The twenty-fifth Annual Meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77 was held in New York on 16 November 2001. We, the Ministers, declare our full commitment to the South Summit Declaration and the Havana Programme of Action as the two guiding documents of the South, reflecting the interests and concerns of the developing countries.

We also reaffirm our commitment to the Millennium Declaration and call upon the international community and the United Nations system to fully and speedily implement the provisions set out in that Declaration and in other major United Nations conferences and summits and their respective reviews, in particular those related to development and achieving the goal of poverty eradication.

We reviewed global developments and the state of international cooperation. We, guided by the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter and by full respect for the principles of international law, adopted the following declaration:

I. UPCOMING CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS

Financing for Development

1. We welcome the decision of the United Nations General Assembly to convene the International Conference on Financing for Development at the summit level under the auspices of the United Nations in Monterrey, Mexico, from 18 to 22 March 2002. We appreciate the generous offer of the Government of Mexico to host this Conference and pledge to spare no efforts in working for a successful outcome.

2. We emphasize the importance of all items in the substantive agenda of the International Conference on Financing for Development, namely: mobilizing domestic financial resources for development; mobilizing international resources for development – foreign direct investment and other private flows; trade; increasing international financial cooperation for development through, inter alia, ODA; debt; addressing systemic issues: enhancing the coherence and consistency of the international monetary, financial and trading systems in support of development for the comprehensive international cooperation for financing for development.

3. We believe that in the process of financing for development the Monterrey Conference represents a unique historical opportunity for forging a broad-based consensus on the reform of the international financial, monetary and trade architecture, with a view to making it more transparent, representative, participatory and supportive of the long-term development of developing countries. Such reform must aim at establishing a favourable environment for promoting accelerated and sustained growth and development, particularly in developing countries and for the equitable and effective participation of developing countries and their institutions in the governance of the global economic, financial, monetary and trade system. In this context, we welcome the active involvement of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization as partners as well as the civil society and business sector with the United Nations in the financing for development process. We look forward to their continued collaborative involvement in the lead-up to the Conference and the implementation of its outcome.

4. We further urge that decisive actions be undertaken by the international community to support the development of developing countries in accordance with their national plans and programmes including through strengthened partnership between the North and the South. In this regard, we call for action to expand initiatives to support countries in their efforts to attract foreign investment. We call for action to address trade concerns of developing countries, including substantially improved market access and the removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers including subsidies by developed countries in areas of export interest to developing countries such as the agricultural sector as well as textile and clothing, taking into account the interest of the net-food importing countries. We also call for action to find a lasting solution to the external debt of developing countries, including through debt reduction arrangements for middle-income developing countries and the speedy and full implementation of the HIPC-II initiative and reverse the decline of ODA, to reach the internationally agreed set target of 0.7 per cent of GNP and the 0.15-0.20 per cent target for LDCs, in addition to new and additional resources.

World Summit on Sustainable Development (Rio +10)

5. We reiterate the urgency of accelerating the comprehensive implementation of Agenda 21, and therefore, attach a great importance to the preparation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2002 and its preparatory process. We consider that this Summit should provide the international community with a unique and exceptional opportunity for sober reflection and objective stocktaking. We reiterate that the comprehensive review of the implementation of Agenda 21 should focus on the identification of areas where further efforts are needed to implement Agenda 21 and other outcomes of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, and taking action-oriented decisions in those areas. We firmly believe that this Summit should aim at the removal of the obstacles impeding the implementation of Rio commitments and provide, in particular, the developing world with adequate financial and technological support.

6. We underline that the Summit, including its preparatory process, should ensure a balance between economic development, social development and environmental protection, as these are interdependent and mutually reinforcing components of sustainable development.

7. We also express the hope that the Johannesburg Summit should achieve a renewed political commitment and support from the international community for the full implementation of the provisions of the Agenda 21, the Rio principles and all the international agreements emanating from it. The Summit should set concrete measures and specific timetable for the implementation of Agenda 21, particularly as far as the means of implementation are concerned. In this regard, we stress the urgent need to achieve substantive progress in areas of priority to the developing world, most notably, provision of requisite financial resources, technology transfer and capacity building. We reiterate the importance of the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities enshrined in Agenda 21 as well as other subsequent instruments and affirm that it should continue to be the guiding principle and framework for the full implementation of Agenda 21 and all outcomes of WSSD.

