G77 celebrates 50th anniversary
This is a special issue of the South Bulletin. It provides many reports on the celebrations held by the Group of 77 and China to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Group’s founding in 1964.
The Bulletin especially focuses on the G77 Summit of political leaders of the South, held in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, in June. It was attended by many Presidents, Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers and other officials.
Reports are published on:
An overview of the Summit
The Summit Declaration
The speech by Bolivia’s President Evo Morales
G77 celebrations in the Chapters in Geneva, Nairobi, Rome and also in Bonn (during the UN climate talks)
The Bulletin also has articles on the Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement in Algiers, and the 50th anniversary celebration of UNCTAD.
To download the entire South Bulletin, please click here. To read individual articles, please see below.
G77 Summit celebrates the Group’s 50th anniversary
The Group of 77 was formed on 15 June 1964 during the first UNCTAD Conference. On 14-15 June 2014, the Group celebrated its 50th anniversary at an Extraordinary Summit held in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and hosted by President Evo Morales, whose country is currently the Chair of the G77 and China. Below is an overview of the Summit by Martin Khor, Executive Director of the South Centre.
The Extraordinary Summit of the G77 and China to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Group concluded on the night of 15 June after two days of high-spirited speeches by leaders of the South and discussions on past achievements and the present challenges facing developing countries.
The theme of the Summit, “Towards a New World Order for Living Well”, was elaborated in detail by Bolivian President Evo Morales Ayma, at his opening speech, and the term “living well” was referred to often by several leaders during the course of the meeting.
President Morales impressed the participants not only with his quiet but eloquent statements and his immediate responses to the speeches of many leaders, but also by the fact that he personally chaired most of the plenary session on the second day that lasted 13 hours non-stop.
Present at the Summit were Presidents or Prime Ministers from Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Argentina, Cuba, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Zimbabwe, Uruguay, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, El Salvador, Gabon, Namibia, Swaziland, Santa Lucia, and Vice Presidents from Iran (who also represented the Non-Aligned Movement), Algeria, Zambia, Tanzania, Costa Rica. China was represented by the Vice Chair of the National People’s Congress.
Also present were Ministers of Foreign Affairs or other departments from many countries including Uganda, Brazil, Malaysia, Nepal, Sudan, Botswana, East Timor, Qatar, Tunisia, Chile, Paraguay, Nicaragua, Laos, Dominican Republic, Philippines, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Mozambique, Kenya, Dominica, Morocco, as well as Vice Ministers and Ambassadors of many other countries.
Also present were the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who spoke at the opening ceremony and stayed for almost the whole day at the plenary of the following day, as well as UN General Assembly President John Ashe, who also spoke at the opening and stayed for the plenary.
The Summit adopted a 39-page Declaration with 242 paragraphs, structured into five main parts, with the following themes: Overall Context; Development in the National Context; South-South Cooperation; Global Challenges; and Particular needs of developing countries in special situations.
The highlight of the Opening Ceremony, held on 14 June night, was a well-structured and rousing address by President Evo Morales who traced the political history of the G77 and China and the developing countries, gave details of the current crises facing the world and the developing countries, and presented the positive experience of Bolivian development in recent years.
He then enumerated “several tasks” that needed to be done to “build another world and establish the living-well society.” These included:
Living well in harmony with Mother Earth;
Sovereignty over natural resources and other areas;
Well-being for everyone and provision of basic needs as a human right;
Emancipation from the existing international financial system and construction of a new financial architecture;
Build a major economic, scientific, technological and cultural partnership among members of the G77 and China;
Eradicate hunger from around the world;
Strengthen the sovereignty of states from foreign interference, intervention and espionage;
Democratic renewal of developing states; and
A new world rising from the South for the whole of humankind.
“The time has come for the nations of the South,” he stated in concluding his speech. “In the past we were colonised and enslaved. Today with every step we take for our liberation, the empires grow decadent and begin to crumble. However our liberation is not just the emancipation of the peoples of the South, it is also for the whole humanity.”
“Only we can save the source of life and society, Mother Earth. Our planet is under a death threat…Today another world is not only possible but indispensable. Today another world is indispensable because otherwise no world will be possible.”
“And that world of equality, complementarity and organic coexistence with Mother Earth can only emerge from the thousands of languages, colours and cultures existing in brotherhood among the peoples of the South.”
Morales also proposed establishing a Decolonisation and South-South Cooperation Institute, “charged with the provision of technical assistance to the Southern countries, as well as the further implementation of the proposals made by the G77 and China.”
The institute will also supply technical and capacity building assistance for development and self-determination, and it will help conduct research projects, and he proposed the institute be headquartered in Bolivia.
Mr. Ban Ki-moon in his opening speech said the G77 and China had given the South a global voice, and the Group provides an immense contribution to the UN. He told President Morales that he appreciated his vision of Living Well, as development based on living well is humanity living in harmony with Nature and with each other.
The Secretary General said the SDGs require Global Partnership and the G77 has a key role to ensure its effectiveness. The Group should press for a fair trade regime, technology transfer and so on. The G77 and China plays a key role in the UN to formulate a post 2015 Development Agenda.
General Assembly President John Ashe gave his appreciation of the role of the G77 and China, of which he had himself been the Chair some years ago, and stressed the importance of the Group in the UN, and he wished the Group success in the years ahead.
In the plenary session on 15 June, President Morales chaired a discussion by heads of states and governments, which often became an interactive exchange of views that combined remembrances of the formation and development of the Group, the present problems and crises faced by the developing countries in their national striving for development and in the turbulent global economy, and the need for better strategy and implementation of actions collectively by the Group.
One major theme, which was first introduced by Morales, was the need for developing countries to take back control over their mineral and natural resources, and to make use of the increased revenues for the country’s social and economic programmes.
He recalled the experience of Bolivia in the nationalisation of natural gas and hydrocarbon resources and how this had led to much increased state revenues that could drive social progress.
One head of government, in response, said that this story of Bolivia had been very inspiring, and that he would explore implementing a similar policy on his return to his country.
The Summit participants were also entertained at the opening and at the presidential dinner with many colourful traditional dance performances and by songs by famous Bolivian singers and bands.
The plenary and the Summit concluded at 10 p.m. on 15 June after hearing statements of almost a hundred countries, and the adoption of the Declaration.
Contact the author at: director@southcentre.int .
G77 Summit Declaration a worthy marking of 50th anniversary
The G77 & China Extraordinary Summit adopted a lengthy Declaration to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Group of 77. This is the first part of a report on the Declaration.
By Martin Khor
The Declaration adopted on 15 June in Santa Cruz by the Group of 77 Summit is a valuable and quite remarkable document which encompasses the political state of thinking of leaders of the South as they commemorated the 50th anniversary of the founding of this umbrella grouping of developing countries. It is a document worthy of marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the G77.
As can be expected, the Declaration summarises the position of the Group on key issues of current international affairs, which can be expected in a declaration of the G77 and China since the Group’s main activity is to negotiate as the largest bloc of countries in multilateral and North-South settings in the United Nations.
This section on the international issues sets out the developing countries’ latest views on current negotiating themes such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the Post-2015 Development Agenda, as well as the global economic crisis, ODA, debt, trade, reforming the international financial system, the UN’s role, and increasing the South’s voice in global governance.
But the Declaration also breaks new ground with a lengthy section on “development in the national context”, in which the political leaders pledge to improve the performance of their governments in economic and social affairs at the national level.
The Declaration indicates that the leaders and other senior officials of developing countries have internalised the sustainable development framework, as it incorporates the economic issues (economic growth, industrialisation, infrastructure, agriculture) with social and environmental dimensions; it has a strong social inclusion or social protection element (particularly stressing the importance of the state ensuring basic services for all citizens); it stressed also the environmental aspects especially the need to respect Mother Earth; as well as the need for the state to claim control and ensure the sovereignty of natural resources so that benefits can properly accrue to the national economy and society. It also has a section on improving the practice of democracy.
The Declaration, which is mainly a product of 90 hours of negotiations by the Missions of G77 and China countries in New York, was presented to the Summit plenary session on 15 June first by Bolivia’s Ambassador to the UN, Sacha Llorenti, and then by Bolivian President Evo Morales. (Bolivia holds the current Chairmanship of the Group). Both gave a summary and explanation of the Declaration, before the adoption.
The Summit was attended by several Presidents, Prime Ministers, Vice Presidents and Ministers as well as Ambassadors, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, UN General Assembly President John Ashe, and the heads of several UN agencies, including DESA, UNESCO, and CEPAL.
In the Declaration’s Part I on Overall Context, the political leaders said they commemorate the formation of the Group on 15 June 1964 and recall the ideals and principles contained in the historic Joint Declaration. The first ever G77 statement pledged to promote equality in the international economic and social order and promote the interests of the developing world, declared their unity under a common interest and defined the Group as “an instrument for enlarging the area of cooperative endeavour in the international field and for securing mutually beneficent relationships with the rest of the world”.
They also recalled the first Ministerial Meeting of the Group of 77 in Algiers in October 1964 which adopted the Charter of Algiers, which established the principles of unity, complementarity, cooperation and solidarity of the developing countries and their determination to strive for economic and social development, individually or collectively.
The Group has since provided the means for the countries of the South to articulate and promote their collective social and economic interests and enhanced their joint negotiating capacity within the United Nations system.
They also recalled the first and second G77 South Summits in Havana in 2000 and Doha in 2005, at which the status of the Group of 77 and China was elevated to the level of Heads of State and Government and whose declarations have guided the Group and constituted the fundamental basis for the construction of a new world order and an agenda owned by the countries of the South.
They pledged to continue the tradition of their countries on building national development and uniting at the international level, towards the establishment of a just international order in the world economy that supports developing countries in achieving their objectives of sustained economic growth, full employment, social equity, provision of basic goods and services to their people, protection of the environment and living in harmony with nature.
The leaders said they are proud of the legacy and great achievements of the Group of 77 and China in defending and promoting the interests of the developing countries over the past 50 years, and pledged to build on this foundation and continue making progress towards a world order that is just, equitable, stable and peaceful. They referred to the UN General Assembly Declaration on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order in 1974 and the Declaration on the Right to Development in 1986 as among major landmarks that address the needs and interests of developing countries.
Despite five decades of achievements, there are still serious shortfalls in fulfilling the Group’s objectives, and that developing countries now face ongoing and emerging challenges, including the slowdown of the global economy and its effects on them and the lack of adequate systemic action and accountability to address the causes and effects of the global financial and economic crises, thus creating the risk of continuing with the pattern of crisis cycles, said the Declaration.
