Activities of Secretary-General in Kazakhstan, 3-4 July
The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, arrived in Almaty from Tamchy, Kyrgyzstan, on Wednesday morning, 3 July. He went immediately to the UN Common premises, where he had a brief tour of the “UN and Me” exhibition and watched a presentation by the Central Asian Regional Glaciological Center.
The Center collaborates with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on the risks related to the melting of the Central Asian glaciers.
In Almaty, the Secretary-General also had a meeting with the UN country team before heading to the airport and leaving for Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.
Soon after arrival, the Secretary-General met with the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
They discussed UN-Kazakh cooperation, including the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Summit of the Future, as well as regional integration in Central Asia.
The Secretary-General thanked the President of Kazakhstan for his leadership on nuclear disarmament and peace initiatives, and for the Government’s support to the United Nations, including the provision of a building for the UN in Almaty.
After the meeting, the Secretary-General gave an interview to Silk Way TV. He then had a meeting with the Minister for External Affairs of India, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Later in the evening, the Secretary-General joined an informal dinner hosted by the President of Kazakhstan, Mr. Tokayev, in honour of the Heads of State present in Kazakhstan to participate at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit.
On Thursday morning, 4 July, the Secretary-General met with the President of Mongolia, Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit. The Secretary-General commended Mongolia for its contributions to United Nations peacekeeping and for championing the women, peace and security agenda.
The Secretary-General and President Ukhnaa discussed ways to strengthen cooperation on several issues, including the forthcoming Summit of the Future, implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, and preparations for the seventeenth Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, to be held in Mongolia in 2026.
The Secretary-General then had a short meeting with Kazakh singer Dimash Qudaibergen — a Goodwill Ambassador for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) — before heading to the Palace of Independence, where the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit took place.
At the Palace of Independence, also on the sidelines of the Summit, the Secretary-General met with the President of the Republic of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko. The Secretary-General stressed the importance of ending the war in Ukraine, based on the UN Charter, international law and respect for the territorial integrity of states.
The Secretary-General expressed concern about the human rights situation in Belarus. He conveyed the wish that the amnesty — declared the previous day — would be a step towards full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in Belarus.
Soon after the meeting, the Secretary-General delivered remarks at the Shanghai Cooperation Council-Plus session. He highlighted the need to reaffirm our common commitment to multilateralism based on the UN Charter, international law, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, noting that the central goal of our multilateral system must be peace.
The Secretary-General also warned that today’s deep global divisions are an obstacle to progress on two existential threats: the climate emergency and digital technology. He underscored that the failure of countries to unite for solutions to common challenges reflects a deeper dysfunction in our world, and that multilateralism is falling behind. (See Press Release SG/SM/22300.)
After addressing the summit, the Secretary-General held a meeting with the President of China, Xi Jinping. The Secretary-General thanked President Xi for China’s valuable contribution to the United Nations and its activities.
They discussed the international situation and UN-China cooperation, and the Secretary-General briefed the President on his expectations for the Summit of the Future.
Immediately following the meeting, the Secretary-General headed to the airport, where he departed Kazakhstan to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.