Head of the delegation of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the UN Security Council on Monday, January 1, for the first time in history, became chairman of the organization. Among Astana's priorities in this status is achieving a world without nuclear weapons, eliminating the threat of a global war, settling local conflicts and countering terrorism, according to the website of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry.

Astana also plans to promote the interests of Central Asia in order to strengthen regional security, to solve issues of achieving peace in Africa, as well as "the adaptation of the Security Council and the entire UN system to the threats and challenges of the 21st century".

In addition, at the initiative of Kazakhstan, the UN Security Council will host for the first time an official flag-setting ceremony for countries elected by new non-permanent members of the Council before the end of 2019: Cote d'Ivoire, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland and Equatorial Guinea.

The chairman of the UN Security Council on rotation is the head of the delegation of one of the member states of this organization. The term of the chairmanship of each country is one month.

Presiding in the Security Council Astana will be until January 31, 2018. Among the duties of the chairman is general management of the Council's activities, ensuring its uninterrupted work with the assistance of the UN Secretariat, as well as making statements on behalf of the Council.