GDI spurs hopes on UN 2030 agenda
China’s proposal for rebooting global development lauded for showing way forward on SDGs
As development is getting increasingly marginalized on the international agenda amid the COVID-19 pandemic and regional conflicts, the China-proposed Global Development Initiative, or GDI, has rekindled hope among countries around the world about achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, according to diplomats and leaders of international organizations.
President Xi Jinping, who proposed the initiative at the UN in September, will chair a High-level Dialogue on Global Development on June 24. He will be joined by leaders of emerging markets and developing countries in a discussion of global development to reinvigorate international cooperation on development.
The initiative is “a promising response to the call for this decade of action” to promote the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, Siddharth Chatterjee, the UN Resident Coordinator in China, said on June 20 at an event in Beijing on the launch of the Global Development Report.
Chatterjee said the world today faces the profound, growing and interconnected challenges of a persisting pandemic, the climate crisis, conflicts, a fragile and uneven economic recovery, growing inflation, poverty and hunger, and rising inequality within and between countries. “China’s responsible leadership at this critical time is welcome,” he added.
The report, issued by the Center for International Knowledge on Development in Beijing, reviews progress on the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and existing challenges, and lays out policy recommendations for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
Addressing the event on June 20 via video link, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the GDI, which aims to expedite the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and promotes stronger, greener and healthier global development, has been “warmly received and strongly supported by more than 100 countries”.
“The GDI is a rallying call to galvanize greater attention on development and bring it back to the center of the international agenda,” Wang said. “It offers a ‘fast track’ to promote development, as well as an effective platform for all parties to coordinate development policies and deepen practical cooperation.”
Hassane Rabehi, Algeria’s ambassador to China, said the initiative is a real expression of China’s full commitment to multilateralism and a demonstration of its active and leading role in international development cooperation.
“The GDI is China’s proposal for solving the problems and challenges facing humanity. It emphasizes peace and development, reduces the gap in terms of development between the North and the South, gives concrete content to the concept of human rights and promotes people’s wellbeing,” Rabehi said.
Egyptian Ambassador to China Mohamed Elbadri said he believes the GDI will “strongly contribute to our joint effort in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and presents an excellent, inclusive, transparent platform to share best practices and relevant experiences” for the purposes of achieving the goals.
Separately at a seminar on June 21, officials and experts said the Chineseproposed
plans such as the GDI and the Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI, are providing a reliable guide as well as concrete benefits for developing nations.
At the online event, which was hosted by the China Institute of International Studies, participants noted that China has continued to focus on helping other developing countries despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, among other economic challenges.
Wendell Mottley, an economist and politician from Trinidad and Tobago who once served as his nation’s finance minister, said: “Global governance is wobbling under pressure from a downward spiral occasioned by the pandemic, climate change and the now precipitous unwinding of the post World War II architecture ... and the solution to our planetary problems demands global cooperation and effective multilateralism.”
He noted that the GDI has special significance for small Caribbean island nations, including his country.
“We are on the front line of climate change. Sea levels are rising, salt is permeating our freshwater aquifers, and almighty hurricanes threaten to wipe out 100 percent of our GDP,” said
Mottley, adding that the Caribbean region has noted President Xi’s pledge in the GDI to look after “the special needs of developing countries”.
Mahindra Ramesh Ramdeen, chief executive of the Trinidad & Tobago Manufacturers Association, said that the past two years have brought many challenges, but the efforts of the Chinese government, via the BRI, have allowed countries to recover to some level of normalcy.
Yu Jiang, deputy secretary-general of the Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy Studies Center and vicepresident of the China Institute of International Studies, said: “China highly emphasizes the integration of self-development into world development as a whole.”
The GDI and the BRI, together with the Global Security Initiative proposed by Xi in April, are not only forging synergies for nations to practice the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind but are also providing reliable reference points for developing countries in their efforts to achieve modernization, he said.