Fréchette to address Summit on developing countries in Qatar

United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette is headed to Doha, Qatar, where she will address the opening session of the Group of 77's South-South Summit.

The South-South summit begins Wednesday, 15 June, and following her address Ms. Fréchette is expected to hold bilateral meetings with several leaders of the developing countries that make up the Group.

With 132 member countries, the "G-77" calls itself largest Third World coalition in the UN system. The association provides the means for the developing world to articulate its collective economic interests and enhances its joint negotiating capacity on major international economic issues in the UN system, it says.

It also promotes economic and technical cooperation among developing countries (ECDC/TCDC).

The G-77 has chapters in Rome, at the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN (FAO), in Vienna for the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in Paris for the UN Educational, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and in Nairobi for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). It also has the Group of 24 in Washington, D.C., for advocacy at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

Despite the increase in membership, the G-77, chaired this year in New York by Jamaica, says it has retained its original 1964 name because of its historic significance.