BEIJING: The Belt and Road Initiative offers many practical opportunities to change people’s lives, and UNICEF is very happy to cooperate, senior UN official Anthony Lake said on Monday.
In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) chief praised the Belt and Road Initiative, calling it an “extraordinary strategic vision.”
Lake said, while there was a focus on trade and infrastructure, he was also looking forward to the human development the initiative can deliver.
“It is human beings that make development happen, and it’s human beings that benefit from development,” Lake said.
The UNICEF chief said the healthy growth of children was among the great accomplishments the initiative could make.
Lake said that work needed to be done on children’s health and reducing child mortality. The key to future prosperity was educating children so they could contribute to their societies and become good citizens.
The key priority for UNICEF was to reduce inequality, and he was looking forward to cooperating with the Chinese government on the issue, Lake said.
“Shifting educational resources and helping improve the education of the poor is the best investment you can possibly make,” he said.
Unlike China, he said, children in some nations did not have a childhood, so it was imperative for countries to work together and give those children a better chance to grow up.
“I wish while children in China are enjoying their own childhoods, remember out there in the world there are those who are not. If they can have a better life, that will not only be good for their countries but for China as well.”
