Group of 77 Gets New Chair

Ecuador has taken over from Thailand as chair of the Group of 77.

G 77 promotes the interests of the 134 developing countries it represents at the United Nations, including China.

The Group of 77 (G77) at the United Nations is a loose coalition of developing nations, designed to promote its members’ collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations.

There were 77 founding members of the organization, but by November 2013 the organization had since expanded to 134 member countries.

The group was founded on 15 June 1964, by the “Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Countries” issued at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The first major meeting was in Algiers in 1967, where the Charter of Algiers was adopted and the basis for permanent institutional structures was begun.

There are Chapters of the Group of 77 in Geneva (UN), Rome (FAO), Vienna (UNIDO), Paris (UNESCO), Nairobi (UNEP) and the Group of 24 in Washington, D.C. (International Monetary Fund and World Bank).