Global solidarity is only way out: UN-Habitat chief

Anaclaudia Rossbach, executive director of the UN Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat), hailed the three major global initiatives proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, noting that solidarity is the only way to addressing global challenges.

In an interview released by China Media Group (CMG) on Friday, Rossbach said the three initiatives help foster communication in the international community and promote global cooperation.

"I see these global initiatives as a way also to comprehend better what's going on everywhere and to build conduits. I think the global solidarity, of course, we both know that it's needed, right, that there's no way out. I do believe that it is important that all member states and governments, let's say so, are engaged globally, and this is actually the nature of the UN. Otherwise I wouldn't be here," she said.

The three major global initiatives are the Global Development Initiative (GDI), the Global Security Initiative (GSI) and the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI).

The GDI was proposed in 2021, calling for building a consensus on pursuing development, promoting shared growth and helping accelerate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The GSI was proposed in 2022, giving clear answers to questions of the times, such as what security concept the world needs and how countries can achieve common security.

The GCI was put forward in 2023, which advocates respect for the diversity of civilizations, the common values of humanity, the importance of inheritance and innovation of civilizations, as well as robust international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation.

The U.S. dollar increased in late trading on Thursday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, gained 0.06 percent to 98.425 at 3 p.m. (2000 GMT).

In late New York trading, the euro decreased to 1.1725 dollars from 1.1745 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound was up to 1.3386 dollars from 1.3378 U.S. dollars in the previous session.

The U.S. dollar bought 155.52 Japanese yen, lower than 155.63 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar declined to 0.7940 Swiss francs from 0.7953 Swiss francs, and it fell to 1.3781 Canadian dollars from 1.3789 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar fell to 9.2846 Swedish kronor from 9.2984 Swedish kronor.