On Monday July 5, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin met with the UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Mr. Liu Zhenmin in New York, according to the Tajik MFA information department.
In the course of the talks, the two reportedly discussed a number of issues related to cooperation between Tajikistan and the UN DESA, water and climate change, implementation of the resolution entitled “the UN Conference 2023 on the Midterm Comprehensive Review of the Implementation of the International Decade for Action "Water for Sustainable Development", 2018-2028”, active participation of Tajikistan in the upcoming High level Dialogue on Energy, and the impact of COVIDd-19 pandemic on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The two sides also stressed the importance and timeliness of the new initiative of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon to declare 2025 the International Year of Glaciers Preservation and expressed their readiness to continue fruitful cooperation.
The Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, appointed by the UN Secretary-General, is the head of United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). He advises the Secretary-General on the three pillars of sustainable development – social, economic and environmental, and nurtures key partnerships with governments, UN agencies and civil society organizations. The USG is assisted by the Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development and the Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs.
The Under-Secretary-General is responsible for a number of tasks, including: managing the Department and its divisions; advising the Secretary-General on the three pillars of sustainable development – social, economic and environmental – including the SDGs; establishing key partnerships with governments, UN agencies and civil society organizations; convening the Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs, which is the coordination vehicle within the UN development system; and overseeing the Development Account of the United Nations regular budget, which funds programs implemented by ten different entities in the UN Secretariat.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Mr. Liu Zhenmin of China as the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs on July 26, 2017. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Liu was Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of China since 2013. Among his various diplomatic assignments, he served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and Other International Organizations in Switzerland (2011-2013).
