On September 23, 2021, Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, speaks at a Security Council debate at the UN headquarters in New York. WANG YING XINHUA UNITED NATIONS - Development must be a priority in UN peacebuilding, whose importance is becoming more pronounced under the current circumstances, said China's permanent representative to the UN on Thursday.
Peacebuilding is an important part of the efforts to achieve lasting peace and development, said Zhang Jun at an open debate on the security council's investment in people in order to improve resilience against complex challenges.
Development is the ultimate solution to the myriad challenges faced by many developing countries. He said that lack of development is an important cause of many long-standing, unresolved issues on the agenda of the Security Council.
Development must be prioritized in peacebuilding and resources be mobilized in favor of poverty elimination, people's livelihoods, education, and public health, among others. Developed countries should honor their commitments regarding official development assistance and climate financing. International financial institutions should fulfill their due responsibilities and be deeply involved in peacebuilding to form synergy, he said.
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He said that UN peacekeeping and peacebuilding should continue to the original vision of the UN Charter, uphold a people-centered philosophy, and strive to safeguard people's interests, advance their well-being, and support their pursuit of a better life.
UN peacebuilding should fully support the sovereignty and leadership of the countries concerned and support their exploration of development paths suited to their national conditions. He added that UN peacebuilding should create enabling conditions and a favorable international environment for those countries' development.
Post-conflict countries have a lot on their plates. A blood transfusion alone isn't viable. There is a need to move from blood transfusion to blood generation. He said that strengthening capacity-building across the board is an imperative.
There is a need to promote unity and inclusiveness. Post-conflict countries have an important task to make people the true masters of their own country, and that includes all walks of life, said Zhang.
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As a result of diversity and inclusiveness, all parties of many developing countries with internal conflicts must overcome communal and partisan differences to maintain lasting peace and security. External forces should not play a negative role and should not interfere with the internal affairs of other countries. He said that by putting one faction against another, it will only aggravate division and confrontation and make the situation more complicated and turbulent.
According to Zhang, China will continue to support peacebuilding efforts with concrete actions to achieve lasting peace.