Belarus calls for effective mechanisms to protect people in case of disasters – UN secret

The Republic of Belarus always shares the thesis on the need to adopt and use effective mechanisms for protecting people in the event of disasters. Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus Igor Secreta said this at a meeting of the Sixth Committee of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Igor Secreta emphasized:

The Republic of Belarus always shares the thesis on the need to adopt and use effective mechanisms for protecting people in case of disasters. The draft articles on the protection of persons in the event of disasters, developed by the UN International Law Commission, was an important step in the development of the existing universal regulation in this field.

At the same time, according to the Deputy Minister, Belarus considers it necessary to express an opinion on the problems that have arisen during the work on the draft articles:

- According to article 2 of the draft, the purpose of the international treaty being developed is to “facilitate an appropriate and effective response to disasters and disaster risk reduction in order to meet the basic needs of affected persons with full respect for their rights”. We note that this goal is already being expanded under the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Efforts to improve disaster response are carried out within the framework of UN General Assembly resolutions 57/150 of 16 December 2002 and 78/119 of 8 December 2023.

According to Igor Secreta, organizational structures have been built to coordinate emergency response and disaster management, including the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UN International Advisory Group on Search and Rescue, the UN Disaster Coordination and Assessment Group, and the UN Development Programme.

The states are also interacting on issues of emergency assistance at the regional level, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus added:

- In particular, Belarus cooperates on this issue in multilateral formats: within the framework of the International Civil Defense Organization, SCO, CIS, CSTO. Within the framework of these organizations, systems of interaction have been created, the procedure for sending requests by the affected party, exchanging information, sending rescue teams, simplified passage of customs and border control procedures, organizing the work of the headquarters at the place of an emergency situation is provided.

Agreement between the Republic of Belarus and the United Nations on Measures to Accelerate the Import, Export and Transit of Emergency Goods and Equipment of Emergency Relief Personnel in Disasters and Emergency Situations.

- In the context of the draft articles being developed, it should be noted that the global trend in the field of disaster management is the application of an integrated approach, including systematic work not only in the field of response, but also in the field of risk analysis, improving the effectiveness of monitoring and early warning systems, strengthening national systems and the capacity of local communities, and educating the population in the basics of life safety, Igor Secreta believes. The development of coordination of search and rescue teams and medical teams, as well as the supply of humanitarian supplies, is also an important element for the timely provision of international disaster assistance. These activities are already being carried out under these procedures.

According to the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, the proposed draft articles do not significantly detail the listed aspects and do not provide for additional conditions and mechanisms to improve the effectiveness of the existing international system for disaster response and risk reduction.

- Moreover, the provisions of Article 11, which provides for the duty of the affected State to seek external assistance, and Article 13, which prohibits the arbitrary refusal of external assistance, can be used to carry out unreasonable external interventions in violation of the fundamental principles of the UN Charter.

According to the deputy minister, Belarus believes that this international document needs further refinement. He drew attention to the factors that sometimes directly or indirectly impede the delivery of rapid disaster relief:

Active use of unilateral coercive measures against a number of countries, politicization in international organizations, leading to the isolation of individual states or groups of states. Therefore, we propose to focus on minimizing these factors, which is guaranteed to give a positive result in helping people in case of disasters. Food security is achieved not through sanctions, but through cooperation – UN General Assembly