G77 + China summit calls for stable, peaceful world order with ancient values. (Photo: Manoel Giffoni, Press TV)

by Lady Michelle-Jennifer Santos, Chief Visionary Founder & Owner

June 18, 2014 (TSR) – The Group of 77  (G77) plus China, concluded a summit on Sunday in the eastern Bolivian city of Santa Cruz calling for an end to poverty by 2030 with the adoption of a declaration calling for a new world order that is equitable, stable and peaceful with ancient values.

With the theme of “New World Order for Living Well,” the two-day summit also marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the G77, which has swollen into a coalition of 133 developing member states from Latin America, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

The summit, which is hosted by Bolivia for the first time, marked the relaunch of the G77, the largest multilateral block of countries within the United Nations and was attended by at least 20 leaders of different countries including representatives of the United Nations.

G77 + China summit calls for stable, peaceful world order with ancient values. (Photo: Manoel Giffoni, Press TV)
G77 + China summit calls for stable, peaceful world order with ancient values. (Photo: Manoel Giffoni, Press TV)

Among the Latin-American presidents who attended the summit were José Mujica (Uruguay), Horacio Cartes (Paraguay), Nicolás Maduro (Venezuela), Ollanta Humala (Peru), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), Cristina Fernández Kirchner (Argentina), Raul Castro (Cuba), and Evo Morales (Bolivia), who holds the pro tempore presidency of the block. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and President of the sixty-eighth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, John W. Ashe were also in attendance.

Bolivian President Evo Morales, who officially inaugurated the G77 Summit, urged member countries to move toward a new paradigm of sustainable development into comprehensive one to “live well” connected with Mother Earth.

On Sunday, between 8.30 and 18.30 local time, the Plenary was held in which representatives of all member countries presented their proposals to form the new paradigm for world governance proposed by the Bolivian president.

“The only architects that can build their future are the people themselves. The new paradigm of Integral Development for Living Well is a different view that means creating equal development for all. No development is sustainable if production destroys Mother Earth, ” said the president in his inaugural speech.

The points raised by Morales during the summit are: The Construction of a different view from the Western capitalist development and in balance with Mother Earth; Control of natural resources; conversion of the basic services in a human right “; Liberation from international financial yoke, Building a new financial system; Building a “great economic alliance, scientific, technological and cultural”; Eradication of hunger of peoples of the world “; a new institutional framework for the new world order to Live Well; “Democratic renewal of States”; and a new world from the South to all mankind.

The summit also marked the welcomed presence and increasing clout of China.

With massive purchases of commodities and exports of its manufactured goods to the region, China in recent years has emerged as a main trade partner of many Latin American countries, just as it leads in the African continent.

Chen Zhu, a vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China and Vice-president of the People’s Republic of China, attended the summit as a special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who was unable to join.

China, which is not a G77 member, was participating in the summit partly in a nod to its expanding trade ties in the region whose key concern include sustainable development and national sovereignty over natural resources.

Beijing now seeks a new model of cooperation that would marshal large investments for infrastructure projects needed to sustain growth in Latin America.

Chen met with Morales ahead of the summit opening, and pledged an $80 million USD dollars loan to modernize Bolivian airline BOA and purchase four new aircraft, Bolivia said.

During a tour of the region in May, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing intends to invest more in Latin America and raise relations to a new level.

“All countries, big and small, rich and poor, deserve the same voice”, said on Saturday the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Ban Ki- moon, in his opening address to the G77 Summit in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. He explained that this organization was founded on that premise.

He recognized the need to address the inequality of the world economic order and overcome the development gap between the North and South.

Ban Ki-moon stressed the role of the G77 which allowed the global South to speak with a common voice with increasing influence in discussions on climate change and sustainable development. “The G77 makes a huge contribution to achieve peace, welfare, equity and a decent life for all people,” he said.

“Over the years, this diverse group, which currently represents over half of the world’s population, and about two thirds of the member states of the United Nations, has enabled the global South to speak with a common voice,” UN Secretary General General Ban Ki-Moon said, who also attended the summit, where he asserted the bloc’s contribution towards the development of its member countries.

The President of El Salvador congratulated the G77 for its five decades of work and highlighted the evolution of the number of countries that show diversity in cultures, languages and forms of government. “We share common challenges, we must have a development model that contains a solid foreign policy of integration for a group like this,” he said.

