President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of the Republic of Uganda has assumed the chair of the Third South Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Group of 77 and China (G77+China) during the official opening ceremony of the summit on Sunday, January 21, 2024, at Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala.
The G77+China summit under the theme Leaving No One Behind was hosted by Uganda from January 21-22, 2024 in the Rwenzori Convention Centre of Speke Resort.
President Museveni said that the delegates’ (member states) participation in the Third South summit that is being held 18 years after the Second Summit which was held in the State of Qatar on June 20, 2005, demonstrates their commitment to the work of the G77 and China.
He noted that G77 was established because countries were faced with challenges of development and so, the founders thought it necessary to unite and steer countries to the right direction of development. He added that unity within the group has enabled it to stay on course to promote and defend its members’ collective interests and the United Nations.
“It was the first organized effort in developing countries to unite to steer their countries in the path of the development in the undusted World Economic order,” he noted.
President Museveni said that member states have met at a time when countries of the global south continue to face quiet multiple global challenges including unemployment, climate change and poverty, among others, which undermine national and collective efforts, and hinder them from achieving sustainable economic development.
“Therefore, this summit is an appropriate forum to speak with the common quest, as leaders of the Group of 77 and China, with the ideas in need for effective actions to exhale the implementation of the 23rd Agenda for Sustainable Development, the remaining seven years to realize shared principles, commitments, particularly the eradication of poverty and dimensions,” he said.
He pledged Uganda’s commitment to ensuring that no one is left behind and supporting economic transformation, adding that acceleration of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, scaling up action to address climate change and biodiversity loss, strengthening international tax cooperation, financing for development, the fight against illicit financial flows, and strengthening digital cooperation, among others are promoted.
He asked the assembly that issues to do with human rights should be held comprehensively and not be politicized.
The Chair urged the group to remain united in its pursuit of collective interests at the United Nations. He therefore, asked the group to ensure that priorities of the Group are promoted in the intergovernmental processes at the Unite Nations.
The President called upon the assembly to adopt and embrace trade in a bid to ensure that nobody is left behind.
He noted that Uganda’s chairmanship has come at the right time when the country is yet to celebrate its 60th independence anniversary. He thanked the Assembly for entrusting Uganda with chairmanship of the G77+China for 2024.
H.E Dennis Francis, the President of the UN General Assembly called for an immediate end of war in the Gaza Strip and humanitarian access which he said have led to loss of lives and property.
H.E Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations said that many G77 members are grappling with an economic hangover from the Covid-19 pandemic, crippling debts, a cost of living crisis and sky high borrowing cost and climate disasters which have caused people to suffer.
He said that Israel’s military operations in response to the horrific attacks by Hamas is heartbreaking and utterly unacceptable. He therefore, called the assembly to do all it takes to prevent the conflict igniting across the region.
The G77 was established by the seventy-seven participants to the Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Developing Countries which was issued at the end of the first session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva on June 15, 1964.
Over the years, membership in the G77 has tremendously been increasing and changed from the original 77 countries to now 135 countries in the global south, though the group decided to maintain its original name due to its historical significance.
The Group of 77, which is the largest intergovernmental organization of developing countries in the United Nations, provides the means for countries of the Global South to articulate and promote their collective economic interests, enhance their joint negotiating capacity on all major international economic issues within the United Nations system, and promote South-South cooperation for development.
Uganda is now the third nation in history to host the South Summit, following Qatar in 2005 and Cuba in 2000. With a more competitive globe, the third South Summit seeks to infuse new energy into the 134 member states’ cooperation. This is specifically in the areas of trade, investment, sustainable development, climate change, poverty eradication, and the digital economy, among others. In this case, the Kampala Summit seeks to strengthen the South-South Cooperation, the G77’s decision-making body.