It also noted the gaps in many developing countries in meeting the needs of employment, food, water, health care, education, housing, physical infrastructure and energy of their people, as well as the looming environmental crisis, including the negative impacts of climate change in developing countries, the increasing shortage of drinking water and the loss of biodiversity.
The leaders stressed that imbalances in the global economy and the inequitable structures and outcomes in the trading, financial, monetary and technological systems led to the establishment of the Group. Nevertheless, these imbalances still prevail today, in some ways with even more adverse effects on developing countries. “Therefore, we pledge to continue and intensify our efforts to strive for a fair, just and equitable international order oriented towards the fulfilment of the development needs of developing countries,” said the Declaration.
“We emphasize that the rationale for the establishment of our Group 50 years ago remains actual and valid, and indeed more valid, than at that time. We therefore rededicate ourselves and our countries to strengthening and expanding the unwavering efforts of the Group of 77 and China in all fields towards greater achievement and for the betterment of the lives of our people.
“We affirm that the twenty-first century is the time for the countries and the peoples from the South to develop their economies and societies in order to fulfil human needs sustainably, in harmony with nature and respect for Mother Earth and its ecosystems. We agree to build on our traditional values and practices of solidarity and collaboration for mutual benefit and on the strength of our people, to achieve progress in our countries and in South-South cooperation.
“We emphasize that our major priorities are promoting sustained, inclusive and equitable economic growth, creating greater opportunities for all, reducing inequalities, raising basic standards of living, fostering equitable social development and inclusion, and promoting the integrated and sustainable management of natural resources and ecosystems that supports, inter alia, economic, social and human development while facilitating ecosystem conservation, regeneration and restoration and resilience in the face of new and emerging challenges,” said the Declaration.
The leaders also reaffirmed that the main strength of the Group of 77 has been and will be its unity and solidarity, its vision of fair, just and equitable multilateral relations, the commitment of its member States to the well-being and prosperity of the peoples of the South as well as their commitment to mutually beneficial cooperation.
The Declaration then touched on the issue of “policy space”, a theme that permeates most of the later sections.
The leaders emphasized that each country has the sovereign right to decide its own development priorities and strategies and consider that there is no “one size fits all” approach.
“We stress the need for international rules to allow policy space and policy flexibility for developing countries, as they are directly related to the development strategies of national Governments. We further emphasize the need for policy space to enable our countries to formulate development strategies expressing national interests and differing needs which are not always taken into account by international economic policymaking in the process of integration with the global economy.”
The leaders made a strong statement on the state of the global economy and the need to reform the undemocratic state of global governance.
“We are concerned about the current state of the global economy and the state of global economic governance and the need for strong recovery. We believe that the world is confronted with the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression, and we are alarmed by the adverse effects this crisis is having especially on developing countries.
“We believe the crisis has highlighted long-standing systemic fragilities and imbalances in the global economy, and further exposed the inadequacy and undemocratic nature of global economic governance. New attempts must now be made to establish proper global economic governance, with the full voice, representation and participation of developing countries in discussions and decision-making.”
The Declaration then focused on social issues, especially the leaders’ commitment to social protection and called for action against the “intolerable” inequalities at global and national levels.
It said: “We recognize the high importance of sustaining social protection and fostering job creation even in times of economic crisis, and take note with satisfaction of the encouraging examples of policies that allow countries to reduce poverty, increase social inclusion and create new and better jobs in recent years.
“We view with concern the increased concentration and the asymmetric distribution of wealth and income in the world, which have created wide inequality between developed and developing countries. This level of inequality is unjustifiable and cannot be tolerated in a world where poverty is still prevalent, resources are being depleted and environmental degradation is increasing. We call for global actions to reduce inequalities at all levels. We also pledge to address inequality in our own countries.”
The leaders also expressed concern with the power of large corporations, especially TNCs and asked for competition policies to curb their influence as well as actions on their environmental and social effects.
“We note with concern the influence of large corporations, mainly from developed countries, on the global economy, and its negative effects on the social, economic and environmental development of some developing countries, particularly regarding the barriers this may pose for the entry of new enterprises in the global market.
“We call for concrete measures from the international community to address these negative effects and to promote international competition and increased market access for developing countries, including policies that foster the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries, the removal of trade barriers that inhibit value addition in origin countries, such as tariff peaks and tariff escalation, as well as capacity-building on competition law, tax policy regulations and social corporate responsibility.
“We emphasize that transnational corporations have a responsibility to respect all human rights and should refrain from causing environmental disasters and affecting the well-being of peoples.”
On the sustainable development agenda, the Declaration recognized the progress achieved and reaffirmed the importance of supporting developing countries “to eradicate poverty by empowering the poor and people in vulnerable situations, promoting developing sustainable agriculture as well as full and productive employment and decent work for all, complemented by effective social policies, including social protection floors.”
The leaders said they fully respect the UN Charter and international law, particularly as they relate to equality among States, respect for the independence of States, national sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference in the internal affairs of States.
The Declaration stressed the continuing dependence of the South and pledged to strive for economic independence.
It said: “We are deeply aware that decades after political independence, some developing countries are still in the grip of economic dependence on the structures and vagaries of the global economy and on the developed countries and their economic entities. Such dependence…limits the extent of our real political independence as well. Therefore, we pledge to unite our efforts to continue striving for economic independence and to gather under the umbrella of the G77 and China as well as other organizations of the South to make progress on this.”
