Mirzoyan: Armenia remains committed to building democratic institutions, sustainable development

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YEREVAN, July 16. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Foreign Minister participated in the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York and delivered a speech, the Ministry reported on Tuesday./pp “Armenia was among the countries which had to face the impact of multiple crises within the last four years. While we were trying to cope with the global pandemic just like other nations, a large-scale war, acts of aggression against Armenia, influx of around 115.000 Armenians as a result of blockade and ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh put our efforts towards sustainable development in peril. Nevertheless, regardless of all challenges, Armenia remained committed to delivering on the promise of the sustainable development goals and making real changes for its people by building strong democratic institutions, safeguarding human rights and the rule of law, fostering social inclusion, gender equality and empowerment of youth,” he said./pp

Mirzoyan reiterated Armenia’s commitment to the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Goals Agenda. “As we approach the upcoming Summit of the Future, Armenia stands ready to contribute to the adoption of a forward looking and result-oriented Pact for Future,” he stated./pp

However, Mirzoyan also mentioned factors that prevented Armenia from achieving even more./pp “Yet, as the Secretary-General has stressed in his last report, multiple overlapping crises have negatively impacted global progress in achieving the SDGs by raising the number of people pushed into poverty, weakening food security, increasing inequality, widening gender gaps with particular impact on the vulnerable groups. Use of force, gross violations of human rights, ethnic cleansing, continue to define international relations,” Mirzoyan said./pp br/p