Secretary-General urges G-77 countries to do their part to help the weak and the poor

Developing countries must keep their commitments made at the World Summit to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), to reduce poverty and disease, make our world safer, advance human rights and make the United Nations more effective, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today in opening remarks to foreign ministers of the Group of 77.

“Our task now is to implement what was agreed, and I look forward to the G-77 playing an active and constructive role in that process,” he said. Both developing and developed countries need to act, he noted but for their part the developing countries will have to “promote good governance, fight corruption, pursue sound macroeconomic policies, and made transparent and effective use of public funds.”

Developed countries must also honor their promise to provide aid at 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and expand debt relief so that developing countries can make improvements where they are really needed, such as providing malaria bed nets, expanding school meal programmes, and eliminating user fees for primary school and health services.

But he also noted that he was disappointed with the lack of progress on trade, where “trade-distorting subsidies, quotas and tariffs” were undoing all the good works provided by debt relief and aid.

Mr. Annan also touched on UN reform measures, and said he was looking for the G-77’s “engagement and support” in accomplishing “a more efficient, more effective, and more accountable” Secretariat and UN.

But despite the strong emphasis on development and reform at the latest Summit, the UN’s good work still needs to be done, he said, which includes getting the Peacebuilding Commission up and running, making sure the Human Rights Council is successfully negotiated, agreeing on a global anti-terrorism strategy, and protecting civilians from genocide. Speaking on nuclear disarmament, Mr. Annan reiterated his disappointment in the lack of progress and called on the G-77 nations to support the Norwegian-led efforts to find a way forward.

“I look forward to working with you to translate our commitments into results, particularly for the weak and the poor—most of them citizens of your countries, who we must never forget, represent the majority of the United Nations’ membership,” he said.

The G-77 now numbers 132 member states, and calls itself the largest Third World coalition in the UN system. The association provides the means for the developing countries to articulate their collective economic interests and it enhances their joint negotiating capacity on international issues in the UN system.