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On September 15-16, 2023, Cuba hosted the summit of the Group of 77 + China, an intergovernmental organization that is part of the UN and consists of 134 countries (77 is the number of members at the time of the organization’s founding in 1964) belonging to the so-called “Global South” and representing 80% of the planet’s population. About a hundred delegations from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America arrived in Havana. Among the summit participants were UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, as well as heads of many states.
This year the subject of the summit was the slogan “Modern challenges to development: the role of science, technology, and innovation.” This major multilateral group met to develop a unified approach to solving the problems of the Global South, which have been seriously exacerbated by the current world economic order that is “creating challenges and conflicts.”
The group of emerging economies has historically called for reforming the global financial architecture, putting an end to unilateral coercive measures, and solving the long-standing external debt problem. Among the most immediate and specific goals of this summit, as explained by coordinator Pedro Luis Pedroso, is the desire to consolidate a common position ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) summit that will be held in New York on September 18 and 19.
For a deeper understanding of the topic, the Editors of Pluralia invite you to read the text of the statement by Ambassador Nadieska Navarro Barro, Permanent Representative of Cuba to the UN, which he made on behalf of the Group of 77 + China at the 2023 Second Regular Session of the UN Executive Council (New York, August 30, 2023).