The leaders recalled the decisions taken at the second South Summit in Doha (2005) to work to ensure that programmes and policies designed in the context of globalization fully respect the principles and purposes of the UN Charter and international law, particularly as they relate to equality among States, and national sovereignty, and stressed that those principles and purposes inspire their full commitment to multilateralism and the search for a more just and equitable international economic system.
They recalled the decision taken at the G77 and China Summit in Doha (2005) to work towards the realization of the right to self-determination of peoples living under colonial or other forms of alien domination or foreign occupation and to call on the international community to take all necessary measures to bring an end to the continuation of foreign occupation.
They reaffirmed that indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinct political, legal, economic, social and cultural institutions, while retaining their right to participate fully, if they so choose, in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the State. In this regard, “we emphasize the need to respect and safeguard indigenous cultural identities, knowledge and traditions in our countries”.
In Part II on Development in the national context, the Declaration first commented on approaches for sustainable development.
It stressed the need to further mainstream sustainable development at all levels, integrating economic, social and environmental aspects and recognizing their interlinkages, so as to achieve sustainable development in all its dimensions.
It reaffirmed that there are different approaches, visions, models and tools available to each country to achieve sustainable development and in some countries there is an approach of “living well” as holistic development aimed at achieving the material, cultural and spiritual needs of societies in a context of harmony with nature.
It acknowledged that the Earth and its ecosystems are our home and it is necessary to promote harmony with nature and the Earth. It also recognized that “Mother Earth” is a common expression for planet Earth, which reflects the interdependence that exists among human beings, other living species and the planet we all inhabit.
It reaffirmed the Declaration on the Right to Development, which is a major landmark document that establishes the right of developing countries to act to achieve development and the right of people to participate in and benefit from development, and that “the right to development is an inalienable human right by virtue of which every person and all peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized.”
On improving the practice of democracy, the Declaration considered that democracy is a universal value based on the freely expressed will of the people to determine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems and their full participation in all aspects of their lives.
The leaders reaffirmed that while all democracies share common features, there is no single model of democracy and that democracy does not belong to any country or region, and further reaffirmed the necessity of due respect for sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity and the right to self-determination, and the rejection of any attempt to break down constitutional and democratic order legitimately established by the peoples.
“We call for an end to the use of media in any way that might disseminate distorted information against States members of the Group of 77 in complete disregard of the principle of international law,” added the Declaration.
The leaders expressed deep indignation and rejection with regard to the withdrawal of overflight and landing permits for the presidential aircraft on which Bolivia’s President Evo Morales Ayma and his party were travelling on 2 July 2013. These facts constitute unfriendly and unjustifiable acts that have also put at serious risk the safety of President Morales. “We make public our greater solidarity and demand clarification of facts,” said the Declaration.
On National sovereignty and benefits over natural resources, the Declaration reaffirmed that States have the sovereign right to exploit their own resources and the responsibility to ensure that activities do not cause damage to the environment of other States. They reaffirmed that “the right of peoples and nations to permanent sovereignty over the natural wealth and resources must be exercised in the interest of their national development and of the well-being of the people of the State concerned.”
While emphasizing this sovereignty over natural wealth, the leaders said they are also “aware of our duty to conserve and sustainably manage and use these resources and ensure the conditions for nature and ecosystems to have the capacity to regenerate, for the benefit of present and future generations. We also recognize that the sustainable use of natural resources is an effective way to achieve economic growth while reducing poverty and environmental degradation.”
The leaders “respected the decisions of some countries that decided to nationalize or to reclaim control of their natural resources in order to obtain greater benefits for their people, especially the poor, and to invest in the economic diversification, industrialization and social programmes.”
On the Eradication of poverty, the Declaration recognized that poverty is an affront to human dignity and stressed that poverty eradication is the greatest global challenge facing the world today. The leaders attached the highest priority to poverty eradication in the United Nations post-2015 development agenda to be supported by effective and adequate means of implementation and strengthened global partnership for development, and which entails, among other objectives, the promotion of employment and decent work for all, the improvement of access to social services, the eradication of illiteracy and diseases as well as integrated, coordinated and coherent national and regional strategies.
They expressed deep concern for the constraints on the fight against poverty arising from the crises, in particular the world financial and economic crisis, the continuing food insecurity, the volatility of capital flows and the extreme volatility of commodity prices, energy accessibility and the challenges posed by climate change to developing countries.
They stressed that to enable poverty eradication, developing countries must ensure national ownership of their own development agenda, which entails preserving their own policy space backed by a strong political commitment to reduce poverty in line with their national priorities and circumstances.
Developing countries must formulate their own development strategies to assist the poor through policies and actions, including strong, sustained and inclusive economic growth, the generation of employment as a priority, the improvement of the provision of universal and affordable access to basic services, the provision of a well-designed social protection system, the empowerment of individuals to seize economic opportunities, and measures to ensure the protection of the environment.
The Declaration also recognized that fighting corruption is a priority and as it is a serious barrier to effective resource mobilization and allocation and diverts resources away from poverty eradication and sustainable development.
On reducing inequality, the Declaration emphasized that the problem of inequality is even more acute today than ever because of the prevalence of extreme wealth while poverty and hunger continue to exist and this is aggravated, inter alia, by unsustainable patterns of consumption and production mainly in developed countries.
“We affirm that any benefit from economic growth has to be equitably shared and must benefit the people in vulnerable situations in our communities, and we therefore call once again for concerted actions to reduce inequalities at all levels.