Among the goals of the G77 Summit, Ban said that efforts should be accelerated to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and therefore he will continue to urge the governments of the global North to expand their current pledges to support initiatives from the G77.

The UN chief also stressed the need to achieve significant global agreement on climate change, he invited for a Summit on this matter this coming 23 September.

Ban suggested establishing a development agenda beyond 2015 with transformative capacity with the mission of eradicating extreme poverty and inequality.

“When communities are marginalized, when young people grow up with little hope of getting jobs or live a decent life, societies cannot prosper,” he said.

The development must be based on a balance between the needs of the people and the planet “because if we neglect Mother Earth, we will be deprived of the protection she offers,” Ban recalled and gave credit to the initiative of the Plurinational State of Bolivia on April at the International Day of Mother Earth.

Ashe recognized the hard work done by the group during the last past 50 years, noting that this is the largest group within the United Nations “despite the differences of its members, once these countries join, that whole greater and more powerful than its individual parts. ”

“Inclusive” Development with Russia and China, but without the United States

Anti-imperialism dominated the debate, more than the environment and “equal” development, among the heads of state and leading representatives.

It is important to note that the members of G77 are nations who have suffered from colonialism and resource rape by USA and its Western allies, and are now reaching out to Russia and China for help.

The attendees deliberated on calls for a new economic world order — and a fairer international system.

Morales said that there is indeed a “structural crisis” which impacts every component of capitalist development, “a mutually nurtured crisis” involving finances, energy,  climate, water, food, institutions and values .

There is a crisis inherent to the capitalist civilization, he said, where “unfair manner of concentrating wealth” and “predatory way of destroying nature” which is giving rise to a structural crisis that is “becoming unsustainable over time”.

“In this journey, the struggle for decolonization, as well as for the peoples’ self-determination and sovereignty over their natural resources must be underscored”, he continued.

“In spite of these efforts and struggles for equality and justice for the peoples around the world, the hierarchies and inequalities have grown in the world”, Morales said.

“Today, 10 countries in the world control 40% of the world’s total wealth and 15 multinational corporations control 50% of the global output.

“Today, like 100 years ago, acting in the name of the free market and democracy, a handful of imperial powers invades countries, blocks trade, imposes prices on the rest of the world, chokes national economies, plots against progressive governments and applies espionage to the population worldwide.

“A tiny elite of countries and multinational corporations control, in an authoritarian fashion, the destinies of the world, its economies and its natural resources.

“The economic and social inequality among regions, among countries, among social classes and among individuals has grown abusively”, he said.

“Very pleased, very happy,” were the words that President Morales used during his speech to reflect on the expulsion of US Ambassador Philip Goldberg from Bolivia, along with the DEA and USAID agencies: “Now there’s no need to ask for permission from the US Embassy… we indigenous people have been the victims of different empires.”

After his strong remarks, the Bolivian president publicly invited Russia to join the the bloc.

Morales also took the opportunity to warn about the possibility of “a second Vietnam” in Latin America if the US “aggression” towards Venezuela continued.

“Clearly, there’s a conservative restoration at a regional level that aims to put an end to progressive governments,” Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa warned about threats against progressive governments in Latin America.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that as stated by the President Evo Morales, “from Venezuela we express our support for the creation of an Institute for the Decolonization of the South for independence and integration of our countries.”

The Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro said the 50 year history of the G77 was an encouraging development, but insufficient, so he asked to get cultural reconnection.

“50 years ago we were mired in slavery, misery, backwardness, dependence; we have a mark still pending to overcome. 50 years of history of mankind to find ourselves, we can say that is still little,” he stated.

“40 years ago, beloved president (Morales), the United Nations approved the plan of the New World Order. I invite you, that in the exercise of the presidency of Bolivia, we could bring into validity the World and International Economic Order that that has been proposed in 1974; which had 10 major tasks in terms of resources, international trade, development, and care for the conflicts in the world”, he said.

“We have to prepare ourselves for the establishment of the New World Order (…), we believe that 40 years after the declaration of the New International Economic Order takes effect debate within the G77 on these global issues,” he added.

Eliminate the UN Security Council

The anti-imperialism thread also addressed the United Nations system. During his speech, the G77+China Bolivian president proposed to eliminate the UN Security Council “because instead of guaranteeing peace among nations, it has sponsored wars and invasions of powers.”

