China delivers vaccine donation for UN peacekeepers

The handover ceremony of the COVID-19 vaccines donated by China to United Nations peacekeepers was held via video link on Sept 17, 2021. Zhang Maoyu, vice-chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), Christian Saunders, assistant secretary-general of the UN, and Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, attended the ceremony.

Zhang said the COVID-19 pandemic has brought new challenges to UN peacekeepers, which play an important role in maintaining world peace and security. China donated the vaccines to UN peacekeepers with priority given to the African mission area. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, China has been actively helping other countries against the pandemic and has carried out the largest emergency humanitarian assistance since the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC). To increase the availability and affordability of the vaccines in developing countries, China has provided or is in the process of providing vaccine aid to 106 countries and four international organizations. It has exported vaccines to over 60 countries amounting to more than 1.2 billion doses, making it ranking No 1 in the world. Just recently China announced it will donate another 100 million doses to developing countries within the year on top of its commitment of $100 million worth of donations to COVAX. China will continue the international cooperation against the pandemic in a bid to restore the global economic stability and build a community with a shared future for mankind, Zhang added.

Saunders extended sincere appreciation to the Chinese government for its generous donation on behalf of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, saying the Chinese vaccines were necessary and timely and will effectively enhance the UN system's capacity against the pandemic and better help the peacekeepers perform their duties. He said the vaccines will be distributed to the frontline personnel and close partners via the COVAX mechanism.

Geng and Saunders signed the handover certificate on behalf of China and the UN, respectively, at the ceremony.