LocationsRemarks by Mr James George at the Global South Modernization Forum
November 21, 2025
UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in China, James George, gave remarks at the Global South Modernization Forum at the National Convention Center in Beijing, China.
Distinguished guests, colleagues, and friends,
Good afternoon. On behalf of UNDP China, it is a great pleasure to join you today and speak at this important event.
It’s been ten years since the world adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - our global blueprint to protect people and the planet - with Goal 1 calling for the eradication of poverty in all its forms, everywhere.
As we gather here today, let’s first reflect on the current global development landscape.
The picture before us is both stark and instructive. This year’s SDGs Report shows that only 35 percent of SDG targets are on track or making moderate progress. Nearly half are moving too slowly and, alarmingly, 18 percent are in reverse. With less than five years until the 2030 deadline, we face a global development emergency.
Despite decades of economic transformation and unprecedented technological advancement, extreme poverty persists - affecting 1 in 10 people worldwide. According to the 2025 SDGs report, over 800 million people still live in extreme poverty under the revised international poverty line of US$3 per day. This higher threshold reflects rising global living costs, but it also reveals a truth we cannot ignore: Modernization alone has not delivered inclusive prosperity.
Only one in five countries is currently on track to halve national poverty rates by 2030.
If we stay on our current path, 8.9 percent of the world’s population will still live in extreme poverty by 2030.
The greatest burden is concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and in countries affected by fragility and conflict, where the compounding effects of climate shocks, inflation, and instability limit people’s ability to escape deprivation. Employment should be a pathway out of poverty—but for many, it is not. In 2024, 6.9 percent of all workers globally—over 240 million people—lived below the poverty line, despite being employed.
This signals deep structural issues: technological gains have not translated into decent work, and productivity improvements have not benefited workers equitably. The modern economy has created opportunities but also widened divides.
Social protection is one of the strongest tools we have to address these gaps. For the first time, over half of the world’s population—52.4 percent—is covered by at least one form of social protection.
Yet nearly 3.8 billion people—almost half of humanity—remain entirely unprotected. In low-income countries, the figure falls to just 9.7 percent.
According to projections, establishing a basic social protection floor in developing economies would require US$1.4 trillion annually—a significant investment, but an indispensable one if we aim to build resilience and reduce vulnerability.
These challenges are unfolding against a broader backdrop of rising inequalities, as highlighted in the Human Development Report 2025. Human development progress has slowed to its lowest level in 35 years, once the pandemic years are set aside. Inequalities between countries are widening, and traditional pathways to development—industrialization, export-driven growth, large-scale job creation—are narrowing. Many developing countries face a “triple squeeze”: jobless industrialization, mounting debt, and intensifying geopolitical tensions.
At the same time, the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is reshaping the global economy. While AI offers enormous potential, its benefits are unevenly distributed. Without deliberate policy action, AI could deepen existing inequalities and leave many communities on the margins of modernization. The Human Development Report calls for a human-centered approach to AI, ensuring that innovation expands human choices rather than restricts them.
"The message is clear: We are at a crossroads. The world possesses the tools, knowledge, innovations, and resources to accelerate human development—yet millions are being left behind. Poverty is not inevitable; it is a policy choice."
So where do we go from here?
First, we must rethink our approach to development. Modernization must be more than technological advancement; it must be anchored in equity, inclusion, and human development. Investments in health, education, and income must directly reach the most vulnerable groups.
China’s experience in lifting more than 770 million people out of poverty offers a valuable lesson for the Global South: progress is possible through strategic investments backed by targeted policies and long-term planning.
Second, we must expand and strengthen social protection systems—not as temporary safety nets, but as pillars of inclusive growth.
UNDP efforts and experience globally together with our sister UN agencies clearly shows that when social protection is combined with capacity building and local economic development, communities can break the cycle of vulnerability.
In China’s rural revitalization agenda, UNDP has supported localized poverty reduction approaches, digital capacity training for small businesses, and stronger market linkages that help small producers—especially women—access value chains more equitably.
We have clearly seen the evidence that these are some of the pathways that needs to continue to be pursued to ensure no one is left behind.
Third, we must close the digital divide and enable human-centered innovation.
To build a truly human-centered digital future, we must ensure that every community has the infrastructure, skills, and safety they need to participate with confidence.
This means investing in digital literacy and protection, accelerating capacity building to close the digital divide, strengthening international cooperation, and committing to an AI ecosystem that champions both innovation and ethics—so technology empowers people, rather than defines them.
Fourth, we must ensure that modernization creates opportunities for all.
UNDP’s work globally and also across China on digital inclusion and e-commerce offers a powerful example of how technology can expand livelihoods.
By training women farmers and rural entrepreneurs to use digital platforms, UNDP has helped boost incomes, strengthen rural value chains, and reduce geographical disadvantages.
These experiences demonstrate that when modernization is paired with empowerment, communities can thrive.
Fifth, we must build coalitions for inclusive development.
UNDP’s partnerships in China—with central and local governments, academia, the private sector, civil society, and agencies such as UN Women, FAO, WFP, and IFAD— clearly illustrate how multi-stakeholder collaboration can accelerate progress.
UNDP is also delighted to celebrate our 2 decades of partnership with IPRCC in advancing the sharing of knowledge on poverty reduction strategies with strategic partnerships across the globe.
A clear lesson is that no single actor can address poverty or inequality alone; lasting impact requires shared responsibility.
Colleagues, and friends,
The message is clear: We are at a crossroads. The world possesses the tools, knowledge, innovations, and resources to accelerate human development—yet millions are being left behind. Poverty is not inevitable; it is a policy choice. Exclusion is not a natural outcome of modernization; it is the result of how we shape our systems.
UNDP stands ready to leverage its global networks across 170 countries to help facilitate knowledge sharing and lessons learned between countries of the Global South, including through South South Cooperation. Let us recommit ourselves to inclusive modernization, expand social protection, invest in people, and build partnerships that unlock human potential.
Together I believe we can reignite progress, create a future where no one is left behind, and create an inclusive, resilient and sustainable future for all – everywhere, and leave no one behind.
Thank you, 谢谢！
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