“We are gravely concerned at the inadequacy of measures to narrow the widening gap between the developed and the developing countries, and within countries, which has contributed to, inter alia, deepening poverty and has adversely affected the full enjoyment of all human rights, in particular in developing countries.
“We also note with concern that high levels of inequality within and among countries continue to have a negative impact on all aspects of human development and are especially harmful to people in vulnerable situations who are affected by intersecting inequalities. We therefore urge countries, including through the support of international cooperation, to scale up efforts to provide equal access to opportunities and outcomes to all levels of society in accordance with national policies.
“We understand that sustainable development involves a change in the order of priorities from the generation of material wealth to the satisfaction of human needs in harmony with nature. The excessive orientation towards profit neither respects Mother Earth nor takes into account human needs. The continuation of this unequal system will lead to further inequality.”
On sustained and inclusive economic growth, the Declaration affirmed that sustained, inclusive and equitable economic growth is necessary to eradicate poverty, provide jobs and raise the living standards of people and generate public revenues to finance social policies.
“We note that historical evidence has shown that no country has ever achieved constant improvements in living standards and human development without sustaining a steady pace of economic growth. We therefore urge the international community and the United Nations to assist developing countries in attaining high and adequate economic growth over a sustained period,” said the Declaration.
“We also realize that high economic growth, although necessary, is not sufficient in itself. It must generate jobs and lift the incomes of peoples especially the poor and the most in need. Economic growth should also be environmentally and socially sound and, to achieve this, developing countries require financial and technological support from developed countries.”
On the Creation of employment, the Declaration said the capacity to generate full employment and decent work is fundamentally linked to reviving and enhancing productive development strategies, through adequate finance, investment and trade policies. It reaffirmed the need for significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources and the effective use of financing, in order to give strong support to developing countries in their efforts to promote sustainable development. It stressed the need for coherence between macroeconomic and job creation policies in order to ensure economic growth.
The Declaration stressed deep concern about the continuing high levels of unemployment and underemployment, particularly among young people, and affirmed commitment to reducing unemployment through employment-intensive macroeconomic and development policies. “We affirm the need to launch a UN intergovernmental process to include the issue of youth employment and youth concerns in the post-2015 development agenda and the importance of ensuring decent livelihoods for farmers in our countries.”
On providing basic services for our people, the leaders said the increasing gap between the world’s rich and poor is due not only to unequal income distribution but also to unequal access to basic resources and services.
“We recognize that the State has an essential role to play to ensure that basic services are accessible to all and to address the unequal and discriminatory distribution of and access to them. We reaffirm our resolve to act to implement the right of our people to access basic services.”
The leaders reaffirmed their commitments regarding the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation and called on donor countries and international organizations to provide resources to scale up efforts to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all.
On Access to public health and medicines, the leaders recognized that universal health coverage means that everyone has access to basic medical services of promotion, prevention, cure and rehabilitation as well as to essential quality, safe, affordable and effective medicines.
It recognized that many developing countries do not have the financial or human resources or the infrastructure to implement the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and called on developed countries to provide the adequate financial resources and technology to complement developing countries’ efforts to have policies and measures that provide universal health coverage and basic health services for all.
The leaders noted with great concern that non-communicable diseases have become an epidemic of significant proportions, acknowledged the effectiveness of tobacco control measures for the improvement of health.
They reaffirmed the right of member States to protect public health and, in particular, to ensure universal access to medicines and medical diagnostic technologies, if necessary, including through the full use of the flexibilities in the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health.
They recalled paragraph 142 of the outcome document of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, in which Heads of State and Government reaffirmed the right to use, to the fullest extent, the provisions contained in the TRIPS Agreement, the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, the decision of the General Council of the WTO of 30 August 2003 and the amendment to article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement, which provide flexibilities for the protection of public health, and in particular to promote access to medicines for all and encourage the provision of assistance to developing countries in this regard.
“We affirm the importance of taking advantage of the use of TRIPS flexibilities in order to promote the people’s health and access to medicines. We call upon developed countries to fully respect the right of developing countries to make full use of TRIPS flexibilities and to refrain from taking actions, including trade measures, to prevent or dissuade developing countries from exercising this right.”
The leaders also said they are “concerned about the increasing problem of antimicrobial resistance to existing drugs, including those against tuberculosis and malaria. As a result, increasing numbers of patients, especially in developing countries, face the prospect of dying from preventable and/or treatable diseases. We urge the international health authorities and organizations, especially the World Health Organization (WHO), to take urgent action and to work together upon request with developing countries that do not have adequate resources to address this problem.”
G77: Summit Declaration on national development, South-South cooperation
The Declaration adopted by the G77 Extraordinary Summit on 14-15 June in Santa Cruz has five sections. Its second section on “development in the national context” deals with poverty eradication, inequality, provision of basic services and access to health, among other issues (as described in the first article on the Declaration).
This second article deals with other aspects of Part II (agriculture and food security, industrialisation and infrastructure, women in development and indigenous peoples) as well as Part III on South-South Cooperation.
The Declaration contains a lengthy section on Agricultural development and food security. The leaders recalled that food security and nutrition are essential elements for achieving sustainable development and expressed concern that developing countries are vulnerable to, among others, the adverse impacts of climate change, further threatening food security.
