By Andrew Irumba
From the 15th to the 16th of September 2023, Havana, Cuba will host the Summit of Heads of State and Government under the theme: “Current Development Challenges: Role of Science, Technology and Innovation”.
The G-77) was established in Geneva in 1964 at the end of the first
session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The bloc originally comprised seventy-seven developing countries.
Although it maintained the name, other countries joined in and it now has 134 members making it the “largest coordinated ad diversified multilateral group”.
This G-77 aims to provide the means for the countries of the South to articulate and promote their collective economic interests and to improve their joint negotiating capacity on major international economic issue.
In 1987, a one-calendar-year term of office was instituted for the Presidency of the G-77.
In January of this year, Cuba assumed the presidency of the Group, and on
that occasion the Cuban Foreign Minister pointed out that during its term of
office, the Caribbean island intended to contribute to the promotion of the
objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the midst of a context marked by the crisis generated by the pandemic, international armed conflicts and the lack of raw materials.
Similarly, it intended to foster international solidarity and cooperation in support of the post-pandemic recovery of the developing countries, making South-South and triangular cooperation a more effective tool.
The Summit also intends to foster the advancement of common positions among members, preserve and consolidate the unity of the group, support the multilateral trading system and advocate universal access to quality education and health care.
It’s worth noting that over the last eight months, the Cuban presidency of the G-77 has made it a priority to promote international solidarity and cooperation and to confront the challenges generated by the current unjust international order.
As Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermúdez rightly stated in correspondence with the Heads of State and Government of the aforementioned group, the purpose of this meeting is to allow the Heads of
State and Government to express a state vision in relation to the most important international issues of the present time that are as challenging as they are adverse for the countries of the South.
More About The Summit
The importance of the Summit of the G-77 + China in Cuba.