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales demanded to eliminate the UN Security Council and called for “eliminating world hierarchies.”

“The UN Security Council should be eliminated because instead of guaranteeing peace among nations, it has encouraged wars and invasions by imperial powers to appropriate natural resources of invaded countries,” he said.

A New “Equal” Financial Order

In addition to anti-imperialism and anti-free market rhetoric, there was another motion on the agenda: the “independence of the current international financial system and the construction of a new financial architecture.”

Cuban President Raúl Castro proposed to substitute institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for other ones that were more inclusive towards the South and its needs.

Morales, the first democratically elected indigenous president of South America’s poorest country, agreed replace financial institutions like the IMF.

In this regard, he suggested the creation of a Bank of the South (Banco del Sur) that would allow greater participation from developing countries in the decision-making process.

“The financial crisis was prompted by the greedy pursuit of financial capital, which led to profound international financial speculation, a practice that favored certain groups, multinational corporations or power centers that amassed wealth”, Morales said.

“These financial bubbles that generate speculative gains eventually burst, and in the process, they plunge into poverty the workers who received inexpensive credits, the middle-class saving-account holders who trusted their savings to greedy speculators, who overnight went bankrupt or took their capital to other foreign countries, thus leading entire nations into bankruptcy”, he added.

Argentinean President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who urged G77 members to speak up against “anarcho-capitalism,” also addressed the need for a reform. The president coined the term “anarcho-capitalism,” which he defined as a system gestation “even worse than capitalism” which according to her, “puts into risk the financial system and the world economic system.”

“In traditional capitalism of Adam Smith, we used to spoke of exploitation or plus value, today we have created a new category of exclusion. By the interests of large capital of money it would not matter the human being even to be exploit,” she said.

“In Argentina we speak “Better Living”  I heard to today Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca, discuss the differences with the ‘Living Well’, which promotes Bolivia, back in 2005” she recalled.

“But beyond the conceptual differences, I feel that since 2005 at a global level, neither we live well or we live better,” reflected the president.

The leader felt that Argentina is not an isolated case, but this view is dragging a crisis globally.

“The countries have fought to reduce the gaps between our people. Today we see that they want to move the crisis that occurred in the first world, so it is important that this group stands up”, she concluded.

Maduro emphasized that it is important to return to a financial system from Southern, and to retake cultural projects for the restoration of independence in this area, as happened in Venezuela with the creation of “Telesur”.

“On 24 July this year Telesur will be launched in English language, to move forward and to show cultural revolution democratic view from the South,” he said citing the importance governments look without any imperial interventionism.

Culture of Greed and Squander must ceased for we have come to a limit

President Morales continued to expand on the root of the problems that is threatening our world, which is greed.

“We are also faced with an energy crisis that is driven by the excessive consumption in developed countries, the pollution of energy sources and the energy hording practices by multinational corporations.

“In parallel, we witness a drop in reserves worldwide and high costs of oil and gas development, while production capacity drops due to the gradual depletion of fossil fuels and global climate change.

“The climate crisis is caused by the anarchical capitalist production, the consumption levels and unharnessed industrialization of which, have given rise to excess emissions of polluting gases that in turn have led to global warming and natural disasters with effects on the world all over.

“For more than 15 000 years prior to the era of capitalist industrialization, the load of green-house gases did not exceed 250 particles per million of molecules in the air.

“Since the 19th century, and in particular the 20th and 21st centuries, thanks to the actions of predatory capitalism, this count has risen to 400 particles, and as a result, global warming has become an irreversible process with its aftermath of weather disasters the primary impacts of which are felt in the poorest and most vulnerable countries of the south; specially, the island nation that are being hit by the thawing glaciers.

“In turn, global warming is giving rise to a water supply crisis that is compounded by the privatization, source depletion and commercialization of fresh water.  As a consequence, the number of people without access to running water is growing fast.

“The water shortage in many parts of the planet is causing armed conflicts and wars that further worsen the availability of this non-renewable resource.

“The world population is growing, while food production is dropping, and these trends are leading to a food crisis. Add to these issues the reduction of food-growing lands, the imbalances between urban and rural areas, the monopoly exercised by multinational corporations over the distribution of seeds and agricultural inputs, and the food pricing speculation.

