Technological innovations, global partnerships key to eliminating poverty, hunger

Author: China.org.cn / 2023-07-24 14:33 / Source: China.org.cn

Technological innovations, global partnerships key to eliminating poverty, hunger

BEIJING,May 17,2019 -- A video story presented by China.org.cn on Global Solicitation and Challenge Prize on Best Poverty Reduction Practices:

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The 3rd annual International Seminar on Global Poverty Reduction Partnerships organized by three Rome-based UN agencies (RBAs) -- The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD),and the World Food Programme (WFP)-- together with the International Poverty Reduction Center in China (IPRCC) andChina Internet Information Center (CIIC),was held Wednesday in the margins of the Expo for International Cooperation (EXCO 2019)in Rome,Italy. It focused on the role oftechnological innovations and global partnerships in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),accelerating poverty reduction and eradicating hunger.

This year's seminar discussed how to better use technological innovations in rural areas to promote inclusive and sustainable development,promote food security,nutrition,sustainable agriculture,gender equality and reduce rural poverty. Partnerships,with a special focus in South-South and Triangular Cooperation,were highlighted as key to promoting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The Deputy Executive Director of WFP,Amir Abdulla,speaking on behalf of the RBAs,highlighted the role of partnerships to achieving the SDGs in several domains around the world,and how the use of technology improves the lives of the most disadvantaged communities in rural areas.

"I'm glad that this year's seminar is focusing on technological innovations to help accelerate poverty reduction and achieve zero hunger. We need to continue working in a collaborative way to bridge the increasing gap of technology gains between developed/developing countries,rural/urban areas and disadvantaged communities," Abdulla said.

He also noted that one initiative that is increasingly generating synergies between public and private actors is e-commerce to connect farmers with value chains and markets at a global scale. This has proven to reduce rural poverty,by increasing farmer's incomes and productivity and creating jobs.

Xia Gengsheng,vice minister of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Reduction and Development,said that in the past six years,China has made decisive victories in the battle against poverty. Based on current standards,China has lifted 82.39 million rural poor out of poverty,with the rural poor population down from 98.99 million in 2012 to 16.6 million in 2018. The poverty rate has decreased from 10.2% to 1.7%.

He emphasized in light of the international experience and China's practices in poverty reduction,the last miles of poverty reduction efforts are the hardest. "We need to continue to push forward with all efforts,fight against poverty with perseverance,consolidate current achievements and reduce poverty for more people. We will never give up during the battle," he said.

Xia noted that the Chinese government is working on the post-2020 strategy for poverty reduction. "We will take into account China's current context and learn from international successful experiences. We will promote cooperation with international agencies such as the FAO,IFAD and WFP,so that we can better explore measures to address relative poverty and promote China's poverty alleviation cause in a sustainable manner."

Tang Shengyao,director of the Office of South-South and Triangular Cooperation of FAO speaking on behalf of the RBAs,highlighted during his remarks the importance of this seminar for disseminating successful experiences on the use of technological innovations for rural development. He indicated that sharing these innovations is useful for all development actors. He also added that the seminar serves as a platform for raising awareness on the key role that global partnerships play in sustainable development,which is at the core of South-South and Triangular Cooperation,and pointed out that the engagement of new actors such as developing banks and private sector is key for sharing knowledge about technological innovations that contribute to meet the 2030 Agenda.

During the seminar,the result of the Global Solicitation and Challenge Prize on Best Poverty Reduction Practices was presented,with the list of the first compilation of 24 poverty reduction case studies released,out of all the 110 best case studies on the shortlist,announced by Xue Lisheng,vice editor-in-chief of CIIC.

Xue said,the campaign was jointly launched by seven organizations,including the World Bank,the Asian Development Bank,FAO,IFAD,WFP,IPRCC and CIIC,in May 2018 in Beijing. Among 820 case studies received in total,645 Chinese ones were received,introducing various poverty reduction approaches,such as through tourism,financial poverty alleviation,poverty reduction for vulnerable groups and poverty reduction through employment and entrepreneurship.

International organizations and research institutions contributed 175 international case studies from over 30 countries,including Brazil,the Philippines,Colombia,Pakistan,Haiti,Ghana,Cambodia,Cameroon,Kenya,Nigeria,Laos,Malaysia,etc.

Some participants introduced their poverty reduction practices on the seminar. Ni Limin,the director of Alibaba Poverty Relief Fund said,the company fights against poverty in the aspects of education,health,women,ecology,and e-commerce,to help poverty-stricken regions eradicate poverty and to explore a sustainable and participatory "Internet + poverty relief" model.

