MINSK, 4 October (BelTA) - Belarus' Permanent Representative to the United Nations Valentin Rybakov called on the UN to recognize the group of middle-income countries in the UN system at the plenary session of the UN General Assembly, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to the Belarusian diplomat, this category of states has not yet been covered by the United Nations' systematic work. Such countries do not have a coordinated mechanism of cooperation despite the fact that they represent the majority of the world's population.
Valentin Rybakov also supported the UN secretary-general as the latter pointed to the need to target at conflict prevention measures. In this context, the diplomat underlined, the Belarus president's initiative on the launch of a new Helsinki process to overcome the contradictions between states worlwide is a well-timed response to new challenges and threats.
Valentin Rybakov commended the effort of the UN secretary-general to restructure the organization and expressed hope that this process will not result in additional financial and bureaucratic encumbrances for the member states and will ensure continuous and well-coordinated operation of the UN structures at the local level while preserving the principle of the United Nations' full compliance with the national priorities of its member states.
Valentin Rybakov also stressed that Belarus supports the idea of increasing the role of women in peacekeeping. He cited Belarus' effort in this field as an example: women successfully fulfill their tasks among Belarus' military specialists in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