They reaffirmed that hunger is a violation of human dignity and called for urgent measures to be taken to eliminate it. They also reaffirmed the right of everyone to have access to safe and nutritious food in accordance with their right to adequate food and the fundamental right to be free from hunger, in order to develop and maintain their full physical and mental capacities.
“We denounce that subsidies and other market distortions driven by developed countries have seriously affected the agricultural sector of developing countries, limiting the ability of this key sector to significantly contribute to the eradication of poverty and to sustained, inclusive economic growth and equitable, sustainable development, food security and rural development,” said the Declaration. “We call for the immediate elimination of all forms of agricultural subsidies and other market-distorting measures taken by developed countries that are not in compliance with WTO rules. We urge developed countries to show flexibility and political will to adequately address these fundamental concerns of developing countries in the Doha Round of trade negotiations.”
They reiterated their commitment to conclude multilateral disciplines on fisheries subsidies including through the prohibition of certain forms of fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, recognizing that appropriate and effective special and differential treatment for developing and least developed countries should be an integral part of the WTO fisheries subsidies negotiation.
Stressing that food security and agriculture development are an integral part of the international development agenda, they demanded sustained funding and increased targeted investment to enhance world food production and called for new and additional financial resources for sustainable agriculture development and food security.
Strengthening the agricultural sector should be part of the post-2015 agenda with its means of implementation, to achieve food security. They also stressed the importance of including the knowledge, practices and technologies of indigenous peoples, rural communities and small- and medium-scale farmers in national, regional and international strategies aimed at achieving food security.
They reaffirmed that quinoa’s biodiversity and nutritional value make it central to providing food security and nutrition and to eradicating poverty, as well as to promoting the traditional knowledge of the Andean indigenous peoples.
They called for the creation of conditions for the development of economic opportunities for the benefit of small-scale and family farmers, peasant and indigenous peoples and communities, and the creation of options for connecting them with consumers, as part of the national strategies for the realization of the right to food.
They recognized the positive role of small-scale and family farmers, including women, cooperatives, indigenous peoples and local communities in developing countries, and their knowledge and practices, in the conservation and sustainable use of seeds, agro-biodiversity and biodiversity associated with food production of present and future generations.
They stressed the need to address the root causes of excessive food price volatility, including its structural causes, at all levels, and the need to manage the risks linked to excessively volatile prices in agricultural commodities.
“We call for the prioritization of development in the WTO Doha Round of negotiations in accordance with the Doha Development Agenda, including food security. We call for the promotion of the livelihoods of small-scale farmers and rural development in developing countries. In this context, we urge WTO members to adopt a permanent solution to the issue of public stock holding and food security for developing countries, as agreed by the WTO Ministerial Decision adopted in Bali, Indonesia, in 2013, as soon as possible.”
On Sustainable family farming, the leaders declared that family farms and small farms are an important basis for sustainable food production aimed at achieving food security and that support should be given to the economic activities of sustainable family farming, in particular promoting their access to financial services, productive resources and agricultural inputs such as land, seeds, appropriate technology, transport and information.
“We will promote comprehensive and complementary national and regional actions for production, access and consumption based on integral, multi-sectoral and participatory planning, reassessing and strengthening sustainable family farming, small-scale farmers, indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants,” said the Declaration.
In a section on Industrialization and infrastructure, the Declaration affirmed that industrial development and value addition, together with science, technology and innovation, are essential elements for developing countries to attain higher development levels in a sustained way, as the industrialization process can generate higher productivity, more jobs and skills and positive spill-over effects on the economy. Therefore, they urged developed countries to assist developing countries in boosting industrialization in their development strategies and policies and in promoting inclusive sustainable industrial development.
They noted that many developing countries are still overly dependent on commodities and that they should explore industrial diversification strategies by enhancing value-adding productive capacities.
They called on international organizations and requested international cooperation mechanisms to assist developing countries, including through technology transfer, to develop their capacities to design and implement industrialization strategies and policies.
On the issue of policy space and trade rules, the Declaration stated: “We call for the international trading system to respect and reinforce the policy space of developing countries for the promotion and growth of our industrial development and for the design and implementation of our industrial strategies. In this regard, we call for the revision of all rules within the world trading system that affect the policy space of developing countries.”
On infrastructure, the Declaration affirmed that the development of reliable and affordable infrastructure, regional connectivity, including transport, roads, energy and telecommunications, are essential.
They urged developed countries to provide technical assistance, technology transfer and financial resources to enable developing countries to industrialize and develop their infrastructure in ways that are environmentally sustainable, including adopting cleaner, resource-based and energy-efficient sustainable consumption and production patterns, including cleaner fossil fuel technologies.
On the Inclusion of women in development, the Declaration reaffirmed the vital role of women and the need for full and equal opportunities for their participation and leadership in all areas of sustainable development. They decided to accelerate the implementation of their commitments in various relevant Conventions and Declarations pertaining to women.
They recognized that the potential of women in sustainable development has not been fully realized, supported prioritizing measures to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in all spheres, and resolved to unlock the potential of women as drivers of sustainable development through many measures and through creating an enabling environment.
“We are committed to ensure equal rights and opportunities for women in political and economic decision-making and resource allocation, to give women equal rights with men to economic resources, and to ensure access to education, finance, information and communications technologies, markets, legal assistance and other basic services, including health-care services, including safe, effective, affordable and acceptable modern methods of family planning,” said the Declaration.
