Guided by the International Department of the CPC Central Committee and organized by the China Association for the NGO Cooperation, the International Civil Society Solidarity Conference on the Global Development Initiative (GDI) was held with online and offline participation. Chinese President Xi Jinping, also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, sent a congratulatory letter to the conference. Themed "Jointly Build a Global Community of Development to Promote the Implementation of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development", the conference was attended by about 400 people from around the world, including politicians, former leaders, diplomatic envoys in China, and representatives of NGOs, think tanks, and enterprises. A joint declaration of the international civil society on working together to implement the GDI was signed by more than 1,000 NGOs, think tanks, enterprises, and media outlets, demonstrating the determination and confidence of civil society around the world to work together to promote global development.
In recent years, China has been actively working with the international civil society to promote global development and prosperity, as well as the building of a global community of development.
Imparting knowledge to Provide Hope for Development
"Thank you 'Chinese mothers' for your help and care. I will study hard and hopefully be able to help Nepalese people as you do," said Bai Xiaomei, a Nepalese girl, in fluent Chinese. She also has a title of Mulan Girl. In October 2018, under the guidance of the Beijing Women's Federation, the "Mulan POWER" Charity Fund was jointly established by the Beijing Women and Children Development Foundation and the Beijing Women's International Center, aiming to promote friendly exchanges and cooperation among women and children around the world. Its first charity project was to help poverty-stricken Nepalese girls go to school. Bai Xiaomei was one of the nine Nepalese girls who received funding in the first phase.
She said that with the support of the project, they not only completed their high school studies, but also worked hard to learn Chinese and passed the HSK Level II. Now, two of them have been admitted to Chinese universities. In September this year, the second phase of this charity project will be launched to fund 10 Nepalese girls and they may be able to change their lives through continuous learning.
In July this year, a special training took place at Wenzhou Medical University. More than 200 trainees from African countries, including Egypt, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic, attended the 2022 "Angel of Life" for African Midwifery Training Program online. With an aim to reduce maternal and newborn mortality rates in African countries, the "Angel of Life" training program for African midwife assistants was launched in 2018 by a number of institutions including Beijing AmBridge International Culture Development Co., Ltd., Wenzhou Medical University, and the Tanzania-China Friendship Promotion Association. In 2018 and 2019, more than 40 people from Africa received training in Wenzhou. "If more people are equipped with knowledge in midwifery, more pregnant women will get help," said Tibullus, a Tanzanian trainee who hopes to bring what he has learned back to his country, contributing his efforts to improving maternal and child health in Africa.
Marie, a Ghanaian student majoring in gynecology, said, "I want to teach what I've learned in China to others and hopefully they will spread it to more people. I also hope that more Chinese doctors can come to Africa to share their medical experience with local medical staff, so that more African people can benefit."
The international civil society is an important driver of social progress. "We need to focus on poverty alleviation, public health, education, digital connectivity, and industrialization, making sustainable development work for everyone. All countries need to realize that the only way to address global challenges is through knowledge sharing and multilateral and regional cooperation, which is in everyone's interest," said Ban Ki-moon, Former UN Secretary-General when he attended the conference by video. "We need to revive cooperation and solidarity on the basis of multilateralism, and jointly move towards a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient future."
Helping Those In Need to Improve People's Lives
In June this year, a strong earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, causing nearly 4,000 casualties in the severely affected provinces of Paktika and Khost. After the disaster, China responded immediately by sending groups of assistance to earthquake-stricken areas. Chinese social organizations, Chinese companies in Afghanistan, and overseas Chinese also acted quickly to help the country's rebuilding efforts.
In both Chinese and Pashto, there are sayings meaning "a friend in need is a friend indeed." Just days after the earthquake, the Afghanistan working group of Beijing Peaceland Foundation arrived in Bermal, delivering relief supplies including flour, cooking oil, and rice to 125 families in five villages and working with Chinese companies to send milk powder and clothing to local people. Overseas Chinese in Afghanistan also responded by buying and transporting medicines and tents to disaster-stricken areas. The acting secretariat of the Directorate of International Relations of the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority thanked China for providing humanitarian assistance.
