UN Resident Coordinator Siddharth Chatterjee meets with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi

In their bilateral meeting, the two sides discussed the China-UN partnership, the Global Development Initiative (GDI) and its importance to accelerate global progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and realizing the promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

As UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on the 50th anniversary of General Assembly Resolution 2758 last October, “announcement of the Global Development Initiative brings forward new potential in its deep alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals.”

During the meeting, the Resident Coordinator said that the UN in China would work with the Government of China to make the GDI a best-in-class endeavour to keep the SDGs on track and provide velocity to the SDGs, by offering technical assistance while ensuring alignment to relevant international norms and standards, as he reiterated the proposal to establish a joint task force of experts from the Government of China and the UN in China.

He noted that the UN in China, present since 1979, has witnessed many profound economic and social transformations that have taken place, with the country lifting over 770 million people out of extreme poverty, and stressed the need to share these relevant lessons and experiences with the rest of the developing world, with the UN in China as a potential bridge for further and more effective South-South Cooperation and South-South learning.

With eight years left to achieve the SDGs and with the COVID-19 pandemic reversing global progress towards the 2030 Agenda, combined with threats from the climate crisis, widening inequalities, and increasing conflicts, in addition to skyrocketing food, energy, and fertilizer prices, the UN system always welcomes initiatives by any Member State that marshal ideas, capacities, and resources in support of the SDGs, as stated previously by the Resident Coordinator in a briefing with Member States on 17 February 2022.

The Resident Coordinator thanked the Foreign Minister for China’s support of the Organization, as the second-largest contributor to the UN’s regular and peacekeeping budgets, while acknowledging China’s support of recent UN development reforms for a new generation of fit for purpose Country Teams, as envisaged by the Secretary-General.

Following their meeting, the Resident Coordinator joined the Foreign Minister for a forum at the invitation of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) to mark the 50th anniversary of the discovery of Artemisinin and on Building a Global Community of Health for all.

During his remarks, the Resident Coordinator commented that the occasion coincided with World Malaria Day and followed China’s successful seven-decade effort to reduce malaria incidences from 30 million cases to zero, being certified as malaria-free in 2021 by the World Health Organization.

He noted that artemisinin was responsible for a class of some of the most effective antimalarial drugs ever produced and that its discovery by Dr. Tu Youyou, now a Nobel Laureate, has saved countless lives globally.

The Resident Coordinator also took the opportunity to congratulate the Chairman of CIDCA, Luo Zhaohui, for his leadership in advancing South-South Cooperation and global development cooperation while stating that CIDCA, which marks its 4th anniversary this month, is a valued development partner of the UN in China.