Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei of of the Republic of Belarus addresses the General Assembly. UN Photo/Kim Haughton
UN - As the international community lays the foundation for a sustainable development agenda that will follow the Millennium Development Goals in 2016, the Foreign Minister of Belarus today urged the United Nations General Assembly to make globalization more even and equitable than it has been up to now.
“Rising inequality in the world in the biggest scourge,” Vladimir Makei told the 69th high-level debate on its last day of speeches.
He said the world faces a paradox, having made significant advances in strengthening various forms of equality among genders and ethnicities, and yet faces a “stubborn rise of economic inequality” that threatens to derail efforts to eradicate poverty.
Mr. Makei’s address is one of 196 to the General Assembly in the past week on the theme of “Delivering on and implementing a Transformative post-2015 agenda.”
In his address, the Foreign Minister also urged the international community to look for practical solutions to multiple situations when some UN principles contradict others, and noted that purported benign international activities are often undertaken under a UN mandate.