The President of the 76th session of the General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Abdulla Shahid delivered a statement today at the handover ceremony of the chairmanship of the Group of G77.
In his statement, the President commended the Republic of Guinea for its able leadership of G77 and China in 2021 and congratulated Pakistan for assuming leadership of the Group for 2022.
As the largest and most diverse Group at the United Nations, the G77 and China has a key role in shaping discourse around contemporary development issues and offering solutions to pressing global challenges, the President continued.
The President highlighted that the pandemic has exacerbated many of the challenges the world faces-from economic and social inequalities to unsustainable living and consumption patterns, to the catastrophic effects of climate change and environmental degradation- but at the same time, it has also allowed us to rethink our habits and reassess our priorities. With the SDG targets as our roadmap, we can recover better and build a greener, bluer, more resilient, and more sustainable world.
The President called for concerted efforts to ensure access to vaccines and address climate change, the twin challenges hindering sustainable recovery. He also urged bold actions on financial access to the countries in special situations, adaptation, technology transfer, and green jobs.
He underlined that access to vaccines, unlocking climate finance, mitigating debt burdens, including by debt restructuring, and financing a resilient recovery, including in at-risk sectors such as tourism –are all areas where the G77 can and should lead and where developing countries must continue to stand together in solidarity.
The President assured that his presidency of hope would organize high-level events, covering vaccine equity, tourism, debt, climate, and the environment during the remainder of the GA session. He sought the Group’s support to drive political momentum around these issues and produce concrete outcomes that will benefit the global community.
