On August 12, 2022, the International Civil Society Solidarity Conference on the Global Development Initiative was held by China NGO Network for International Exchanges both online and offline under the guidance of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC). Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and President of China, sent a congratulatory letter to the conference. The theme of the conference is “Building a global development community together to help implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. Faure Gnassingbé, Chairman of the Union for the Republic and President of Togo, Shahbaz Sharif, President of the PML-N Pakistan (Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Sharif) and Prime Minister of Pakistan, and Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, and Leader of the Dominica Labor Party, congratulated on the opening of the conference in written or video. About 400 representatives attended the conference, including Bertie Ahern, former Prime Minister of Ireland and Co-Chairman of the Inter Action Council, Martin Schulz, former President of the European Parliament and Chairman of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, diplomatic envoys from relevant countries to China, and representatives from NGOs, think tanks and enterprises in China.

Foreign participants spoke highly of the Global Development Initiative proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping. A “Joint Declaration on the Joint Implementation of the Global Development Initiative by International Civil Society” was signed and issued at the conference. The establishment of the “Project library of international civil society implementation of global development initiatives” was announced. And an international civil poverty alleviation cooperation network was launched.

Beijing Changier Education Foundation played an active role in preparing for the conference. Changier specially invited Rashid Alimov, former Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Senior Scholar of the Taihe Think Tank, Harvey Chaudin, former legal advisor to US President Jimmy Carter, Simon Pierre Adorweland, Ambassador of the Republic of Benin to China to participate the event. Together with 15 representatives from Pakistan, Singapore, Japan, Sierra Leone, South Korea and the United States, they responded to the Joint Global Development Initiative, committed to contribute to building a global development community of shared future and promoting the implementation of global development initiatives by international civil society. (Source: Xinhua News Agency)