The Group of 77 (G-77) was established on 15th June 1964 by seventy-seven developing countries who banded together with the signing of the “Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Developing Countries” issued at the end of the first session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva. The members used their association to navigate the complexities and challenges of the end of a post-colonial era. While there are now 134 member countries, the original name was kept due to its historic significance.
The 134 members of the G-77 represents the Global South and some 80% of the human population, which is most of the world outside Europe, the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other territories of colonial empires. China is sometimes listed as a member, making the number of members 135, but does not consider itself a member and instead provides a leadership and advisory role. Many members of the group refer to the group as "G-77 and China".
>The last South Summit was held in Havana in September last year and the Chairmanship of the organization passed from Cuba to Uganda at this Summit.
The theme of this Third South Summit is “Leaving No One Behind” and looks to bring a new dynamic to the cooperation among its Member States in a more competitive world. The Summit aims at boosting South-South cooperation including in the areas of trade, investment, sustainable development, climate change, poverty eradication, and digital economy.
Unfortunately, in its 60 years of existence, the G-77 has accomplished little due to each member pursuing their own interests and taking up all of the meeting time with mostly meaningless blather. Representatives use their short allotted time for greetings, thanks and praise of the organization, blame the predatory west for their problems and make vague references to the usual issues. Rarely does a member put forward any kind of meaningful proposal for collective action. However, the organization remains important and is making progress.
At this year's Summit, China has been leading the call to reform the institutions of international governance, such as the UN Security Council, World Trade Organization (WTO), World Bank and the IMF, all seen as favoring the west at the expense of developing nations.
"The collective rise of the countries of the Global South is unstoppable, yet the unjust and inequitable international political and economic order from the past continues to have lingering effects, ” said Chinese vice-premier Liu Guozhong yesterday.
The global south has made progress with its own financial institutions but they have nowhere near the resources that the American dominated institutions have.
The UN had a substantial presence at the Summit with the President of the General Assembly, Dennis Francis, and the Secretary General, António Guterres, in attendance and speaking.
Guterres recognized that the progress of the G-77 nations is slipping and severe challenges remains. He recognized that the international system is “out of date, out of time, and out of step, reflecting a bygone age when many of your countries were colonized”. He also stated, “the United Nations Security Council is paralyzed by geopolitical divisions. Its composition does not reflect the reality of today’s world. It must be reformed.”
He encouraged G-77 member leadership when he stated, "do not let new rules for new technology be written by the rich for the rich. Excellencies, let us face it, those that benefit most from the present global governance system are unlikely to lead its reform."
The General Secretary also took the opportunity to call out Israel for its destruction of Gaza and to call for an immediate ceasefire.
The next important meeting of the G-77 will be held in September in New York and is expected to promote deep reforms of the international order.
The opening ceremony can be viewed below: