Global Rural Development Forum fully demonstrates China’s great achievements and experience in poverty alleviation

Gwadar Pro

Islamabad: Global Rural Development Forum has fully demonstrated and shared China’s great achievements and experience in poverty alleviation.

The 2021 Global Rural Development Forum held in China under the theme of Global Sustainable Development Cooperation: Poverty Reduction and Rural Development, was co-hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the National Rural Revitalization Administration and organized by the International Poverty Reduction Center in China.

Dr Sania Nishtar, SAPM keynoted the 2021 Global Rural Development Forum held in China under the theme of “Global Sustainable Development Cooperation: Poverty Reduction and Rural Development”. The forum was co-hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the National Rural Revitalization Administration and organized by the International Poverty Reduction Center in China. The Forum promoted international exchanges and cooperation in rural development, and actively echoed the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Dr Sania Nishtar congratulated the Government of China, its people, and the Communist Party of China for achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of poverty eradication, well ahead of time.

“Poverty alleviation, particularly social protection is the priority of our government. Our government realizes that in Pakistan’s agriculture-based economy, tackling agriculture is fundamental to poverty reduction since the sector employs 45% of labour force. Around 60% of our population lives in rural areas,” she stated.

Pakistan’s poverty eradication programme, “Ehsaas”, she added, was closely linked to agriculture and rural economy. Ehsaas has 19 social protection programmes for 14 vulnerable groups.

Towards the end of the speech, Dr Sania Nishtar invited countries to join the global knowledge platform on social protection.

She informed the participants that Pakistan, Turkey, Nigeria, and Costa Rica have initiated a proposal for the establishment of a global knowledge platform on social protection.

The Forum invited leaders and high-level officials from the developing world. Participants were ministerial government officials from China and other developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America who were in charge of relative departments on poverty reduction and social development, heads of international organizations, ambassadors to China, well-known experts and scholars, and representatives from enterprises, NGOs and media.

The event brought together Ouk Rabun, Minister of Rural Development of Cambodia; U Hla Moe, Union Minister of Cooperative and Rural Development of Myanmar; Atty. Noel Felongco, Secretary-General of National Anti-poverty Commission of the Philippines; Thongphath Vongmany, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of Laos; Hugo Raúl Paulín Hernández, Undersecretary of Productive Inclusion and Rural Development, Ministry of Welfare of Mexico; Fazila Jeewa-Daureeawoo, Minister of Social Integration, Social Security and National Solidarity of Mauritius; Dominik Ziller, Vice President of International Fund for Agricultural; Prof. Justin Yifu LIN, Dean of Institute of New Structural Economics and Institute of South-South Cooperation and Development at Peking University; Prof. FAN Shenggen, Chair Professor of China Agricultural University, Former Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute; and Dr. Sabina Alkire, Director of Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative of University of Oxford.