Beijing, Oct 30: A senior UN official has said that the ongoing global conflicts are hindering progress towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development goals.
Siddharth Chatterjee, the UN Coordinator for China, in his address to the 79th UN Day here Tuesday, underlined that nearly 80 conflicts are raging globally, which are not only expanding but also undermining progress to achieve SDG goals.
“Conflicts are expanding, with nearly 80 ongoing worldwide, and poverty and hunger are unfortunately on the rise alongside growing inequalities,” said Chatterjee, a decorated Indian military officer who served in the elite para regiment with postings in the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka and counter-insurgency operations in India’s northeast.
The worsening climate crisis further complicates efforts to make peace with nature, he said.
“This challenging global situation hinders our progress toward achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” he said.
His appointment to head 26 UN offices in China in 2020 made headlines amid the India-China tensions over the eastern Ladakh standoff.
Ever since his arrival in China, he became a major draw to China’s official and social media as he made waves with his high-intensity fitness regime and yoga exercises.
An alumnus of India’s National Defence Academy, Chatterjee was decorated for gallantry in 1995.
His family has also an India-China connection as his wife, Ban Hyun-Hee from South Korea, is the current Chief of the UNICEF social policy in India.
In his 25-year UN diplomatic career, he served in Kenya, Switzerland, Denmark, Iraq, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan (Darfur), Indonesia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iraqi Kurdistan besides China. (PTI)