“The imperial model of concentration and speculation also caused an institutional crisis that is described as an unequal and unjust distribution of power in the world; in particular, within the UN system; including, without limitation, the IMF and the WTO.

“As a result of all these issues, the peoples’ social rights are at stake.  The promise of equality and justice for the whole world is increasingly distant, and the survival of nature is being threatened to become extinct.

“We have come to a limit, and global actions must be taken urgently to save society, humanity and Mother Earth,” the Bolivian president said.

The President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, José Mujica, also questioned developing nations for imitating Western culture because even though materialistic development can be achieved, this culture of squander will not lead to human development.

“I’ve been thinking a lot brother Evo (Morales), in the way you said you bring something from ancestral indigenous peoples, but the ancestral is the eternal, the love of life that cannot be separated from the simplicity, from the fraternity and elementary solidarity. But if we educate in the culture of unnecessary squander, for capitalism to continue accumulating [wealth], if we follow the culture of squander we lose the primary essence of accumulation. If we continue in this trap, we may be able to achieve materialistic development but will not achieve human development,’ Mujica said.

In this sense, he also referred to the desire of all G77 nations of seeking development while questioning some countries for following the the Western model, which would mean falling into a trap.

“The trap has been set, because our lifestyles tend to copy the ways of life that has generated the industrial West, our hotels are the same, our cars are the same, our opulence is apparently equal in societies that have other needs,” he added.

He pointed out that a different humanity is possible from the construction of other values “we cannot keep giving room to the civilization of squander, while life on earth is being attacked, so I think the cultural battle in the heart of the discussions by our university youth, everything must be laid on the table. It is easier to change property relations and cultural relations, but if the culture does not change, nothing changes,” he said.

One Melodious Voice for a New World Paradigm

The Santa Cruz declaration underlined their commitment to reducing poverty and inequality, fostering sustainable development, protecting sovereignty over natural resources and promoting fair trade.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the summit that the G77 has enabled the Southern Hemisphere to speak with a common voice.

“Acting together, member states can eradicate extreme poverty and provide opportunity for all within the finite bounds of our planet’s resources,” Ban said.

The G77 also underlined its pledge to strive for a fair world order that would better meet the needs of developing countries and has proposed a new goal to eradicate extreme poverty within its member states by 2030.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro also shared his thoughts about that in the 50 year history of the G77 was an encouraging development, but insufficient, so he asked to get cultural reconnection.

“50 years ago we were mired in slavery, misery, backwardness, dependence; we have a mark still pending to overcome. 50 years of history of mankind to find ourselves, we can say that is still little,” he quoted.

“40 years ago, beloved president, the United Nations approved the plan of the New World Order”.

“I invite you that in the exercise of the presidency of Bolivia, we could bring into validity the World and International Economic Order that that has been proposed in 1974; which had 10 major tasks in terms of resources, international trade, development, and care for the conflicts in the world”, Maduro said.

“We have to prepare ourselves for the establishment of the New World Order (…), we believe that 40 years after the declaration of the New International Economic Order takes effect debate within the G77 on these global issues,” he added.

“We must move over to a new order where the idea that people live well should be the core of our policies,” the President of El Salvador, Salvador Sánchez Cerén said in a statement was given during the main plenary session of the G77 Summit.

One of the most important points made by Salvadoran President was that while reflecting on the New Order to Live Well it must be recognized that our peoples still lack basic services that are a human right worldwide. Education and health is a foundation of the human condition and they should be given for free and with quality.

For El Salvador the eradication of poverty is the most important challenge that mankind faces, so the President urged the international community that there should be no discrimination in any developing country.

“The debate on the new agenda post 2015 should take into consideration the characteristics and needs of each of the regions. And a privileged place should be attributed to the dignity of the countries,” he said.

“The common history of our people has to do with inhuman governments that deepened the deterioration of our health and education in a highly profitable market. Nothing is more insulting than the indifference of the governments of the past, ” he added.

Vice-president of the People’s Republic of China, Chen Zhu, proposed on Sunday, during the plenary session of the G77 Summit, economic and technological development of its to through unity and cooperation.

Chen pledged that China will strengthen coordination and cooperation with the G77 to promote common development and prosperity.

