Department of Multilateral Affairs

Mandates

• To promote and safeguard Bhutan’s interest and enhance its image through effective participation in the multilateral arena.
• To pursue membership to international organisations in keeping with national interest and priorities.
• To negotiate, conclude and pursue the implementation of international treaties that are in keeping with national interest and priorities and to facilitate the fulfilment of national obligations under the treaties.
• To pursue strategic candidatures in international bodies with a view to enhancing Bhutan’s profile and role in international affairs and promoting Bhutan’s interests while supporting friendly states which have similar aspirations.

Divisions and their mandates

The Department consists of the following Divisions:

1. Social and Development Division
2. Regional Cooperation Division
3. Political and International Security Division

Social and Development Division

The Division’s work is aligned to the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) of the UN General Assembly. It focuses on social issues under the following thematic clusters:

1. Human rights
2. Humanitarian issues
3. Social development
4. Crime prevention and criminal justice
5. Environment
6. Climate change
7. Disaster risk reduction and relief

Additionally, the Division plays an instrumental role in ensuring RGoB’s cooperation with the UN and other international organizations by facilitating periodic reporting obligations arising from its membership to these organizations. The Division also spearheads major celebrations to mark days of national and international significance such as the International Day of Happiness, UN Day, among others.

The Division comprise of the following officers:

Regional Cooperation Division

The division’s mandates will be uploaded soon.

The Division comprise of the following officers:

Political and International Security Division 

The Division is primarily responsible for managing and coordinating RGoB’s engagement in the multilateral fora on matters related to disarmament, non-proliferation and other political issues that implicate international peace and security. Intuitively this allows the Division to broadly follow and align its mandate to the work of the following two main Committees of the UN General Assembly:

• The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security Committee) covers matters related to nuclear weapons, other weapons of mass destruction, outer space (disarmament aspects), conventional weapons, regional disarmament and security, other disarmament measures and international security, and the disarmament machinery.
• The Fourth (Special Political and Decolonization Committee) covers a variety of political issues, the major ones being ‘Decolonization’ and the ‘Middle East’. Amongst others, it also reviews UN peacekeeping operations and political missions around the world. 

In addition, the Division’s mandate also includes the following important areas:

• Bhutan’s compliance to UN Security Council resolutions on maintenance of international peace and security including counterterrorism which are legally binding on UN Member States. 
• Deployment of Bhutanese peacekeepers to UN peacekeeping operations around the world and contribute to global peace and security.
• Intergovernmental elections which provide a means for RGoB to achieve important foreign policy objectives. 
• International law and other legal matters concerning the UN (Sixth Committee) including fulfilling UN legal processes on treaty ratification and deposit.
• Reform initiatives related to the UN Security Council and the UN.
• Host country matters related to UN entities and other international organizations that have physical presence in the country.   

Support staff