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Remarks by the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Handover Ceremony of the Chairmanship of the Group of 77 (from the Arab Republic of Egypt to the State of Palestine).

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said his country was honoured to assume the chairmanship of the Group of 77 (G77) and China for 2019 adding that Palestine would undertake this “great responsibility” with “humility, commitment, and dedication.”

Speaking at the Handover ceremony in New York today (15 Jan), Abbas said Palestine would spare no effort, together with the Group’s members, to build on the G77’s achievements over the past 55 years.

The Palestinian President said the G77 constituted one of the strongest pillars for upholding the multilateral system and the rule of international law, especially as this system was being attacked. He said Palestine would strive to confront these attacks by strengthening the ties that unite the G77 and China and all its partners in the United Nations on the basis of respect for national sovereignty, supporting the 2030 sustainable development agenda, and the protection of the interests of developing countries and their just causes.

Abbas stressed that establishing peace and security in the Middle East would “open the door wide to sustainable and stable development for all countries in the region based on international treaties and conventions; however, Israel’s continued occupation and colonization of the State of Palestine undermines development programmes, cooperation and coordination for all peoples in the region.”

The chairmanship, which is the highest political body within the organizational structure of the Group of 77, rotates on a regional basis between countries of Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean and is held for one year.

The Group of 77 is the largest intergovernmental organization of developing countries in the United Nations, which provides the means for the countries of the global South to articulate and promote their collective economic interests and enhance their joint negotiating capacity on all major international economic issues within the United Nations system, and promote South-South cooperation for development.

The Group was established on 15 June 1964 by seventy-seven developing countries signatories of the “Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Developing Countries” issued at the end of the first session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva. Although the members of the G-77 have increased to 134 countries, the original name was retained due to its historic significance.