Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am delighted to join you at the Launch Meeting of the Group of Friends of Global Development Initiative.
I wish to congratulate the organizers for the follow-up to the excellent initiative, put forward by His Excellency Mr. Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China.
Let me thank Ambassador Zhang Jun of China, for his warm welcome remarks and invitation. And thank you, to all who are joining us today.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The world is at a critical moment in its pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The COVID-19 pandemic threatens decades of hard work toward the eradication of poverty. It has pushed children out of school, with the potential to weaken critical avenues of social mobility. It has increased hunger, and set back gender equality.
According to the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects 2022, the global economic recovery is facing significant headwinds, including:
- new waves of COVID infections,
- persistent labour market challenges,
- lingering supply chain disruptions, and
- rising inflationary pressures.
Facing these crises, the message is clear. It is time for action at scale. It is time for collaboration and effective multilateral cooperation. It is time for innovation and transformative change.
Our efforts must be grounded in the universal roadmap provided by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the entire Rio process. Our path ahead is critical. Together, we need to urgently raise the political ambition on global development partnerships, in order to accelerate progress.
In this connection, we welcome China’s pro-active role in:
- fostering development cooperation,
- mobilizing resources for the SDGs, and
- creating general awareness of the most urgent actions in key priority areas.
We appreciate China’s leadership in establishing a “Group of Friends of Global Development Initiative” – which can contribute significantly to engaging a diverse array of stakeholders.
Excellencies,
In closing, I commend China for their contributions to the UN Peace and Development Fund. The Fund has supported activities for the most vulnerable countries, including assistance to 46 LDCs and recently graduated countries.
We hope that the Global Development Initiative will help enhance international development cooperation, especially in support of LDCs and other developing countries.
I look forward to a successful launch event.
The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UN DESA, stands ready to continue its support to this Initiative and its Group of Friends.
I thank you.