Astana hosted a
conference on forging global consensus, organized jointly by the Office of the
UN Resident Coordinator and Maqsut Narikbayev University. It outlined key
initiatives of the Summit of the Future, set to take place on September 22-23
at the UN headquarters in New York. The event is expected to yield several important
documents, including a Pact for the Future, a Global Digital Compact, and a
Declaration for Future Generations. The conference participants, including
representatives from other countries, also discussed Kazakhstan’s growing role
in addressing global issues. Due to its multilateral policy and diplomacy, they
noted, the country is becoming a major player, ready to initiate significant changes
affecting the world order.
«The United Nations in
Kazakhstan has been acting for over 30 years. And we’re partnering with the
people and the Government to advance sustainable development. For example,
renewable energies and climate change. It can be issues supporting the Ministry
of Economy when it comes to statistics together with the Economic Research
Institute. It can be issues about supporting small farmholds to have more
high-tech sustainable agriculture that can be empowering women entrepreneurs,»
said UN Resident Coordinator for Kazakhstan Michaela Friberg-Storey.
«Kazakhstan is a very
important player in many UN institutions. Kazakhstan is a member of the Human
Rights Council together with the Netherlands at the moment. So, we see
Kazakhstan as a very important country, partner. So, we hope that Kazakhstan
will continue its role in this regard or will even increase importance and
that’s where the term middle power comes from,» noted Ambassador of the
Netherlands to Central Asia Nico Schermers.