Chinese envoy calls for efforts to help Africa tackle terrorism, climate change

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Thursday called for efforts to help Africa tackle terrorism and climate change.

In recent years, terrorism has presented major threats to Africa, in particular, the Sahel, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

Facing the challenges, the G5 Sahel (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger) have united to enhance capacity and deepen counter-terrorism cooperation, playing an important role in maintaining regional security. China appreciates such efforts, he told an open debate of the Security Council on security in the context of terrorism and climate change.

"China endorses the continued joint counter-terrorism operations by Niger and countries in the region, supports sustainable and predictable funding to the G5 Sahel Joint Military Force and calls on the international community to provide more help in logistics and capacity building," he said.

In the long term, the military approach alone is not sufficient to eliminate the security threats in the Sahel. Efforts need to be made to address the roots causes of conflict. The international community should help African countries address the multiple difficulties such as economic woes, food insecurity and tribal tensions, eliminate the breeding ground of terrorism, continue to support regional countries in enhancing security capacity-building, provide protection to the grassroots population and ensure that civilian facilities such as schools and hospitals are protected in conflicts, said Zhang.

The United Nations can make use of its own advantages to help countries concerned protect the rights and interests of women, children, and the vulnerable so that they can fully enjoy the development fruits and so that the impact of extremist thoughts can be cut off, he said.

Climate change presents a grave challenge to the sustainable development of Africa. Like other developing countries, Africa lacks funding, technology and capabilities the most, he said.

China supports even stronger attention and support to Africa's response to climate change, he said. "We call on developed countries to effectively fulfill their historical responsibilities and honor their commitments on climate financing, technology transfer, and capacity-building so that commitments will be turned into practical actions."

Climate change has inflicted a serious impact on the countries in the Sahel and complicated solutions to the conflicts in the region. China calls on the Security Council to take a situation-based approach in its in-depth analysis of the impact of climate change on the Sahel so as to have an accurate understanding and examine practical and viable solutions, said Zhang.

China has always been a staunch supporter, constructive participant, and active contributor to the cause of peace and security in Africa. In terms of support to Africa, China has always been in action. China will continue to make contributions to peace and development Africa with practical actions, he said.