“Only as a collective group can we make our voices heard and protect our interventions (…), unity and cooperation is the only way to develop. Our group should be contributing to the development agenda for 2015,” said Chen Zhu, citing an outline of proposals by China to accelerate the development of the 133 countries belonging to the G77.

“We must uphold the policy of development and prosperity of the countries, the G77 and China must continue to safeguard world peace and promote stability among UN members while respecting the model of development of each country. This way we will safeguard the fairness and equity in the world,” he said.

It is important to aim to promote the common interests of countries above the discrepancies and sing the same melody out loud, China said.

“We must sing the same melody. We must become protagonists in the international scene and raise our voices,” Chen said.

According to the China, G77 countries should insist that the resolution of this Summit must be included, with strong arguments, in the agenda for the New Millennium on 2015, which will be held in New York, United States.

“We are willing to seize the moment of our time to take advantage of the cooperation model between China and other countries,” he added.

Full Inclusion of Women and Unconditional Sovereignty among Nations

The Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Celso Amorim made a call to the G-77 Summit to undertake a policy for more inclusion of the women in political decision-making spaces.

“We must aim for the inclusion of women, we must continue our efforts in this regard,” Amorim said in his address at the plenary of the 50th anniversary of the 133 block of developing countries.

In his statement, he suggested a system of cooperation with sovereignty to develop together.

“One point to discuss is how the G77 will support cooperation together. For Brazil we are very proud to have help and mutual cooperation,” he said.

The aim is to have unconditional sovereignty which means increasing democratization within countries of the United Nations, sustainability in economic governance and a plurality with balance.

Cuba’s President Raul Castro proposed a “universal model that serves the interests of the different levels of development”.

According to the objective of the summit, to propose an agenda for a new New World Order, Castro expressed the need to be united to achieve the goals.

“Currently the sovereignty of the States is violated; the Mass Media is used to promote the division of peoples”, he listed, among other situations, during his speech that lasted about 20 minutes.

“So we need to coordinate efforts and build a more just world,” concluded the Cuban leader.

A New World with Ancient Values

President Evo Morales, at the time of evaluating the G77 Summit, highlighted the contribution of Bolivia on several concepts that have been included among the 242 points of the Declaration of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, which will set the agenda of the Group towards 2030.

Morales said that the G77 will follow a sustainable development paradigm that seeks not only balance between human beings but also balance between man and nature.

In that regard, he stressed that countries have accepted the concept of “Living Well”, proposed by Bolivia, as a development model. “It’s not just a slogan, it’s a sentiment of the people,” he said.

A second concept included in the document is the Ama Sua, Ama Llulla, Ama Quella (do not steal, do not lie and do not be lazy) as a guide for ethical behavior of governments. “The recovery of these traditional values will serve to establish parameters for a transparent government,” he said.

The recovery of natural resources, consideration of basic services as human rights and the rights of Mother Earth are other substantive proposals that have been undertaken by members of the G77.

The President of El Salvador highlighted the indigenous territories and peasants in his speech and commended Bolivia, acknowledging the work of President Evo Morales in breaking the silence of the native peoples

Cerón Sánchez stressed that Bolivia is now a world referent where life, liberty and identity have been vindicated.

“Following that example I am pleased to inform you that El Salvador has settled a historic debt by ratifying Article Two of our Constitution, establishing that El Salvador recognizes indigenous peoples and will adopt policies to maintain and develop their ethnic identity and cultural values and spirituality, ” he said.

The President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, also expressed his support to the nine points raised by Bolivian president and Chair of The G-77, Evo Morales, for the New World Order,

Maduro said it is vital to take into consideration the principle that respects nature, the harmony of man with nature, and with themselves, with transcendental values, where religion is respected, God, about the search for “the dignity human “.

Vietnam dismissed by G77

At the conclusion of the summit, Le Hoai Trung, Vietnam’s permanent representative to the UN, claimed that China operated a drilling rig “in the exclusive economic zone of Vietnam” and sent warships to drive away Vietnamese vessels, which “infringed Vietnam’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Le even demanded his claim be incorporated into a declaration that would be issued at the end of the two-day meeting.

Rebutting Vietnam’s accusations, La Yifan, a deputy director-general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s International Organizations and Conferences Department, said Xisha Islands are an integral part of Chinese territory under effective jurisdiction of the Chinese government.

