Day: September 13, 2022

BEIJING, Sept. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — A news report by People’s Daily:

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the city of Samarkand, and pay state visits to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan from Sept. 14 to 16.

This year is of landmark significance for the SCO, as it marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the SCO Charter and the 15th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on Long-Term Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation of the SCO Member States.

Since the founding of the organization, it has been closely obeying the above two documents and following the Shanghai Spirit, exploring a new development path for regional organizations and setting a good example for regional and international cooperation.

As the world has entered a period of new turbulence and transformation, the role of the SCO is not diminishing, but expanding, and SCO member states are not seeing a shrinking demand for cooperation, but an increasing one.

It is expected that the SCO can contribute its strength to safeguarding and practicing true multilateralism and protecting international justice and equity, when the world is seeing a complicated international situation, frequently emerging hotspot issues and a relapse into unilateralism and protectionism.

As an important founding member of the SCO, China always values, supports and promotes the development of the organization.

Since 2013, President Xi has attended multiple SCO summits where he raised a series of important proposals and initiatives to promote SCO development and regional cooperation. These proposals and initiatives have received warm response from relevant parties.

In the Qingdao Declaration, the SCO members made “building a community with a shared future for humanity” a common concept, and organization is promoting synergy between the Belt and Road cooperation and the development strategies of various countries and regional cooperation initiatives such as the Eurasian Economic Union, creating important opportunities for regional development.

The Global Development Initiative proposed by President Xi has been recognized by relevant parties under the SCO framework. They believe that the initiative is of great significance for alleviating today’s global development predicament.

China advocates independence and security for all, and opposes creating bloc confrontation and undermining regional stability. At the SCO Samarkand Summit, President Xi will exchange views with relevant parties on enhancing SCO construction in the new era and better dealing with major international and regional challenges, which will be conducive to safeguarding true multilateralism and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries, and make important contributions to promoting regional peace and development.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the five Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

President Xi’s upcoming visit to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will definitely further deepen China’s cooperation with the five Central Asian countries.

Over the past 30 years, China’s relations with Kazakhstan have been constantly lifted to new levels, and the two countries have established a permanent comprehensive strategic partnership, which is important for regional and even international peace and stability.

It was in Kazakhstan nine years ago that President Xi proposed the building of the Silk Road Economic Belt, a component of the landmark Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which also includes the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. The two countries implemented a series of cooperation projects of strategic importance and achieved fruitful results, which brought tangible benefits to the two peoples and set a good example for win-win cooperation.

Over the past 30 years, China-Uzbekistan relations have achieved leapfrog development. The two countries have become good neighbors sharing mutual respect and trust, good partners for mutually beneficial cooperation, and good friends benefiting from people-to-people exchanges.

At present, the two countries are facing important opportunities to enhance their comprehensive strategic partnership. They have pledged to achieve an annual trade turnover of $10 billion as soon as possible and set new targets, and decided to jointly implement the five-year plan for economic, trade and investment cooperation, and draw up a list of priority cooperation projects for the future. The two sides will continue deepening cooperation on connectivity, poverty alleviation and medical care.

China fully supports Uzbekistan’s chairmanship of the SCO and is willing to work with the country to jointly achieve national development and vitalization.

Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates call on leaders to keep commitments to world’s poorest and  invest in innovation, ingenuity to continue saving millions of lives

SEATTLE, Sept. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today released its sixth annual Goalkeepers Report, noting that nearly every indicator of the UN Sustainable Development Goals is off track at the halfway point for achieving them by 2030. Despite significant setbacks caused by overlapping global crises, the report is optimistic, underscoring opportunities to accelerate progress toward ending poverty, fighting inequality, and reducing the impacts of climate change.

Co-authored by foundation Co-chairs Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates, this year’s report, “The Future of Progress,” notes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, wars in Ukraine and Yemen, ongoing climate and food crises, and macro-economic headwinds on global ambitions to improve and save millions of lives by 2030.

“It’s no surprise that progress has stalled amid numerous crises,” said Bill Gates. “But this is not a reason to give up. Every action matters to save lives and reduce suffering. Turning away would be a mistake.”

In their respective essays, French Gates and Gates call for new approaches to achieving gender equality and food security. They also cite dramatic progress in dealing with the HIV/AIDS epidemic—a nearly 60% decline in annual deaths between 2000 and 2020—as an example of what can happen when the world invests in long-term solutions and innovative approaches to entrenched issues.

“The world faces many challenges—some of which may seem insurmountable. Yet, despite the setbacks, I’m filled with hope that we can solve these problems together and save millions of lives through human ingenuity and innovation,” French Gates said. “We know progress is possible because the global community has faced difficult odds before and won. And we can do it again.”

This year’s report includes best- and worst-case scenarios for ending preventable infectious diseases and malnutrition, improving access to quality education, increasing access to financial services, and achieving gender equality.

“At this historical inflection point, how the world responds to setbacks is a choice that will impact what happens now and for generations to come. Millions of lives hang in the balance,” said Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman. “We call on governments, the private sector, civil society, and philanthropic organizations to do more to meet the ambitious goals and to keep investing in new ways of thinking, new tools and data, and proven solutions to ensure every person has the opportunity to live a healthy, productive life.”

In her essay, French Gates cites data that shows the world will not reach gender equality until at least 2108—three generations later than previously projected. She calls for approaches that do more than just ensure a woman’s ability to earn a livelihood, but to control it.

“When it comes to the future of progress—not just on the global goals related to gender equality but on those on good health, quality education, ending poverty, and more—there is one engine that can drive them all: women’s power,” French Gates writes.

She highlights two proven approaches for increasing women’s power in their families and communities: building economic resilience through expanded access to digital financial tools and implementing a robust caregiving infrastructure that enables women to earn an income outside of the home.

In his essay, Gates asserts that hunger cannot be solved solely through humanitarian assistance. He cites recent shocks to the world’s supply of grain from Eastern Europe and the ongoing threat of climate change to underscore the vulnerability and interconnectedness of the global food system. Using a new data visualization tool to predict the impact of climate change, the report provides bleak projections for future crop yields and agricultural productivity, particularly in Africa.

Gates points to examples of planting “climate-smart” crops and utilizing predictive modelling as proven solutions that have helped smallholder farmers in Africa and India increase their productivity and protect their crops from the disruptive effects of climate change. He calls for increased investment in R&D and other proven solutions to significantly boost agricultural productivity, particularly in Africa, where 14 countries depend on Russia and Ukraine for half their wheat.

“The world should be generous and prevent people from going hungry, but in another sense, it doesn’t solve the larger problem. The goal should not simply be giving more food aid. It should be to ensure no aid is needed in the first place,” he writes.

About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Mark Suzman, under the direction of Co-chairs Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates and the board of trustees.

About Goalkeepers
Goalkeepers is the foundation’s campaign to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals). By sharing stories and data behind the Global Goals through an annual report, the Gates Foundation hopes to inspire a new generation of leaders—Goalkeepers who raise awareness of progress, hold their leaders accountable, and drive action to achieve the Global Goals.

About the Global Goals
On September 25, 2015, at the United Nations headquarters in New York, 193 world leaders committed to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals). These are a series of ambitious objectives and targets to achieve three extraordinary things by 2030: end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and fix climate change.

Media Contact: media@gatesfoundation.org

Report Link: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/goalkeepers/report/2022-report

Report Visual Assets:  Report Assets