Cooperation between UN Secretariat and Permanent Missions considered in New York

During the meeting. Photo courtesy of Belarus' Ministry of Foreign Affairs

MINSK, 16 March (BelTA) – When speaking at an informal meeting of the UN General Assembly on 15 March, Belarus' Permanent Representative to the UN Andrei Dapkiunas called on the UN Secretariat to consider the possibility of implementing a “one-stop-shop” principle in the interaction with the missions of the Member States, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The United Nations General Assembly held an informal meeting to consider the ways and means of enhancing cooperation between the Permanent Missions and the Secretariat of the United Nations at the UN Headquarters in New York on 15 March 2016. Along with many other speakers at the meeting, Andrei Dapkiunas called on the UN Secretariat to consider the possibility of implementing a “one-stop-shop” principle in its interaction with the missions of the Member States, the use of which is widespread and actively encouraged in the national government practice in Belarus.

Andrei Dapkiunas drew attention of the meeting participants to the need of implementing the principles of good governance and gave a number of examples of illogical and awkward regulation by the UN Secretariat of the working environment for diplomatic staff of the Permanent Missions. “The head of Belarusian Mission in New York emphasized the possible ways of remedying the situation through positive engagement of the diplomatic missions and the UN Secretariat,” the press service said.

“The main message of Belarus' proposals was that it is important to maintain a constant and unimpeded channel of daily communication between the Permanent Missions of the UN Member States and the Secretariat services on conference management, public information, protocol, security, charging practices etc.,” the press service noted.

Andrei Dapkiunas also specifically stressed the need to ensure diligent and timely implementation by the UN Secretariat of the mandates agreed by the General Assembly as well as to prevent actions and initiatives of executive offices of the UN system that are based on incorrect interpretation of mandates of the main deliberative organ of the United Nations and because of this able of harming the atmosphere of trust and mutual understanding in the organization.

The meeting was initiated by Belarus with the support of the Non-Aligned Movement and was aimed at strengthening the role of the UN Member States in the organization's decision-making and improving the working methods of the UN Secretariat, representatives of senior management of which were invited to the meeting. The summary of proceedings of the event will be forwarded to the UN Secretary General for follow-up actions.

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