He emphasized that all the successive Vietnamese governments prior to 1974 had formally acknowledged Xisha Islands as part of China’s territory since ancient times.

“It is the Vietnamese side that has stirred up the disputes, not China. We urge the Vietnamese side to immediately stop all the disruptive and destructive acts at the site as soon as possible,” La said.

“China urges the Vietnamese side to stop bending facts and fabricating stories that do not exist,” he added.

He also pointed out that it was inappropriate to raise irrelevant issue at the summit.

“The G77 plus China summit is to promote the friendship and cooperation between the developing countries, not to stir up disputes. The maritime disputes should be settled through negotiations with China,” La said.

The participants in the summit concurred and rejected the demand of Vietnam to have it in the final accord.

The final declaration of the G77 Summit contains 242 points that have been previously agreed upon by the countries.

“The points are expressed in 232 paragraphs, previously agreed in New York (UN Headquarters), that are product of about 90 hours of negotiations during 30 work sessions and expresses the will of the 133 countries and China,” Bolivia’s ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Sacha Llorenti said.

“The first part provides a general context of the origin of the group that ratifies the reasons why it was created and remains relevant after 50 years, reaffirming the principles of unity, solidarity and complementarity,” said Ambassador UN.

The decisions taken during this summit will contribute to the UN Post-2015 Development Agenda.

About the Official Photo

The official group photo of G77 + China, June 15, 2015 (Photo: G77/thesantosrepublic.com)
The official group photo of G77 + China, June 15, 2015 (Photo: G77/thesantosrepublic.com)

27 representatives and delegates from 133 countries were part of the Official G77 Photo that was taken on Sunday. The event took place prior to the plenary of the Summit on occasion of the 50th anniversary of group, which took place in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.

According to the established program around 8.30 am local time, the participants met and posed for the official picture.

Among Latin American presidents present were José Mujica (Uruguay), Horacio Cartes (Paraguay), Nicolas Maduro (Venezuela), Ollanta Humala (Peru) and Raul Castro (Cuba), besides the host, Evo Morales.

The president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, attended the opening on Saturday night, but returned home at dawn. Meanwhile, the president of Argentina, Cristina Fernández Kirchner, who was in the city, was not during the Official Photo but joined the plenary later on.

Background

The Group of 77 was established on the 15th of June 1964 during a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) held in Geneva. This conference heralded the inception of a group of 75 developing countries pledging to promote equality in the international economic and social order and promote the interests of the developing world. This was largely seen as an “initial step towards the international endorsement of a new trade policy for development”.

In a joint declaration made at the UNCTAD, the G77 & China members declared their unity under a common interest and defined their Group as “an instrument for enlarging the area of co-operative endeavour in the international field and for securing mutually beneficent relationships with the rest of the world.”

While the initial mandate of the G77 & China was to accentuate the trade and development related issues of its members, the focus of the group has since evolved:  today, it is a successful lobby group within the United Nations structures.

The G77 & China aims to promote multi-lateral collaboration through negotiation and lobbying as it strives to speak with one voice representing nations of diverse economic, political and social prisms. Through successive consultations such as the Algiers Charter (1967)” which sought to harmonize the position of the developing world” and the Caracas agreement (Venezuela; 1989) which articulated the need for improved international cooperation for development, the G77 and China has managed to firmly accentuate the pro-poor and pro-development agenda within the discourse of the United Nations.

Through continuous consultations within the Group, the G77 & China has developed Chapters with liaison offices in different United Nations Agencies namely Geneva (UNCTAD), Nairobi (UNEP), Paris (UNESCO), Rome (FAO/IFAD and WFP), Vienna (UNIDO), and the Group of 24 (G-24) in Washington, D.C. (IMF and World Bank).

One of the unique aspects of the group is its diversity which is both a strength and a weakness. It attempts to consolidate the positions of 130 countries. While instances of divergence have occured in the past, through negotiation and cooperation, the group successfully functions as a unit bound by common objectives.

When President Evo Morales took over the presidency in January, he called for what he called an integrated and holistic development model which he said means changing priorities  from the generation of wealth to meeting human needs.

“The South clearly has economic growth with very significant sources of wealth in natural resources, knowledge and technology, abilities, cultures and a great diversity of nations and people. And in that context, the G77 plus China is one of the main actors to bring about change at this historical time,” he said.

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