8. We welcome the recommendation report of the IFCC-X meeting in Tehran to organize a coordination meeting of the Group of 77 and China at the ministerial level on WSSD in 2002, to precede the meeting of the Preparatory Committee at the ministerial level to be held in Indonesia in 2002.

United Nations Forum on Forests

9. We are committed to actively participating in the first Ministerial Meeting during the second session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) to be held in San Jose, Costa Rica in March 2002. We reiterate our commitment to the UNFF process and to the implementation of the Programme of Action and Multi-year Programme of Work (MYPOW). We urge the international community to strengthen its commitment to this process by providing adequate financial resources, facilitating the transfer of environmentally sound technologies and increasing capacity-building programmes to all developing countries, in order to effectively implement the programme of action and the MYPOW.

World Food Summit

10. We express our strong concern with the level of food insecurity and under-nutrition affecting a vast proportion of populations in numerous developing countries, and the slow progress towards halving the number of hungry people by the year 2015 as agreed at the 1996 World Food Summit and reaffirmed by the Millennium Declaration of 2000. We welcome the establishment of a Trust Fund in FAO, which will serve as a catalyst for enhancing food production and improving access to food in developing countries. We call on the international community to contribute generously to the Trust Fund.

11. We express our strong support to FAO regarding the World Food Summit: five years later to be held in June 2002. We express hope that the outcome will be positive and results-oriented and that adequate resources will be made available to ensure an effective implementation of the decisions adopted at that meeting. We call on the Heads of State and Government to participate in the World Food Summit: five years later.

International Ministerial Meeting of Land-locked and Transit Developing Countries and Donor Countries and Financial and Developmental Institutions on Transit Transport Cooperation

12. We fully support the recommendation adopted at the Fifth Meeting of Governmental Experts of Land-locked and Transit Developing Countries and Representatives of Donor Countries and Financial and Developmental institutions held in New York from 30 July to 3 August 2001, to convene in 2003 in Kazakhstan an International Ministerial Meeting of Land-locked and Transit Developing Countries and Donor Countries and Financial and Developmental Institutions on Transit Transport Cooperation in order to give emphasis to the development of efficient transit transport system..

World Summit on Information Society

13. We consider ICT as one of the key tools to the development of the developing countries. We stress vigorously the need to promote access to and transfer of knowledge and technology to developing countries, including information technology. We also emphasize the required resources to narrow the technology gap and the widening digital divide between the North and the South. In this context, we welcome the convening of the World Summit on the Information Society in two phases, the first in Geneva in 2003 and the second in Tunis in 2005 and encourage participation at the intergovernmental preparatory process of the Summit, and attendance at the Summit at the highest possible level. We invite all Governments to actively participate in the preparatory process of the Summit.

Second World Assembly on Ageing, Spain, April 2002

14. We welcome the convening of the Second World Assembly on Ageing to be held in Madrid, Spain in April 2002, and assure our commitment to achieve a revised plan of action on ageing in line with the social, cultural, economic and demographic realities of the new century, with particular attention to the needs and perspectives of older people in developing countries.

Special session of the General Assembly on Children

15. We welcome the convening of the special session of the General Assembly on Children, to be held at United Nations Headquarters, in New York, in May 2002, and express our commitment to achieving a successful outcome.

II. RECENTLY HELD UNITED NATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES

Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries

16. We recognize that the political will and commitment generated at the global level require to be sustained for providing the basis for a supportive external environment and the consequent successful implementation of economic development programmes in LDCs. We resolve to cooperate among ourselves and with the development partners with this end in view. Effective measures have to be taken for assisting the LDCs in the following priority areas, i.e., building up productive, human and institutional capacities, enhanced market access, increased ODA flows of appropriate quality and FDI flows and effective relief from the crushing debt burden. Measures also need to be taken so that these countries in particular are not marginalized in the digital age.

17. We considered the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries which was set to start, as of this very year, to proceed with the development of LDCs for the decade 2001-2010. The Programme of Action contains a wide range of measures and actions in various areas, which are modest and achievable. As for the role of developing countries, we declare our readiness, within the framework of South-South cooperation, to advance the objectives of the Programme of Action with a view to accelerating growth and development and eradication of poverty in the LDCs, as well as to work in partnership with all the stakeholders to make globalization work for the LDCs.