They recognized that violence against women seriously violates all human rights of women, and agreed to take action to eliminate all forms of violence, including feminicide and discrimination against women and girls, through a more systematic, comprehensive approach, mechanisms and national action plans. They also reaffirmed the commitment to work towards a post-2015 development agenda with a gender perspective and supported the gender issue as a stand-alone sustainable development goal.
On Indigenous peoples, the Declaration urged efforts towards the implementation of the rights of indigenous peoples to their lands, natural resources, identity and culture, in accordance with national legislation. The leaders reaffirmed their commitments to implement their legal obligations, including, as appropriate, Convention No. 169 of the International Labour Organization, as well as to promote the implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
They reaffirmed the value and the diversity of the cultures and the forms of social organization of indigenous peoples and their holistic traditional scientific knowledge, innovations and practices, which play a significant role in strengthening the livelihoods of the local populations, ensuring food security and addressing climate change.
They stressed the importance of indigenous peoples in sustainable development and their critical role in the social, economic and political processes of their countries, while strengthening the local views and values referred to as the holistic views of Mother Earth.
They reaffirmed the importance of the role of collective action and the efforts of indigenous and local communities in conserving biodiversity, considering their critical role in the stewardship and sustainable management of natural renewable resources.
They considered that mitigation of and adaptation to climate change are contingent upon different sociocultural contexts, taking particular account of indigenous peoples and local communities and their traditional knowledge systems and practices, including their holistic view of community and environment, as a major means of adapting to climate change.
They called for strengthening the inter-scientific dialogue between traditional and indigenous knowledge systems with modern sciences in the context of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and of the conceptual framework of “Living well in balance and harmony with Mother Earth”, approved by the Platform.
They welcomed the convening of the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, to be held in New York on 22 and 23 September 2014 and the outcome document should contribute to the realization of the rights of indigenous peoples and the pursuit of the objectives of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
They also took note of the Special Declaration on the Coca Leaf of the Heads of State and Government of the Latin American and Caribbean States in Havana on 29 January 2014, which acknowledged the importance of preserving the cultural and traditional practices of indigenous peoples and recognized coca leaf chewing as an ancestral cultural manifestation of the people of the Andean region that must be respected by the international community.
In Part III on South-South cooperation, the Declaration reaffirmed their view of South-South cooperation as a manifestation of solidarity among peoples and countries of the South that contributes to their national well-being, their national and collective self-reliance and that South-South cooperation and its agenda have to be set by countries of the South and should continue to be guided by the principles of respect for national sovereignty, national ownership and independence, equality, non-conditionality, non-interference in domestic affairs and mutual benefit.
The leaders reaffirmed the importance of strengthening South-South cooperation, especially in the current international economic environment, and reiterated that it is a strategy to sustain the development efforts of developing countries and a means of enhancing their participation in the global economy.
The Declaration stated: “We reiterate the position of the Group that South-South cooperation is a complement to, rather than a substitute for, North-South cooperation and reaffirmed that South-South cooperation is a collective endeavour of developing countries based on the principle of solidarity and premises, conditions and objectives that are specific to the historic and political context of developing countries and to their needs and expectations, and that as such, South-South cooperation deserves its own separate and independent promotion, as reaffirmed in the Nairobi outcome document.
“In this context, we stress that South-South cooperation and its agenda must be driven by the countries of the South. As such, South-South cooperation, which is critical for developing countries, requires long-term vision and a global institutional arrangement, as envisioned by the Second South Summit”.
The Declaration welcomed the convening of the High-level Panel of Eminent Personalities of the South in Fiji in May 2013, and its conclusions on the future landscape of South-South cooperation and they reiterated the framework and principles of South-South cooperation first endorsed by the G77 Foreign Ministers in New York on 26 September 2008.
They welcomed the conclusion of the third round of the Global System of Trade Preferences, and called upon more developing countries to participate in it.
They welcomed the increase in South-South regional cooperation initiatives in various areas, such as finance, banking, trade, health care and food production and called for further initiatives as well as concrete ways in which developing countries can share experiences and good practices so as to spread these South-South initiatives. They also encouraged their countries to exchange experiences and best practices with regard to the equal access by all to basic services.
They stressed that the High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation of the General Assembly is the central multilateral policymaking body in the United Nations system to review and assess global and system-wide progress and support for South-South development cooperation.
They supported the system-wide provision of additional resources to the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, and recognized that the Office, currently hosted by the UNDP, constitutes a separate entity with a distinct legal nature, entrusted with the coordination on a global and United Nations system-wide basis for promoting and facilitating initiatives related to South-South cooperation for development. They requested a more formalized and strengthened inter-agency mechanism for the UN Office for South-South Cooperation.
They called upon the UN development system to promote transfer of technologies from developed countries for the benefit of developing countries and encouraged technology cooperation among the countries of the South.
“We acknowledge the role played by the South Centre in supporting the Group of 77. We call upon the members of the Group to further support the Centre and call upon the Centre to expand its activities for the benefit of developing countries,” said the Declaration. “We encourage organizations of developing countries, including the South Centre, to come up with ideas and suggest action plans to further operationalize South-South cooperation.”
By Martin Khor
G77 Summit Declaration addresses “global challenges”
Below is another instalment of a report on the Declaration adopted by the G77 Summit in Santa Cruz on 15 June. This instalment is on the “Global Challenges” part of the Declaration, which deals with the global issues being negotiated at the UN and other venues.
