16 October 2021
Your Excellency, Minister Khadija Mohamed Diriye,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am delighted to join Madam Minister at today’s humanitarian supplies handover ceremony.
It’s one of my first-time experiences in Somalia since I arrived just in August. But it’s only one of the many times when China and Somalia reach out to one another and come to each other’s help.
The Chinese and Somalis have a time-honored and tested friendship that could date back centuries. Both China and Somalia are prone to natural disasters.
Somali people have suffered from droughts, floods, locusts and conflicts. Statistics show that 5.9 million people need humanitarian assistance and 2.9 million are displaced by natural disasters and conflicts.
In July and August this year, China’s Henan province was hit hard by severe floods that took 300 lives and stranded 14 million people. In the first week of this month, China’s Shanxi province bore the brunt of major floods and the lives of over 1.7 million people were affected.
As a Chinese saying goes: “when disaster strikes, help comes from all sides”. We are doing all we can to help our compatriots in China and we never forget the sufferings of our brothers and sisters in Somalia.
We take your difficulties as our own as we know full well how lives could be changed in the wake of natural disasters. We face similar challenges and we share the same sympathies and compassion.
The humanitarian supplies from China include 10000 tents, 50000 mosquito nets, 20000 aid kits and thousands of baby weight scales, stethoscopes, and thermometers.
It shows a people-centered approach for a new stage of balanced, coordinated, and inclusive growth, as stated in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s proposal of the Global Development Initiative at the 76th Session of the UNGA last month. The key message is leaving no country and no one behind.
The pandemic has taken its toll on humanitarian support worldwide. For these supplies, the cost of production has gone up 15% and the cost of shipment has soared seven times, from 2000 US dollars a container to 14000 US dollars each. To deliver the 4 million dollar worth of supplies, the Chinese have paid an additional 1 million dollars to cover the rising cost of production and shipment. That’s the Chinese way of helping others. We live up to our promise and we deliver what we say.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our friends, Chinese and Somalis, and Madam Minister in particular, for your great efforts to help make it happen. There may be a lot of supplies in the warehouse, but we know there are more people out there waiting for help and support. The handover is just another helping hand extended. Many more challenges still lie ahead and many more helping hands will reach out to the needed.
The Chinese and Somalis are well-known for our compassion for each other and for our resilience at difficult times. I believe as long as we have the company and support of each other and other international partners, we will be even more confident and resolved to overcome the difficulties and rebuild our homes and lives sooner rather than later.
I wish our Somali brothers and sisters all the best.
Thank you.