"We will leverage more social resources so that more enterprises,institutions,and the public can join the fight against poverty," Ni added.

He Zhiwei,county mayor of Horqin Zuoyi Rear Banner (County),Inner Mongolia of China,stressed that scientific and targeted measures should be adopted to reduce poverty in areas with frail ecological environment and severe land desertification. "It is important to improve the living environment and production conditions,foster leading ecological industries and increase income of people in poverty in a sustainable way," he said.

Yao Li,the founder and chairperson of BN Vocational School said that efficient charitable vocational education can provide high-quality educational resources for poor and vulnerable young people,thereby improving their ability to get a job and increase income.

Ashwani K. Muthoo,director of Global Engagement and Multilateral Relations Division of IFAD,said,"This is a very commendable initiative,because it does give an opportunity for China and the global community to learn from the practices and experiences of people who are actually implementing activities on the grounds. We can identify best practices that can be replicated and scaled in other contexts. We can also explore,further deepen and understand what those innovations are and to see how they can be adopted in other countries and other context."

Melanie Ullrich,external relations officer,European Representative Office of ADB said,"With unremitting efforts,the PRC has made remarkable achievement in the past 40 years. China's successful experience in reducing poverty has also generated a bulk of knowledge to share with the rest of the developing world. It could be the immediate,tangible contribution that China can make to the global commitment to end poverty and achieve sustainable development by 2030. The Global Solicitation and Challenge Prize on Best Poverty Reduction Practices is very fruitful and allows more countries to learn from China's experience."

As the third seminar of its kind since 2017,this year's seminar has received support from various parties,with a growing number of partners along the way. More than 200 people from governments,international organizations,private sector,civil society and academia attended the seminar.

List of the first compilation of best poverty reduction case studies (In no particular order)

Title of the case study

Submission organization

Bringing laborers out of poverty with vocational

education -- A case study on poverty reduction by using

a "pedicure" training program in Ziyang County

Human Resources and Social

Security Bureau of Ziyang County,

Shaanxi Province,China

Poverty reduction through ecological protection and

ecological compensation -- A case study of ecological

poverty alleviation in Horqin Zuoyi Rear Banner,Inner

Mongolia Autonomous Region

Office of the CPC Committee of

Horqin Zuoyi Rear Banner,China

and Inner Mongolia Minzu University

Breaking the cycle of generational poverty through

charitable vocational education–A case study of poverty

alleviation through the BN Vocational School Model

China Institute for Poverty

Reduction,Beijing Normal

University

The path of "Internet + Poverty Alleviation" based on

China's national conditions - A case study of poverty

alleviation practices of Alibaba in five fields

Alibaba Group

Chinese herbal medicine industry promotes the

development of poverty-stricken areas--A case study of

Rhodiola cultivation by INOHERB for poverty alleviation

INOHERB Cosmetics Co.,Ltd.

Big data and the fight to reduce poverty in Binzhou,

Shandong Province

Binzhou Municipal Leading Group

Office for Poverty Alleviation and

Development,Shandong Province,

China

Creating seasonal jobs to increase income of

poverty-stricken workforce: A case study on seasonal

jobs and cooperation between Fuzhou and Dingxi cities

Employment Promotion Division of

Human Resources and Social

Security Bureau of Fuzhou,Fujian

Province,China

Poverty Alleviation Resettlement (PAR) program – A

case study on poverty alleviation by relocation and

resettlement in Linxi County of Inner Mongolia

("Relocation +")

Poverty Alleviation Office of Linxi

County,Inner Mongolia,China

Motivating poverty-stricken households by "lending

gazelles" instead of "donating gazelles" — A case study

on poverty alleviation by developing a Mongolian

gazelle breeding industry in Nanjiang County,Sichuan

Province

The Working Group on Poverty

Alleviation designated by the

Industrial and Commercial Bank of

China in Nanjiang County,Sichuan

Province

Searching for a feasible pathway for sustainable

agricultural development and income increases for

farmers

World Bank

Give play to the leading role of communities in China's

poverty alleviation -Enlightenment from World Bank

financed sustainable development project in China's

poor rural areas

World Bank

Connect smallholder farmers to markets -- Case study

of purchase for progress

World Food Programme

Shanxi Integrated Agricultural Development Project

Asian Development Bank

Yunnan Integrated Road Network Development Project

Asian Development Bank

Public-Private-Producer Partnership brings smallholder

farmers on board to sustainable poverty reduction – A

case study of tea industry development in Shiyan

Prefecture