The G77 Summit Declaration, adopted by the Extraordinary Summit to mark the 50th anniversary of the Group of 77, in Santa Cruz on 15 June, has a major Part IV on “Global Challenges” which deals with the main issues that are the subject of international discussion.
The Declaration sets out the G77 and China political leaders’ current positions on these issues, many of which are presently under multilateral negotiations in the UN in New York, in the WTO, in the UNCTAD, IMF, WIPO and other fora.
The “Global Challenges” dealt with the global partnership for development, ODA, debt, trade, technology transfer, migration, a strong critique of the international financial system and calling for reforms, the credit rating system, the need to democratise the global economic governance, and the role of the UN.
The Declaration also deals with environmental issues including climate change, biodiversity, forests, desertification and land degradation and oceans.
Significantly, the Declaration also has a section on an emerging issue of internet governance and the invasion of privacy. The leaders condemned the misuse of communications technology (by some countries) to conduct surveillance on developing countries’ leaders and citizens, and calling for an end to such activities and ensuring that cyberspace is used for peaceful ends.
The Declaration is an important reference for the views of the developing countries, at the highest political level, on the current international issues.
In a section on “Global partnership for development”, the Declaration stressed the need for a new and stronger commitment by developed countries to international cooperation to support the fulfilment of the development aspirations of developing countries.
As part of the Millennium Development Goals, a commitment was made to a global partnership for development. “However, we note with concern the significant shortfall in the partnership under the Goals, which contributed to the lack of achievement of many goals and targets. We therefore call for the urgent implementation of all commitments under the global partnership for development so as to overcome the gaps identified”, said the leaders.
“We also call upon leaders of the developed countries to agree and commit to a new phase of international cooperation through a strengthened and scaled-up global partnership for development, which should be the centrepiece and anchor for both the sustainable development goals and the post-2015 development agenda.
“Such an enhanced global partnership should include the issues of providing financial resources to developing countries, official development assistance, debt relief and debt restructuring, trade, technology transfer and greater participation of developing countries in global economic governance.”
On Official development assistance, the leaders reaffirmed that ODA remains the main source of international financing for many developing countries and that it is essential as a catalyst for development, including for fulfilling the MDGs, SDGs and the post-2015 development agenda.
“We stress that developed countries must meet and scale up their existing official development assistance commitments and targets made,” said the Declaration. “An enhanced predictable and sustainable flow of ODA is essential to meet the regular development challenges as well as the new and emerging challenges in developing countries.” It recalled the unfulfilled commitment made by developed countries at Gleneagles.
It urged the developed countries to fulfil their commitment to provide 0.7 per cent of GNI for ODA and the target of 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of GNI to the LDCs, and to increase the target to 1 per cent of GNI by 2030. It expressed deep concern that ODA commitments remain unfulfilled.
The leaders stressed that the global financial and economic crisis cannot be an excuse to avoid fulfilling existing aid commitments by developed countries and making further commitments. They therefore called upon developed countries collectively to fulfil their ODA commitments and to raise overall levels further, keeping in mind that the developing countries will require new, additional and sustainable financial resources to a significant extent and amount in order to implement a wide range of development activities.
They stressed the need for ensuring new and additional financial support to developing countries as a key means of implementation for achieving the MDGs and the forthcoming SDGs. ODA should be used in accordance with national developmental priorities without conditionalities. The leaders expressed “deep concern about the attempt made by donor countries, outside UN forums, to redefine ODA by including other sources of financing that are not linked or related to the development of developing countries, with the objective of disguising the drop in ODA flows not based on their agreed commitments.”
On External debt, the leaders were concerned that, with the global economic crisis, some countries are becoming more vulnerable to new external debt problems or even crises. Addressing the external debt problems of developing countries is thus an important part of international cooperation and the enhanced global partnership for development.
“We recognize the importance of debt relief, including debt cancellation, debt restructuring, debt moratorium and debt audit procedures. Debt restructuring processes should have as their core element a determination of real payment capacity so that they may not adversely affect economic growth and the fulfilment of the unfinished business of the MDGs, the SDGs and the post-2015 development agenda.
“In this regard, we reiterate the urgent need for the international community to examine options for an effective, equitable, durable, independent and development-oriented international debt resolution mechanism, and call upon all countries to promote and contribute to the discussions within the United Nations and other appropriate forums with that objective.”
The Declaration pointed to a new concern on vulture funds. Recent examples of the actions of vulture funds in international courts have revealed their highly speculative nature. “Such funds pose a risk to all future debt-restructuring processes, both for developing and developed countries,” it added. “We therefore stress the importance of not allowing vulture funds to paralyse the debt-restructuring efforts of developing countries, and that these funds should not supersede a State’s right to protect its people under international law.
“We stress the need to ensure that the economic and monetary policies implemented by developed countries do not affect global aggregate demand and liquidity, owing to the objective of finding surplus in their balance of payments, with negative results in the reduction of global revenues in developing countries.”
On Reforming the global financial architecture, the leaders affirmed the need for reform of the international financial architecture so that we have a financial and monetary system that reflects the realities of the twenty-first century, including a properly regulated international financial sector that reduces and discourages speculative investment, in order for capital markets to be mobilized to achieve sustainable development and play a constructive role in the global development agenda.
They added: “We also note the continuation of fundamental problems in the global financial and monetary system, including lack of regulation to ensure financial stability, the problems of the reserve currencies, the volatil