Multilateralism matters to world more than ever before, says UNOG chief

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The logo of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 21, 2019. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan)

"We are speaking about the necessity of multilateralism. We do not have any alternative to multilateralism and China's dedication to multilateralism is very important," said the director-general of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) Tatiana Valovaya.

GENEVA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Multilateralism matters to the world more than ever before and wide-range partnerships are needed to build for it, said the director-general of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) Tatiana Valovaya.

Valovaya, who is from Russia and took up office in August 2019, spoke to Xinhua before the start of the 2020 annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.

Global challenges the world is facing now have one thing in common, she said. "These are global challenges that need global solutions. And global solutions can't be unilateral."

During the interview, she spoke of the speech made by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the UNOG in January 2017, in which Xi elaborated on building a community with shared future for mankind that features all-win cooperation and sharing.

A view of the Palace of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 17, 2016. The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) is housed in the Palace of Nations. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan)

"It was a very important speech and it is still very important," she said.

"When I read this speech I really find lots of input for our discussions which we are going to have this year," she said, adding that the year 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the UN, and it is launching a large and inclusive global conversation on the role of global cooperation in building the future people want.

High on her agenda in Davos will be discussion of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), she said, explaining that these goals should be considered as "the first-ever common road map that humanity has."

"For redoubling our efforts and reaching the SDGs, we really have to build partnerships. We have to build partnerships between the countries, with international organizations and the UN systems, with the private sector and non-governmental organizations and experts at universities and so on," she noted.

The new aircraft in Charleston, the United States, Jan. 26, 2018. China's Xiamen Airlines received its first aircraft bearing the UN message of sustainable development, hoping to promote the message worldwide. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

"It can't come from one or two or five places in the world. It should really be a multilateral solution which is carried out by all the member states of the United Nations," she added.

"Quite often multilateralism is under attack, so we here in the UN are trying to use this global conversation exactly to build up this global support for multilateralism, for developing it, to have a modern multilateralism fit for the 21st century," she said.

She told Xinhua that China has a lot to offer in reaching all these goals, in both practical and mindsets dimensions.

"We are speaking about the necessity of multilateralism. We do not have any alternative to multilateralism and China's dedication to multilateralism is very important," she said. ■