Deputy Foreign Minister underscores the reference to refugee rights and needs in UN Sustainable Development Goals Report

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. The kick-off seminar for the process of developing the third Voluntary National Review Report, to be presented by Armenia in 2024 on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, was organized by the UN Office in Armenia and the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tsaghkadzor on December 20. 

During the seminar, Armenian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vahan Kostanyan underscored the importance of addressing the rights and needs of refugees in the upcoming report on the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“After the ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh in September this year, Armenia’s challenges have increased significantly, in terms of both the development of human potential and the protection of human rights,” the Deputy Foreign Minister said and underscored the importance of addressing the rights and needs of refugees, which should also be addressed in the report.

"We have already presented two reports in 2018 and 2020, but it is no secret that this time, in 2023, the context, the environment and the challenges according to which this report will be prepared are very different compared to the 2020 report,'' clarified the Deputy Foreign Minister.

“The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is very important for Armenia.  It serves as a framework  within which the Armenian government is trying to place the reform process and take into account two key components: the first is the development of human potential and the second component  is the protection of fundamental human rights in different directions: social, political, cultural, humanitarian," said the Deputy Foreign Minister.

UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia Nanna Skau in her speech noted the importance and significance of the Voluntary National Review Report in the context of achieving the sustainable development goals and solving challenges and problems.

The purpose of the seminar was to reflect the global and national processes of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, to discuss the substantive and structural details of the process of submitting the Voluntary National Review Report by Armenia and identify areas for further cooperation.

Representatives of the legislative and executive authorities and civil society took part in the seminar.