yuri Ambrazevich and Director of UNICEF's Public Partnerships Division June Kunugi. Yuri Ambrazevich briefed the UNICEF representatives on the modalities of Belarus' recreation and rehabilitation programs for children from countries affected by hostilities and natural disasters and invited UNICEF to implement joint projects in this area.