Mr. Chairman,

After over six decades of development, UNICEF has become an important development and humanitarian organization in the U.N. development system working for children, which is widely acclaimed by U.N. member States, developing countries in particular. The contribution of core resources has played a critical role in the achievements made by UNICEF as they have provided solid material foundation for fulfilling its mission and effective support to the program countries in attaining the MDGs relating to children. In the current complex and uncertain international economic environment, UNICEF is faced with daunting challenges in the area of funding. Furthermore, as a result of poverty, disease, wars and conflicts, many children in developing countries cannot enjoy fundamental human rights such as primary education and health care; worst of all, a large number of them have even fallen victim to abuse, exploitation and violence. In this context, core resources become all the more important, and so is this pledging conference.

The Chinese Government attaches great importance to its cooperation with UNICEF. Since the establishment of the cooperative relationship in 1979 between UNICEF and China, UNICEF has provided a lot of financial aid to support children's development in China. UNICEF and China have carried out over 150 cooperative projects in such areas as health care, primary education, child protection, water and sanitation. The aid from UNICEF has benefited 18 poor, mountainous, minority-people-inhabited, remote and underdeveloped areas and provinces, such as Tibet and Qinghai, and has provided staunch support for poor children to change their destiny. This has produced significant social impact. While receiving aid from UNICEF, China is also actively supporting its work to the best of its ability. As a member of the Executive Board, China makes voluntary contribution to the core resources of the fund every year. Over the past ten years, China's contribution has always ranked among the top in the developing countries. In 2012, China contributed $1.3 million to the core resources of UNICEF. In 2013, China plans to increase its contribution to $1.5 million, which is subject to the approval of the National People's Congress.

In the future, China will as always support the work of UNICEF and gradually increase its contribution to the core resources. We hope that the international community will also make greater efforts to increase the volume of core resources of UNICEF, ensure smooth implementation of cooperative projects and promote further progress in the efforts to benefit children around the world.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman