Mr. President,

The Chinese delegation thanks Executive Director Lake for his presentation of the results of the work of UNICEF in 2014, and welcomes the discussion under the theme of equity. I would like to make the following observations:

First, China appreciates the active effort by UNICEF in 2014 to respond to changing and ever more daunting challenges in the areas of international development and humanitarian relief. We commend the progress achieved by the Fund in many aspects, including implementation of the resolution on QCPR for the UN development operation, improvement and delivery on the 2014-2017 Strategic Plan, promotion of children’s rights and equity, advancement of gender equality and women’s empowerment, strengthening of capacity building of program countries, and enhancement of innovation and result-based management.

2014 witnessed global humanitarian crises unprecedented in terms of both scale and complexity, and skyrocketing needs of children affected by natural disasters and armed conflicts. China appreciates the active work of the Fund in responding to humanitarian crises and combatting the Ebola outbreak, and hopes that it will continue to leverage its advantage, closely integrate short-term humanitarian assistance with long-term development operation, work to improve the capacity of the governments concerned in providing social services, improving basic education for children and advancing gender equality, facilitate efforts to resolve root causes of humanitarian crises such as poverty and under-development, and help recipient countries with the transition from short-term humanitarian assistance to long-term development. China welcomes the positive progress achieved by UNICEF since the issuance of the 2014-2017 Gender Plan of Action in such aspects as capacity building, resource utilization and program outcome.

Second, 2015 is a critical year for international cooperation for development, when we will take stock of past achievements and chart the course for the future. The UN Development Summit in September will adopt the post-2015 Development Agenda, which will set new targets and identify the future direction for international cooperation for development. We hope that UNICEF will, within the framework of the post-2015 Development Agenda, continue to bear in mind the practical needs and priorities of program countries, adhere to the principle of national ownership and leadership, increase input in capacity building for developing countries, actively implement the equity-based strategy, find ways to tackle urgent problems facing children in different regions and countries, and effectively narrow the gap in survival and development among children of different countries as well as of different regions and social groups within countries, so as to play a bigger role in helping program countries realize long-term, balanced and sustainable development. At the same time, we hope that UNICEF will, in connection with the UN system-wide action plan, strengthen coordination with member states and other UN agencies in order to jointly promote the realization of the post-2015 Development Agenda’s objectives related to children.

Third, China has noted that in 2014, the regular resources of the Fund increased by 4.7%, the public sector donation to the regular resources rose by 12%, and revenue for humanitarian assistance jumped by 19%. China commends and congratulates UNICEF on its financing efforts and results, while calling on member states to increase donation to the Fund’s regular resources in order to enable the Fund to fulfill its mandate in a fair, equitable and flexible manner, and timely and effectively respond to the needs of program countries and humanitarian emergencies. We expect the Fund to steadily increase input in the areas of basic education and gender equality.

The Chinese government always attaches importance to its long-term cooperation with UNICEF. We appreciate the positive contribution made by the Fund through its seven country programs for China to the improvement of the life and well-being of the Chinese children. We look forward to deepening cooperation with UNICEF within the framework of the Eight Country Program for China, and we are willing to share our development experience with other countries, work to promote the cause of global children’s survival, development and protection, especially the healthy development of children belonging to vulnerable groups, and contribute to the implementation of the post-2015 Development Agenda.

Thank you, Mr. President.