Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and the Chairman of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Maldives Abdullah Shahid met in Yerevan on Thursday, July 28 to discuss cooperation between the UN and Armenia towards the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals was noted.

Mirzoyan said he highly appreciated the contribution of Abdullah Shahid in confronting the current global challenges and the consolidation of the efforts of the international community to this end, which is based on the idea of effective multilateralism.

He noted that Armenia, being a member of the UN Human Rights Council, is committed to advancing the global human rights agenda. In turn, Shahid highly appreciated the effective activity of Armenia in the Council.

The Armenian Minister stressed that one of the priorities of Armenia's cooperation with the UN is the promotion of the genocide prevention agenda, which also includes protecting the memory and dignity of the victims of the genocide. It was also noted that Armenia attaches particular importance to strengthening the early warning capabilities of the UN and improving the relevant crime prevention mechanisms.

During the meeting, the parties also stressed the importance of ensuring the involvement of women in the decision-making process and expressed satisfaction with the initiative of the Maldives to recognize June 24 as the Day of Women Diplomats, the resolution of which is also co-sponsored by Armenia.

Issues related to regional stability and peace were also touched upon.

The Armenian foreign policy chief stressed the need to solve the humanitarian problems created as a result of the war unleashed by Azerbaijan, in particular, the return of Armenian prisoners of war and other detainees, as well as the preservation of the Armenian cultural and historical heritage of Artsakh in the territories that came under the control of Azerbaijan, and noted the imperative of the unhindered involvement of relevant structures The UN is in place.

Minister Mirzoyan reaffirmed Armenia's commitment to achieving a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship, noting that this is the only format with an international mandate within which security issues and the protection of all rights of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh can be addressed.

During the visit, Shahid also met with female diplomats of the RA MFA, during which the importance of ensuring the equality of women and men and taking steps aimed at economic strengthening of women was noted.