10 January, 2017, Kazakhstan as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the first time participated in its Open Debate on Conflict Prevention and Sustaining Peace, where Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov presented the policy address by President Nursultan Nazarbayev "Kazakhstan's Concept Vision on Sustaining Global Partnership for Secure, Just and Prosperous World".
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, the foreign ministers and deputy foreign ministers of Ethiopia, France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Ukraine, permanent representatives of China, Russia, the United States to the United Nations and other UN Member States attended the meeting in New York.
During the debate, the Security Council Members and representatives of a wide range of the UN countries stated their national priorities in conflict prevention and sustaining peace and expressed the support for the work of the new Secretary-General on the priority areas of the international organisation.
In the course of the debate, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan presented the policy address by the Head of State to mark the beginning of Kazakhstan’s term as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for 2017-2018.
The Kazakh side emphasized that the address was based on the Presidential Manifesto “The World. The 21st Century” dated March 31, 2016, and creatively developed it. As is known, President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s policy document, presented at the fourth Nuclear Security Summit, focuses on the need for joint efforts and cooperation to strengthen international peace and security and sets a goal of ridding the world of nuclear weapons by the UN’s 100th anniversary, as well as eliminating the threat of wars and conflicts while ensuring the strong connection between peace, security and development.
As noted in the address, “Kazakhstan will work in a balanced and unbiased manner on the Council’s entire agenda keeping in mind the paramount importance of maintaining and strengthening peace and security.” According to President Nazarbayev, Astana intends “to work on an equal basis with all Security Council Members to promote compromise and consensus to strengthen international peace and security.”
In this regard, the address identified Kazakhstan’s priorities as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. They include building a nuclear-weapon-free world, eliminating the threat of a global war, promoting peace in Afghanistan, creating a regional peace zone in Central Asia and the Global Antiterrorist Coalition (network) under the auspices of the United Nations, fostering peace in Africa, promoting the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the strong connection between peace, security and development, adapting the United Nations to the needs of the 21st century and holding regular Security Council meetings at the level of Heads of State and Government in order to strengthen the collective political will to address global challenges.
The Head of State highlighted in his address that “Kazakhstan is determined to work with all Member States of the Council on these priorities, without political expediency, in an open, objective, balanced responsible and constructive way.”
In this regard, the document stated that “Kazakhstan counts on support from partners for its initiatives which have the important goal of making the world in the 21st century safer, fairer and more prosperous.”
In his statement, Minister Abdrakhmanov also drew attention of the debaters to the importance of joint efforts in preventive diplomacy, promoting confidence-building measures, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, conflict resolution and combating international terrorism. Kazakhstan leadership’s readiness to provide a platform for the negotiations in Astana to establish peace in Syria was again reiterated.
The address by the President of Kazakhstan was commended by the meeting participants. Moreover, it was decided to register it as an official document of the UN Security Council.
During his visit to New York, Minister Abdrakhmanov also met with UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The participants discussed topical issues of Astana’s membership in the Security Council and the comprehensive agenda of cooperation between Kazakhstan and the United Nations.
Source: mfa.gov.kz
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