50 years of UNEP: reflecting on the past and looking to the future

From 15 December to 16 January, the thematic exhibition "50 Years of UNEP: Reflecting on the Past and Looking to the Future", dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), was opened in the Documents Room of International Organizations (room 207g).

The exhibition includes about 60 documents in Russian and English. These are books, brochures, mimeographed UN materials, periodicals, leaflets. Documents introduce the reader to the activities of the United Nations Environment Programme aimed at protecting and improving the environment and establishing close international cooperation on environmental issues.

The materials presented at the exhibition introduce the history of the creation of UNEP, its structure and main stages of development, as well as global and national programs of the organization in which the Republic of Belarus has participated. Most of the exhibition is made up of UNEP documents – annual reports on the organization's activities, reports of the Board of Governors, reviews and assessments of the state of the global environment, etc. The exhibits include collections of international legal documents and national legislative acts on the environment, monographs, reference books, and collections of scientific articles on environmental safety issues.

The exhibition consists of the following sections:

• Background, goals and functions of UNEP
• UNEP and international conventions in the field of ecology and environmental protection
• UNEP and conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity
• Problems of air pollution
• UNEP climate change activities
• Protection of water resources
• Cooperation between the Republic of Belarus and UNEP

The exhibition will be of interest to scientists, teachers, students, specialists in the field of nature management and environmental protection, and anyone who is interested in environmental issues and the problem of preserving the biological diversity of our planet.

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is a project created within the framework of the UN system, which aims to assess the state of the world's environment and identify problems that require international cooperation to solve. UNEP was established on the basis of UN General Assembly Resolution No 2997 of 15 December 1972 (A/ RES/2997 (XXVII)). The program’s motto is "Environment is for the development". UNEP is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. The Executive Director since 2019 is Inger Andersen (Denmark).

ЮНЭП займаецца аналізам і ацэнкай стану глабальнага навакольнага асяроддзя ў мэтах ранняга папярэджання пагроз, распрацоўкай палітыкі і прававой базы ў прыродаахоўнай сферы, аказвае падтрымку ў стварэнні і эфектыўным функцыянаванні нацыянальных структур па ахове навакольнага асяроддзя, каардынуе дзейнасць прыродаахоўных канвенцый, садзейнічае перадачы экалагічна чыстых тэхналогій.

UNEP analyzes and evaluates the state of the global environment for early warning of emerging threats, develops policies and legal frameworks in the environmental sphere, supports the creation and effective functioning of national environmental protection structures, coordinates the activities of environmental conventions, and promotes the transfer of environmentally friendly technologies.

The Republic of Belarus is an active participant in UNEP projects, including the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the Montreal Protocol on the Ozone Layer, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes, the Protocol on Biological Safety, the Convention on Biological Diversity, etc.

The main areas of cooperation between Belarus and UNEP are: monitoring and assessment of the state of the environment; timely prevention of natural disasters and appropriate response to them; solving environmental problems, based on the economic activity of a particular region; developing national legislation in the environmental field; assisting in the implementation of obligations under environmental conventions, etc

Useful links

• Celebration of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Environment Programme
  
• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
  
• Facts about deserts and desertification
  
• Conservation of biological diversity (Chapter 15 of Agenda 21)
• World Environment Day (June 5)
• World Water Day (March 22)
• International Mother Earth Day (April 22)
• International Day of Biological Diversity (22 May)
• World Oceans Day (June 8)
• World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (June 17)
• International Day for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (September 16)
• International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment during War and Armed Conflict (6 November)
• International Year of Forests (Year of 2011)
• International Year of Biodiversity (Year of 2010)
• International Year of Planet Earth (Year of 2008)
• United Nations Decade for Deserts and Combating Desertification (2010–2020)
• International Decade for Action "Water for Life" (2005–2015)
• World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002)
• United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (1992)

For more info: (+375 17) 293 27 34.