No amount of time, effort to fight poverty is 'too much'

As a founding member of the alliance, China has made great achievements in moving forward both domestic and global causes of poverty reduction.

"For us, China coming on board is important," Muhammad-Bande said in an interview with China Daily.

According to the World Bank, China has managed to lift 850 million people out of poverty since its reform and opening-up in the late 1970s, an unprecedented achievement.

From 2012 to 2019, the number of poverty-hit people in China dropped from nearly 99 million to 5.5 million, and the poverty rate fell from 10.2 percent to 0.6 percent.

As a country that has over a few decades "focused on lifting people out of poverty", China's "extensive experience in moving forward the cause of poverty reduction" is valuable to other developing countries that are dealing with similar challenges, he said.

The president said he is impressed that China has the political will at the highest levels to set out targets with proper ways to consistently implement measures and follow up on poverty-alleviation work.

"Poverty alleviation is not a one or two year effort. The Chinese experience is an ongoing experience. The approach of China to lift the large population out of poverty is consistent," he said.

China is on track to lift all its rural poor out of extreme poverty under the current poverty line and achieve relevant goals and targets set in the 2030 agenda 10 years ahead of schedule, according to latest figures.

The poor population in the rural areas of China has been reduced by about 740 million since 1978, and the incidence of poverty in rural areas has dropped by 94 percentage points.

Muhammad-Bande said China's experience is worth studying by educators, institutions, advocators and agencies across all regions.

"We should not focus on poverty as manifestations only in the cities but also how poverty is manifested in the countryside," he said.

He spoke highly of China's policy of "leaving no one behind", which puts people at the center of development and the fight against poverty. He stressed how global poverty eradication also should not leave out any segment.

"It is essential that the alliance keeps underscoring the need for inclusion and for choices that leave none behind. It should continuously see and project poverty eradication as the first critical step towards promoting international peace and security, enthroning the rule of law and advancing the cause of human rights and good governance," Muhammad-Bande said.

As the world is wrestling with an unprecedented public health challenge, the president said it is crucial to strengthen the coordination of multilateral and multipronged interventions to eradicate poverty.

"We should continue to remind ourselves of the danger of unilateral action," Muhammad-Bande said.

"Look what we have achieved in the past 75 years since the UN was founded, it has been a forum to exchange ideas, to give mutual support to others, and to get out of conflicts. It is the idea that we … have very strong common norms of cooperation and collaboration," he said.

It is normal to have differences and even if there is disagreement, "we must respect each other because today you may disagree, but tomorrow you may discover that we have to agree on something," Muhammad-Bande said.

"This is the way of the world, we just have to connect properly with each other. Where there are differences, we do not deny other people, we try to understand," he said.

"Respect is important, in this global village, we must respect each other. It's very fundamental to the idea of the modern world."

Calling on the international community to fight the pandemic together, the president said that if there are vaccines for the virus, it should be guaranteed that those go to anyone who needs them, not only those who have financial instruments to possess them.

"Developed countries can give support in terms of financing and resources for undertaking scientific research," he said.

"You can see the efforts already made by Russia, the UK, the US and China in developing vaccines… it will be good for all," he said.