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On Monday 11 and Tuesday 12 October, Belgium participated alongside nine other Member States and the European Commission in a hearing at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to support the European Parliament and the Council of the EU in their defense of the rule of law conditionality mechanism. This mechanism is being challenged before the CJEU by Poland and Hungary.

On the occasion of the 19th European and World Day against the Death Penalty, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sophie Wilmès reaffirms Belgium’s commitment to the universal abolition of the death penalty.

Today, Friday 8 October, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for European Affairs Sophie Wilmès kicked off the Belgian section of the Conference on the Future of Europe (COFEU) - a series of Belgian events that will take place throughout the autumn - at an opening event in the presence of EU Commissioner Didier Reynders.

As in 2019 and in 2020, Belgium is donating 2 million euros to the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) for its activities in Iraq and Syria. These funds have been used in recent years for, among others, mine clearance, risk education and victim assistance, thus contributing to alleviating the needs of the civilian population. In Iraq, for example, our contribution helped deploy mixed demining teams, with women and men. Working with these teams allows the deminers to more easily establish contact with local communities and builds trust more quickly. This is particularly important in regions such as the Sinjar, where the Yezidi minority was victim of massive and systematic sexual violence against women by the Islamic State (IS).

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Foreign Trade Sophie Wilmès is pleased that Belgium is allocating 1,607,508 euros to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the prevention of nuclear proliferation and the strengthening of civil nuclear cooperation.

On Thursday 23 September, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sophie Wilmès will co-chair a high-level event with European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič on the impact of COVID-19 on children. This event is organised in the margins of the UN General Assembly, in cooperation with Niger and the NGO Save the Children.

Belgium will deliver 153,900 vaccines to Uganda. These vaccines will contribute to stepping up the vaccination campaign for teachers and reopening schools to more than 10 million pupils and students. With this, Belgium is responding to the Ugandan government's request to receive COVID-19 vaccines.

On Wednesday September 22, Minister of Development Cooperation and Urban Policy Meryame Kitir visited the port of Beirut, severely damaged by explosions in August 2020. This was the first visit of a Belgian minister since the explosion in Beirut. She had the opportunity to pay her respects and lay a wreath at the memorial dedicated to the victims, along with members of the family of a Belgian-Lebanese victim. With this gesture, Minister Kitir wished to express her condolences and solidarity with the families of the victims of this tragic event.

Belgium strongly condemns the coup attempt in Omdurman and reiterates its full support for the people of Sudan and their transitional government. It calls for the respect of the Juba Peace Agreements, signed on 31 August 2020. 

The 76th session of the UN General Assembly will open in New York on 20 September, under the theme "Building Resilience through hope to recover from COVID-19, rebuild sustainably, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people, and revitalise the United Nations."