Mr. Dapkiunas has presented his vision for the place and role of this category of states in achieving global sustainable development. He believes that the UN could make better use of the potential of middle-income countries, creating a separate co-ordination mechanism involving all elements of the UN system, to facilitate international assistance to these countries, and to use their experience for the benefit of global sustainable development.
Referring to Belarus, Mr. Dapkiunas noted that its further progress (as a middle-income country) will impact on the successful implementation of the sustainable development agenda adopted at the UN summit last year.
The ECOSOC special meeting, held at the UN Headquarters in New York, discussed the role of the UN development system in middle-income countries. In line with World Bank classification, there are over a hundred middle-income countries, with Belarus ranked in the top sub-category of upper-middle-income countries. These states are home to most of the world’s population, accounting for over a third of global GDP, and a quarter of the world’s exports and imports, according to international estimates.
Belarus advocates for the interests of middle-income countries within the international arena. In March 2016, Belarus and several other countries initiated the establishment of an informal group of active supporters of the interests of middle-income countries within the UN. Over the past few years, Minsk has hosted two regional conferences on various aspects of sustainable development, for middle-income nations.
By Vladimir Velikhov
