25 years of Kazakhstan-UN cooperation to be celebrated in New York
Representatives of leading American think-tanks and international media, including members of the UN Correspondents Association attended the meeting.
During the event, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN Kairat Umarov briefed the guests on the country's achievements and key milestones over the past years in the main areas of cooperation with the UN, including security, nuclear non-proliferation, fighting terrorism and transnational crime, sustainable development, and climate change. A video prepared by the Mission informed the participants and guests about Kazakhstan's initiatives in the area of nuclear disarmament, mainly, closing of the Semipalatinsk test site, abandoning of all nuclear weapons and programs in the early '90s, proclaiming Central Asia a nuclear-weapon-free zone, establishing an interreligious dialogue (Congress of World and Traditional Religions), and creating the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building measures in Asia (analogous to OSCE).
The presentation also covered Kazakhstan's priorities as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for 2017-2018, as well as delegation's main responsibilities as a Chair of the Council's key committees. It was emphasized that the Mission's work is based on the key provisions of the "road map" of Kazakhstan's Council membership - "Peace. XXI Century" Manifesto, Head of State's address to the members of the Security Council in January 2017.
The participants also discussed energy security, as well as hosting of EXPO international exhibition in Astana this year, during which a number of important high level events are planned, such as the SCO summit, the OIC summit on science and technology, a high-level meeting on the preparation of the OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum, and other side events.
During the meeting at the Mission, Sandagdoroj Erdenebileg, Head of the branch office of the UN Deputy Secretary-General, High Representative for the Least Developed Countries and landlocked countries, and Jonathan Granoff, President of an international NGO, Global Security Institute, welcomed Kazakhstan's important contribution to the implementation of the goals and targets within the framework of the global UN agenda for sustainable development, programs and projects of UN agencies, and in conflict prevention.
During the informal discussions, participants exchanged views on the contemporary issues of the international agenda and on the Security Council.
A number of events to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Kazakhstan's cooperation with the UN are planned by the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan. In this regard, the Central Asian Missions to the UN, who also joined the Organization on 2 March 1992, will host a joint reception on 9 March 2017 that will be attended by national and civil society representative, as well as members of the media.