18. We emphasize that the commitments under the Programme of Action need new resources, over and above what is already available and on the table. It is within this framework that we call on the developed countries as well as the United Nations system and other multilateral organizations to undertake what is needed to live up to their commitments. We emphasize the dire need for active intergovernmental follow up and implementation of the agreed decisions and measures.

Habitat

19. We reaffirm the importance attached by the international community to the Habitat Agenda, the Istanbul Declaration and Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium and reiterate the urgency of accelerating the implementation of the provision of these three instruments. We note the result of the twenty-fifth United Nations General Assembly special session for an overall review and appraisal of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda.

20. We welcome the efforts to achieve the two most important objectives of the Habitat Agenda: “adequate shelter for all” and “sustainable human settlements development in an urbanizing world”. We call for more action in order to overcome challenges, particularly with regard to the following objectives: wider and more effective involvement of Habitat partners in the implementation of the Habitat work programmes, especially the private and public sectors; better coordination between the UNCHS and other relevant United Nations agencies; active strategy for financial resource mobilization; greater mobility of the Centre to promote more dynamic cooperation, both regional and international; and greater linkages between the normative and operational work of Habitat, leading to pilot projects as necessary.

Twenty-sixth Special Session of the General Assembly on HIV/AIDS

21. We acknowledge the “Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS” adopted at the twenty-sixth special session of the General Assembly, and note with grave concern that the HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to constitute a global emergency, which undermines social and economic development throughout the world, particularly in developing countries. We emphasize the need to have an urgent, coordinated and sustained global response to address the epidemic through prevention, care, support and treatment. We urge the international community to complement efforts of developing countries through concrete incremental steps in increasing international development assistance, including through contributions to the Global AIDS Fund, commensurate with the magnitude of the problem to reach an overall target of annual expenditure of 7 to 10 billion US dollars at the national and international level to combat HIV/AIDS, and through measures to ensure that needed resources are made available, particularly from donor countries, taking into account the urgency and gravity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. We reaffirm the right of developing countries to have access to affordable medicine, including anti-retroviral medicine, to combat the epidemic and in this context, emphasize that international rules on intellectual property rights should not prevent developing countries from protecting the health of their populations.

The World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR)

22. We welcome the outcome of the World Conference against Racism and Racial Discrimination and call for the realization of its objectives. We also commend the international community for recognizing that slavery, slave trade, including trans-Atlantic slave trade, are crimes against humanity. We recognize that the legacies of slavery, slave trade, colonialism, foreign occupation, genocide and other forms of servitude have manifested themselves in poverty, underdevelopment, marginalization, social exclusion and economic disparities.

23. We express our commitment to the accelerated implementation of the World Conference against Racism and Racial Discrimination Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted by the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, in September 2001. In this regard, we reiterate our opposition to all forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in various parts of the world and express deep concern on the resurgence of contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in various parts of the world. We reaffirm that all forms of racism and xenophobia as well as foreign occupation constitute serious violations of human rights, which should be rejected through all political and legal means. We condemn all forms of racism and discrimination spread through the new communications technology, including the Internet.

United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects

24. We believe that the problem of the illicit manufacture, transfer and circulation of small arms and light weapons and their excessive accumulation and uncontrolled spread had a wide range of humanitarian and socio-economic consequences and posed a serious threat to peace, security, stability and sustainable development at the national, regional and international levels.

25. We welcome the successful conclusion of the United Nations Conference on Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects and the adoption of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat, and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects. We call on the States and relevant governmental organizations at the international and regional levels to undertake initiatives to promote the implementation of the Programme of Action.

Seventh Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

26. We note the outcome of the seventh Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Marrakech, Morocco, from 29 October to 9 November 2001, which finalized the operational details of the Kyoto Protocol opening the way to widespread ratification by Governments and for the Protocol’s early entry into force. We also welcome the Marrakech Ministerial Declaration as an input to the preparatory process of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, especially as regards the contribution that action on climate change can make to sustainable development and emphasize the importance of providing adequate financial resources, capacity-building, technology innovation and transfer to developing countries and cooperation with the biodiversity and desertification conventions.

