GDI offers new path to global human rights governance

The Global Development Initiative, or GDI, has offered developing countries with a new understanding and a practical way to protect human rights, experts told a forum on Wednesday.

They made these remarks on the first day of the two-day Forum on Global Human Rights Governance in Beijing.

"Many countries, ... especially the Global South, have been wrongly told for decades (by the West) that the only way for them to address human rights and understand human rights is to follow the Western bond," said Zoon Ahmad Khan, research fellow from the Center for China and Globalization.

"Today, we are able to not only have diverse perspectives, but also understand that a practical development needs to be prioritized for us to be able to make any meaningful progress on human rights."

According to experts, the right to survival and development is the most urgent human right for developing countries, which account for about 85 percent of the global population.

Li Yunlong, a professor at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, said by promoting human rights through development, China has chosen a new path. China believes that development is the key to solving all of China's problems, including the promotion of human rights.

The GDI, proposed by China at the General Debate of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2021, dovetails with the UN's 2030 agenda and extends the philosophy for promoting human rights, said Zhang Yunfei, a board member of the UN Association of China.

Nathali Carolina Berrios Marrero, an expert on international law from Venezuela, said the initiative can contribute to the improvement of global human rights by uniting the Global South countries together to achieve better development.

Till now, more than 100 countries have expressed support for the GDI and over 70 countries have joined the Group of Friends at the UN. China has implemented over 100 projects under the initiative benefiting over 60 developing countries.

"More and more countries approve China's practical approach of promoting human rights through development," Li said. "The GDI has become an important international platform for promoting development and human rights. It will undoubtedly help developing countries to make progress on human rights."