G77 50th anniversary celebrations in Nairobi
By Manuel Montes
The 50th anniversary of the founding of the G77 was celebrated in Nairobi on 13 June 2014 in an event organised by the G77 Nairobi chapter. H.E. Mr. Ittiporn Boonpracong, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Thailand and Chair of the Group of 77 and China, organised and hosted the program.
There were two sessions. The first session comprised messages from UN entities and the second was a panel on current issues relevant to the G77. The meeting was held in a big hall, and there were at the highest point at least 70 people in the audience. The major delegations of the G77 and China in Nairobi participated in the event. There were also some non-G77 countries present such as Italy.
Ambassador Ittiporn’s welcoming remarks highlighted the role of the G77 in the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and its location in Kenya, a developing country, after the Earth Summit.
In the first panel, the speech by Ambassador Amina Mohammed, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Post-2015 Development Planning, was read by Dr. Karanja Kibicho, Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Kenya. She underscored the critical role that G77 played in the development agenda including in Rio in 1992 and Rio+20 in 2012.
Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), greeted the gathering through a recorded video message. He congratulated the G77, emphasizing how UNCTAD and G77 had grown together in analyzing and proposing reforms to overcome the inequities and imbalances in the global economic system.
Mr. Achim Steiner, Executive-Director of UNEP, thanked the G77 for its support for UNEP, both in its founding and continuing activities. He traced the changes in the environmental discourse from Rio in 1992 when he said the question from the point of view of G77 countries was “their pollution” (meaning the pollution caused by the developed countries) to the present time when the problem is a case of “our pollution.” Mr. Steiner also highlighted the upcoming UN Environment Assembly.
Dr. Joan Close, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), highlighted the fact that the coming growth in the urban population will be mostly in the developing countries and the G77 has a critical role to play in this challenge.
The second session was a technical panel. The first speaker was Dr. Alex O. Awiti, Director of the East African Institute of the Aga Khan University. He challenged the audience on how serious the commitment is and the courage that can be mustered in averting climate change. He said that one problem was the over-obsession with growth.
Dr. Manuel Montes of the South Centre spoke next, where he made the point that without finance and technology developing countries will find it prohibitive to do their part in combatting climate change. Combatting climate change will require major reforms in the global intellectual property regime and the global financial system.
Mr. Li Bin, bureau chief of China Central Television (CCTV) Africa spoke about the role of media in mobilizing populations to act responsibly in environmental matters, protecting habitats and biodiversity.
Mr. Sherif Dawoud, Deputy Permanent Representative to UNEP and UN-Habitat of the Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt spoke about the critical role of the youth in development and in safeguarding the environment.
The final panelist was H.E. Dr. Martin Kimani, Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations Office at Nairobi, UNEP, and UN-Habitat. A senior Kenyan diplomat, Dr. Kimani highlighted two issues – (1) the question of violence and conflict that causes development reversals and (2) the issue of foreign debt and the inequities and development reversals debt crises can inflict.
The open forum elicited a few comments. The Venezuelan Permanent Representative asked about whether the current model is behind the shortfalls in development and in environmental protection. The Colombian Permanent Representative brought up the problem of growth and youth unemployment.
A reception followed the celebration. This was also well-attended by delegations in Nairobi.
The Group of 77 and China also held a Ministerial Commemorative Luncheon to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the group on Friday, 27 June 2014 on the sidelines of the first United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi. The lunch was hosted by Ambassador Ittiporn and had speeches from the UNCTAD Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director.
Manuel Montes is Senior Advisor of Finance and Development at the South Centre.
