China promises to help poor nations

China’s President Xi Jinping has pledged billions in aide over the next to help the world’s poorest countries implement sustainable development. He spoke to a summit that adopted a sweeping agenda for global development includes the goal of eliminating poverty in 15 years.

The minister said the burden has been “devastating” to Jordan’s development efforts. Now comes the tough part: Drumming up support and money to achieve the goals and transform the world.

“It is important to improve global economic governance, increase the representation and voice of developing countries and give all countries equal right to participating in worldwide rule-making”, Xi said.

Lebanon Prime Minister Tammam Salam made a similar plea, telling the United Nations the Syrian refugee crisis was costing his tiny country one-third of its gross domestic product and strangling development.

In addition, China will exempt the debt of the outstanding intergovernmental interest-free loans due by the end of 2015 owed by the relevant LDCs, landlocked developing countries and small island developing countries, the president said.

“They are a to-do list for people and planet, and a blueprint for success“, said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after an opening ceremony with performances by Colombian singer Shakira and Benin’s Angelique Kidjo, United Nations goodwill ambassadors.Activist Malala Yousafzai, the youngest-ever Nobel laureate silenced the entire General Assembly in a moving and powerful speech in which she called for an urgency to ensure a proper education for all children across the world.

Addressing a United Nations summit on development, Xi said China would act “by putting justice before interests and joining other countries in a concerted effort to realise the post-2015 agenda”.

Cuban President Raul Castro says the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between his country and the United States constitutes “major progress”, but the USA economic blockade against Cuba is the “main obstacle” to his country’s development. But this time, USA officials have told The Associated Press that the United States could abstain instead of voting against the resolution.

On the tragic stampede in Mecca on Thursday, Ban expressed deep condolences to President Rouhani over the death of more than 100 Iranian pilgrims.

Launched today at a UN-business event at UN Headquarters in New York, the SDG Compass -developed jointly by GRI, the UN Global Compact and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) – guides companies in taking a strategic approach to the SDGs and enhancing their contribution to sustainable development through core business activities. “In other words, violence against man and nature are the dual calamities befalling the West Asia region“. Without extensive cooperation in three levels of local, regional, and global, attaining of the objectives of “sustainable development’ will be hard”, Rouhani told the meeting.