The celebration of World Bicycle Day was held on June 2 at the UN headquarters in New York. The event was organized by the Permanent Mission of Turkmenistan to the UN in cooperation with the Permanent Missions of Bahrain, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Poland and Romania.

The event was attended by Chairman of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly Chaba Kereshi, Deputy Secretary General for Global Communications Melissa Fleming, Chairman of the UN Staff Union in New York Aitor Arauz, permanent representatives of Member states to the UN and staff of the UN secretariat, according to the page of the Turkmen permanent mission.

The Permanent Representative of Turkmenistan to the UN, Aksoltan Atayeva, in her opening speech thanked the participants of the action and noted that Turkmenistan, as the initiator of the UN General Assembly resolution of April 12, 2018 "World Bicycle Day", highly appreciates the efforts of governments, organizations and individuals advocating for the popularization of cycling.

Ambassador Atayeva said that the recent decision of the UNESCO Executive Board "Bicycle for All" highlights the important role that bicycles play in achieving the SDGs, especially in areas such as health, education, gender equality and environmental protection.

Speaking at the event, Chairman of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly Chaba Kereshi and UN Deputy Secretary General for Global Communications Melissa Fleming called on Member states to pay attention to cycling not only as a means of improving physical and mental health and well-being, but also to form a culture of cycling in society. That is, to improve road safety, in particular, to implement policies and measures to protect and improve the safety of pedestrians and cycling, as well as to include cycling topics in international, regional, national and subnational development programs in accordance with the UN General Assembly resolution "Integration of mass use of bicycles in public transport systems for sustainable development" adopted on the initiative of Turkmenistan.

They also noted that the popularization of bicycles in the world has recently intensified. Bike paths and the corresponding infrastructure are being allocated, protected bike stands are being equipped, and a bicycle rental system is being developed. Such a policy helps to relieve the city centers of cars, improve the environmental situation.

At the end of the official ceremony, a bike ride took place.

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