Remarks by the Ambassador of Djibouti to China at the Annual Meeting of the Joint Steering Committee of the UNSDCF

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

Excellency Mr. Wang Shouwen, China International Trade Representative (full minister rank) and Vice Minister of Commerce, Co-Chair of the Joint Steering Committee of the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework,

Excellency Mr. Siddharth Chatterjee, The UN Resident Coordinator in China,

Representatives from Government of China ministries and departments,

Representatives from the Member States,

UN colleagues,

Good morning.

It gives me great honour to speak, on behalf of the Regional Group of the African States, at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Joint Steering Committee of the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for China (2021-2025).

I would like to first thank Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen and UN Resident Coordinator Siddharth Chatterjee for inviting us to attend the meeting. It is the first time that the host government and the UN in China have consulted and agreed to expand the membership of the JSC, to one member state from each of the five regional groups, including the African States - Djibouti, the Asia-Pacific States - Cambodia, the Eastern European States - Serbia, the Latin American and Caribbean States - Brazil, and the Western European and other States – Norway. We appreciate your joint commitment to inform, engage, consult and broaden the partnership base to deliver on the SDGs, in China and globally.

I thank the speakers from previous sessions for introducing the implementation of the UNSDCF, the guidance document for UN-China collaboration; and the plans for the coming years. Throughout this year, I have participated in several briefings organized by the UN in China, for the member states; as well as thematic events co-hosted by the UN in China with the member states, on topics of common and global concerns and interest, such as China-Africa-UN collaboration on agricultural development and food security, Water, Multilateralism, Drought and others.

I would like to specifically thank the UN Resident Coordinator and the UN Country Team for their initiative and efforts to push forward substantive work under the China-Africa-UN Transformative Partnership Initiative (TPI). I recall our first discussions in December 2020, when we agreed to co-create this innovative partnership, to ensure effective implementation of the outcomes under the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). Since then, we have had a few engagements, in partnership with Chinese partners, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, China International Development Cooperation Agency and other line ministries and departments; as well as research institutions, foundations and private sector from China and those based in China. Based on comprehensive consultations, we have agreed to focus our collaboration on agriculture and food security, in response to the needs from African countries, starting from the Horn of Africa (HoA).

I have the great pleasure to know that a few concrete project proposals are being developed, by the UN Country Teams in several HoA countries, in response to their needs. I strongly encourage the UN, including the UN in China to continue with this momentum, and provide technical assistance, network and partnerships to make the TPI a reality.

Financing development remains a critical challenge to achieve the SDGs. We need sufficient, predictable and sustainable financial resources to fund our work. I therefore applaud the UN Resident Coordinator and the UN in China’s efforts to prepare and launch the Joint SDG Fund. We need to fund large-scale programmes, to demonstrate impact, and benefit more – not just a few hundred or a few thousand people. We should be more ambitious, and aim for a much larger scope of joint work. I hope the Chinese Government can make an initial contribution to the Fund, to allow it to provide financing for joint programming by the UN in China, including concrete initiatives under the TPI.

Next year, we will convene the high-level FOCAC Conference in Beijing. I am confident that by then, when we review our joint efforts under the UNDSCF, we will be able to present concrete, substantive and impactful results.

Djibouti, and the African Ambassadors’ Group in China, will remain committed as a close partner of the UN in China and the Government of China, to join hands and deliver on the 20230 Agenda. You can always count on our support and commitment. I thank you all for your attention.