At the handover ceremony of the Presidency of the G77 + China, now with Cuba at the helm for the first time, the member of the Political Bureau of the Party and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, said that "the great challenges that the current economic order has generated for the developing world reach their most acute expression in these times of systemic crisis."
In a speech in which he thanked the confidence placed in Cuba, the Minister made reference to the health, climate, energy, food and economic crises, as well as the escalation of geopolitical tensions and renewed forms of domination and hegemony.
He warned that the modest progress achieved in the 2030 Agenda promoted by the United Nations (UN), "is at risk of being reversed in a more divided and selfish post-pandemic world."
He said that "we will not relent, in our just demand to developed countries, that they fulfill their commitments to official development assistance, climate finance and North-South cooperation."
"We will stand up to any attempt to put on our shoulders the unfulfilled promises of the most powerful nations, which allocate millions of dollars to arms and not to development," he said.
"Let us work so that, at the end of this year, we will be stronger and more united," he said, adding that for Cuba, this will be an expression of duty fulfilled, while for the group "it will represent an invaluable step on the road to achieving our historic aspirations as developing nations.
The president of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, Csaba Korösi, called for the unity of the 134 nations to face the current challenges of the global financial system; he called to defend the objectives of sustainable development and a fairer order from the group, and predicted that Cuba's presidency of the G77 + China will be successful.
For his part, UN Secretary-General António Guterres affirmed that the G77 + China "reflects an inspiring example of multilateralism in action", and guaranteed his accompaniment "to advance gender equality and equitable geographical representation within our global workforce".
At the start of the ceremony, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, as part of the formal handover, took leave with the confidence that, under the leadership of Cuba, the G77 + China will continue the work deployed by its members to achieve a more just international order.
(Taken from Granma)