Returning home from the United Nations General Assembly with renewed conviction, Prime Minister said, the meetings went well beyond all expectations. He added that he and his delegation could make the most of the UN visit at a press conference yesterday.
The Prime Minister and delegations arrived in the country yesterday after attending the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
During the press conference, the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister updated on the outcomes of the high-level meetings, bilateral, multilateral and side events.
“On the UN front, from our side, it went well. I would say it’s beyond our expectation. It was the first time for both the government as well for us. Despite that, we managed to get our agenda pushed. We are happy with what has happened. We went around chasing some individuals and agencies that we wanted to meet and we could meet them as well. In total, we had 20 to 23 bilateral and multilateral meets in addition to the General UN’s format,” said Dr Lotay Tshering, the Prime Minister.
Lyonchhen said the United Nations General Assembly’s agenda was a perfect fit for Bhutan:
“As you all must have heard, it was as if the UN’s theme was designed for Bhutan. It was easier for Bhutan to speak on these topics such as poverty, education, climate change, etc. Whenever we got up to speak on any of the topics, just think about GNH and talk about the topic, it just blends in. So that much is how farsighted our leaders have been so far.”
Prime Minister said, Bhutan’s efforts in mandating 60 per cent to be under forest cover for all times to come and the recent decision to make teaching profession the highest paid profession were applauded by the members during the summit.
“When we went around for Climate Action Summit, and when we declared we are carbon negative, the constitution mandates 60 per cent to be under forest cover for all times to come, we have 72 per cent and of this more than 50 per cent is legally protected as biological corridors, national parks and wildlife sanctuary. We almost got close to standing ovation. Because the rest of the countries who are joining there are hardly in a single digit,” Lyonchhen added.
During the UN’s General Debate, the Prime Minister pledged for universal health coverage by 2030 and committed to present a voluntary national review of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2020. Bhutan presented the voluntary national review of SDGs in July last year. The Voluntary National Review encourages countries to report on the progress in relation to all 17 SDGs.
Sonam Pem