In Mongolia, another neighbor of China, herders have to kill a large number of livestock in winter due to the lack of water sources. "Winter is the most difficult season for livestock because, at a temperature of minus 20 to 30 degrees Celsius, most water sources are frozen. Therefore, in the past, to cope with limited water supply, we could only reduce the number of livestock by selling calves and lambs even though they had not grown big enough", a herder said to the head of the China-Mongolia "Friends of the Silk Road" Happiness Spring Project.
In order to solve this problem, the China Foundation for Peace and Development worked with Mongolia to launch the China-Mongolia "Friends on the Silk Road" Happy Spring Project. By digging 15 water wells in nine districts in Khentii Province, Mongolia, teaching herders to use and maintain the wells, and providing filters and other consumables, the project has helped secure water supply for 36,000 livestock on 22,500 hectares of pastures. With the Happy Spring Project, these pastures no longer have to suffer from the lack of water supply in winter. "These water wells have helped our livestock grow!" said the herders, who are happy and grateful to the aid providers from China. The Mongolian Prime Minister's Office also expressed gratitude to the China Foundation for Peace and Development.
Martin Schulz, Former President of the European Parliament and President of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, said that China has promoted global development with its own rich experience. China eliminated absolute poverty, contributing greatly to global poverty reduction. It has also laid out goals and measures for social progress in the next stage. Now, China is extending help to other countries and actively responding to their development needs. This is how China fulfills its responsibility as a major country.
Acting Together for a Better Life
China's pragmatic cooperation with various countries has enabled more people to reap the fruit of development.
The Smiling Children Program initiated by China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (now renamed China Foundation for Rural Development) has been launched in Ethiopia, Sudan, Nepal, Myanmar, and Pakistan. Under the program, children living in hunger are provided with school meals or food, and are thereby able to go back to school and live a healthy life. By the end of 2021, a total of 91,438 people had benefited from the program.
In June this year, a ceremony was held at Kotana School in Colombo, Sri Lanka to mark the donation of emergency food packages by China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation. In total, 1,150 students from four schools in Colombo received the packages.
In January this year, when Tonga, a Pacific country, was struck by a devastating tsunami triggered by a massive underwater volcanic eruption, the Red Cross Society of China sent 3,000 emergency family kits containing blankets, umbrellas, flashlights, and hygiene products to the country to assist the Red Cross Society of Tonga in its disaster-fighting operations, helping to meet the basic needs of the affected people. The Red Cross Society of China also donated 260 sets of water purification equipment to Tonga to help address drinking water pollution and difficulties in water use across the local area.
At the International Civil Society Solidarity Conference on the Global Development Initiative, the establishment of the "international civil society implementation of global development initiative project library", which includes 30 pragmatic cooperation projects including the Peace and Development Fund, the Smiling Children Program, and the Panda Pack Project was announced. The Peace and Development Fund launched by the China Foundation for Peace and Development will invest 100 million yuan in developing countries on livelihood projects in fields such as health, poverty reduction, and education, with the aim to deepen cooperation in the fight against the pandemic and in poverty reduction, stimulate economic recovery, and improve people's lives. Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistani Prime Minister and President of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, said that policies that help promote sustainable development should be implemented across national, regional and international mechanisms, and relevant mechanisms under the UN framework should also play their role to enhance connectivity in finance, resources, and science and technology in developing countries and accelerate their development.
The conference also announced the launch of an international civil poverty alleviation cooperation network, which will serve as a platform for civil society in different countries to jointly advance the course of global poverty reduction. "The Global Development Initiative (GDI) will maximize the strengths of the multilateral cooperation mechanism. The GDI is dedicated to translating new experience into common actions and offers a unique opportunity to leverage the diverse knowledge bases, strengths and technologies of all participants," said Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica and Political Leader of the Dominica Labor Party.
Bertie Ahern, the former prime minister of Ireland and co-chair of the InterAction Council, said that, facing a grim world economy and conflicts in some regions, we need international cooperation more than ever. He said, "The China Association for the NGO Cooperation has always been working with its partners. I hope that the work carried out by the international civil society can contribute to the global development."
Development is the eternal theme of human society, and people of all countries hope that through development they can live a better life. The international civil society will pool more public support for the implementation of the GDI.
