Event in Celebration of the 78th United Nations Day

A recording of these remarks can be found on YouTube and Tencent.

His Excellency Mr. Ma Zhaoxu, Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China

Ms. Catherine Pollard, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Management Strategy, Policy, and Compliance

Excellencies, Ambassadors, Colleagues, Friends,

I welcome you to our celebration of the 78th United Nations Day on behalf of the UN Country Team in China. UN Day marks the Organization's creation and gives a chance for us to reflect on and reaffirm the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and emphasize the critical role multilateralism must play in addressing our common challenges.

Mr. António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, has concluded a visit to China on 19 October 2023, where he attended the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. 

On all counts, he had a very productive visit, including excellent bilateral meetings with President Xi, Vice President Han, Foreign Minister Wang, and Special Climate Envoy Xie. I would like to thank His Excellency Mr. Ma Zhaoxu, for the warm welcome, courtesy and hospitality extended to the Secretary-General. 

I express my gratitude to the People's Republic of China for their unwavering support for the United Nations in China, since we established our presence in this very compound in 1979.

I want to thank every member of the UN Country Team in China for their hard work and perseverance every day to make a difference.

I feel privileged and honoured to serve the United Nations in China as the UN Resident Coordinator with such a brilliant team of professionals.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

We have reached a tipping point and are running out of time to save the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and save the planet from the worst effects of climate change. Only this year, we have witnessed disastrous flooding in Libya kill tens of thousands of people, as well as severe flooding here in Asia, Europe and North America. We also saw devastating wildfires, droughts, and extreme temperatures around the world. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, mother nature is fighting back and humanity will not win. Let us unite in our efforts to end the climate catastrophe that looms like the Sword of the Damocles on the horizon.

Furthermore, violent conflicts are wreaking havoc, causing great misery, death, and destruction, reversing gains on human development and our humanity. 

While the most significant effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have passed, the long-term consequences are still being felt, particularly in low- and middle-income nations. 

Mr. António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, convened the SDG Summit last month in New York to respond to our interconnected problems and put us back on track to realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  "Now is the time to lift the declaration's words off the page, and invest in development at scale like never before," said the Secretary-General at the Summit's conclusion. 

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The time has come to act. We have passed the halfway mark of the SDGs and are at risk of failing to reach their aspirations while simultaneously seeing inequalities grow. 

We must not lose sight of the central promise of the 2030 Agenda, to leave no one behind, which is the unequivocal commitment of all Member States to eradicate poverty in all its forms, end discrimination and exclusion, and reduce inequalities that leave vulnerable groups behind. To address these inequalities, we must redouble our efforts to reach the most disadvantaged people first.

The multilateral system is under duress, with several regional crises and other global challenges threatening to tear us apart. We must not succumb to these differences. Only through international cooperation and a revitalized and reinforced UN and multilateral system will we be able to come together to develop solutions to these issues and begin to address them. 

While the problems ahead of us seem daunting, we can address them if we work together. The UN was established to bring the world together to confront global concerns through the Three Pillars of the UN System: peace and security, human rights, and development. 

In this year of the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 75th Anniversary of UN Peacekeeping, we must remember that there can be no peace without development, and no development without peace, and neither can be achieved without respect for universal human rights.

Partnerships for sustainable development must also be expanded. Partnerships between the public and commercial sectors, as well as between sectors, are crucial for accelerating progress towards the SDGs and unlocking the resources required to finance global sustainable development. 

As the UN Resident Coordinator, one of my priorities is to increase the number and scale of global partnerships and South-South cooperation in support of the 2030 Agenda, while ensuring they follow best practices and adhere to recognized international norms and standards. China has important lessons to share with the developing world in its astounding development trajectory.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I want to stress that there is still time to save the SDGs, but the moment to act is now. We must act quickly, collaborating to implement the necessary programmes, policies, and initiatives, as well as mobilize the necessary funding, to ensure that the SDGs bring about the dramatic change that the world demands. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Tingyi Holdings for their sponsorship of this event, North Way for their organizational support and Poem for You, who contributed their expertise on the arts toward the theme of today’s programme.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The UN Secretary-General has appealed for peace. 25 ongoing conflicts are causing death, destruction and displacements at a scale not seen since the Second World War.  

We are together, the United Nations, and we are the World.

We want a world which our children and the future generations inherit, where they can survive, thrive, and reach their full potential. 

I want to thank my UN family on stage for their support and conviction to the values of the UN.

Thank you very much.