Fifth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

27. We note the outcome of the Fifth Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and emphasize its linkage to sustainable development and poverty eradication. We call for urgent action to establish a funding mechanism for the Convention, through opening the GEF to become its financial mechanism during its forthcoming second Assembly to be held in China in October 2002.

WTO Ministerial Meeting

28. We note the conclusions of the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference held at Doha from 9 to 14 November 2001 and await a thorough assessment by the Group of its outcome from the perspective of developing countries.

29. We stress the critical need for an equitable, secure, non-discriminatory and predictable multilateral trading system contributing to the enhancement of trade and development opportunities of developing countries and facilitating an increased share of these countries in international trade. As the focal point with the United Nations for the integrated treatment of trade and development, UNCTAD should continue to examine these issues and to build a consensus for the reformulation of policies and options in this direction.

III. OTHER MAJOR ISSUES AND DEVELOPMENTS

29. We express our grave concern over the tragic and dangerous situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, which has gravely deteriorated the economic and social conditions of the Palestinian people, and has negatively affected stability and development in the region as a whole. We call for the immediate and total freeze of settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, an end to the Israeli siege of Palestinian towns and villages and all other forms of collective punishment, as well as the return to the negotiating table. We reaffirm our support to the Palestinian people in their effort to achieve their inalienable rights, including the right to establish an independent State on their national soil, including Jerusalem. We also call for an end to Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity. We reaffirm our support for the Middle East peace process, aimed at achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the region on the basis of Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) and the principle of land for peace.

30. We firmly reject the imposition of laws and regulations with extraterritorial impact and all other forms of coercive economic measures, including unilateral sanctions against developing countries, and reiterate the urgent need to eliminate them immediately. We emphasize that such actions not only undermine the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and international law, but also severely threaten the freedom of trade and investment. We, therefore, call on the international community neither to recognize these measures nor apply them.

31. We express our grave concern over the impact of economic sanctions on the civilian population and development capacity in targeted countries and therefore urge the international community to exhaust all peaceful methods before resorting to sanctions, which should only be considered as a last resort. If necessary, these sanctions must be established only in strict conformity with the Charter of the United Nations with clear objectives, clear time frame, provisions for regular review, precise conditions for their lifting and never be used as a form of punishment or otherwise to exact retribution.

32. We welcome the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) adopted in July 2001 by the 37th Summit of the Organization of African Unity held in Lusaka (Zambia) and express our support to it while calling upon the international community to provide the required help with a view to meeting the objectives contained therein.

33. We, recalling paragraph 16 of the South Summit Declaration and United Nations General Assembly resolution 55/210 which welcome the proposal to establish a World Solidarity Fund as a mechanism contributing to poverty eradication, and taking note with appreciation of the United Nations Secretary-General’s report on the subject, request the United Nations General Assembly to take the appropriate measures for the operationalization of this Fund.

34. We emphasize that there is a need to enhance infrastructure development in developing countries, which will spur sustained economic growth. For this purpose, we urge the international community to create a dedicated multilateral mechanism of international financing for the development of infrastructure in developing countries.

35. We call upon the international community to provide the necessary assistance to landmine clearance operations, as well as to the rehabilitation of the victims and their social and economic integration into the land mine affected countries. We express concern over the residues of the Second World War in particular in the form of landmines which cause human and material damage and obstruct development plans in some developing countries. We demand that the States responsible for laying the mines outside of their territories assume responsibility for the landmines, cooperate with the affected countries to get rid of them and to contribute defraying the cost of clearance and provide compensation for any ensuing losses and for reclaiming the affected areas for productive purposes.

IV. NORTH-SOUTH DIALOGUE

36. We reiterate the necessity of international cooperation to strengthen the commitment to multilateralism, while emphasizing effective North-South dialogue aimed at reinvigoration of international development cooperation geared to development and increasing democratization of global economic decision-making structure, as enshrined in the South Summit Declaration and the Havana Programme of Action. In this context we stress the importance of conveying promptly the G-77 concerns and interests to their developed partners by the Chairman of the Group of 77, including through meetings of G-8, and request our partners to facilitate such a process, through regular consultations.

V. SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION

37. We remain fully committed to the spirit of the Group of 77 to act in unity and solidarity, based on cherished principle of consensus, and in a transparent, inclusive and participatory manner. We reaffirm the increased importance of South-South cooperation in the current international economic climate. We therefore reiterate our support for South-South Cooperation both as a strategy in support of the development efforts of the developing countries and as a means of enhancing participation of developing countries in the global economy that is increasingly shaped by the forces of globalization and economic liberalization.

38. We approve the Report of the Tenth Meeting of the Intergovernmental Follow-up and Coordination Committee on ECDC (IFCC-X) (G-77/AM(XIII)2001/2), held in Tehran, from 18 to 22 August 2001, and welcome the Tehran Consensus as the positive outcome of IFCC-X. We commend the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for hosting this successful meeting in Tehran, and express our profound gratitude for the excellent arrangements and facilities provided. We also welcome the generous offer of Venezuela to host IFCC-XI in 2003 as agreed in IFCC-X in Tehran.

39. We also emphasize the increasing importance and complementarities of economic and technical cooperation among developing countries. In this regard, we welcome the outcome of the Twelfth Session of the High-Level Committee on the Review of Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries held in New York from 29 May to 1 June 2001 and urge the Administrator of UNDP to continue to preserve the separate identity of the Special Unit for TCDC and to provide the necessary resources to enable the Unit to carry out its responsibilities and mandates.

40. We note with appreciation the initiatives and steps already undertaken by the Chairman of the Group of 77 regarding the preparation of the South-South High Level Conference on Science and Technology as well as the High Level Conference on South-South Cooperation to be held in the year of 2003, and invite Member States to generously offer venues for hosting of these important conferences.

41. We take note of the G-77 Chairman’s report on the Extraordinary Consultative Meeting of the Group of 77 on the activities of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Developing Countries (G-77 CCI) held in Tehran on 18 August 2001 on the occasion of IFCC-X and urge the Member States to convey to the Chairman of the Group of 77 as soon as possible their views on the proposed project by the G77 CCI for the establishment of a Trade and Development Bank.

42. We take note of the recommendations and conclusions contained in the Report of the High-level Advisory Group of Eminent Personalities and Intellectuals on Globalization and its Impact on Developing Countries (G-77/AM(XIII)2001/3), held in Geneva from 12 to 14 September 2001.

43. We reiterate the importance attached by the Group of 77 to the implementation and follow-up of the South Summit outcome. We welcome the progress achieved thus far in this regard in the framework of the Ad-hoc open-ended Working Group of the Group of 77 established by the Twenty-fourth Annual Meeting of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77. We agree that the Ad-hoc open-ended Working Group of the Group of 77 should continue to function as a mechanism of regular reviewing and monitoring of the overall process. We commend the inspiring leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran as the Chairman of the Group of 77 for the year 2001 in New York and the dedication of the secretariat as well as the dedication of the G-77 Chapters in implementing the Programme of Activities for the Follow-up and Implementation of the South Summit Outcome in 2001, adopted by the Group of 77 on 9 April 2001.

44. We approve the Financial Statement of the ECDC Account of the Group of 77 (G-77/AM(XIII)/2001/5) and urge Member States to continue to provide financial resources as agreed in the Havana Programme of Action in order to strengthen the current structures of the Office of the Chairman of the Group of 77 and invite the Member States to contribute generously to the Special Fund to facilitate the effective implementation of the South Summit outcome.

45. We approve the report of the Sixteenth Meeting of the Committee of Experts of the Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund (PGTF) (G-77/AM(XIII)/2001/4), which was presented in accordance with the guidelines for the utilization of PGTF, and decide to extend from three to four years the term of office of members of the Committee of Experts whose term begins in 2002 and thereafter. We commend the leadership of the Chairman of the Committee of Experts for his continued commitment and express our satisfaction with the results achieved by PGTF.

46. We express our appreciation to the five heads of State and Government of the implementation group on the conclusion of its work entrusted to them by the South Summit.

47. We request the ad hoc open-ended working group established by the 24th Ministerial Meeting of the Group of 77 on 15 September 2000, to carry out its mandate and to present as soon as possible a report on its work through the Chairman of the Group of 77.

48. We reiterate our commitment to the implementation of the first-ever South Summit and, with a view to addressing the challenges identified in this Declaration, call for closer consultation and cooperation among all member States as we continue the review of activities and preparation leading to the Second South Summit in 2005.

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