N Dlamini Zuma: Handing over ceremony of Chairmanship of Group of
77

10 January 2007

Your Excellency, Mr Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar, Minister of State for Foreign
Affairs of Pakistan,
Your Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations
(UN),
Your Excellency Ambassador Frank Majoor, Acting President of the General
Assembly
Your Excellency Mr Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me to begin by wishing you all a happy and prosperous New Year. Also I
wish to extend a warm welcome to H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the
United Nations and to congratulate him for his election to lead the
Organisation and I wish to assure him of our full support and co-operation. I
wish to particularly thank the Secretary-General for appointing Dr Asha-Rose
Mtengeti-Migiro as Deputy Secretary-General. Dr Migiro is not only well
qualified for this important post but will bring with her the perspective of
the developing countries. Dr Migiro is one of three women among the top five
senior appointments made by the Secretary General since taking office. Clearly,
this is a welcome improvement to gender representivity in the Secretariat that
has been sorely lacking and our Group commits to supporting the
Secretary-General and his team in their important tasks.

Let me also acknowledge the presence of Mr. Supachai Panitchpakdi,
Secretary-General of UNCTAD and welcome him to this meeting.

Your Excellencies,

In January 2006 when South Africa assumed the Chair of the Group of 77 and
China we stated that South Africa looked forward to reaffirming the principles
of the Group and to strengthen our unity, cohesion and vision of a fair and
equitable multilateral system. We also assured you that South Africa would
spare no effort in ensuring that we collectively enhance the development agenda
of the South.

We hope that we have fulfilled this pledge during our tenure as Chair of the
Group of 77 and China.

Throughout 2006, there have been intense, hard and lengthy negotiations with
the developed countries that resulted in positive outcomes for the Group of 77
and China. This has been due to the solidarity and collective spirit of our
Members to articulate and promote our collective interests and enhance our
joint negotiating capacity on all major issues, including those pertaining to
the follow-up to the 2005 World Summit Outcome. It is worth recalling that the
Group achieved these successes often under extreme pressure.

Your Excellencies,

We live in a world in which international economic relations are marked by
uncertainty, imbalances and recessions that result in the continued
marginalisation of developing countries, in particular the least developed
countries. The collapse of the Doha Development Round has been a setback for
developing countries in that it has perpetuated the high tariffs, trade
distortions and the continued forbidden access to the markets for developing
countries. Our Group must remain steadfast in its commitment to see the
resumption in the Doha negotiations as one way to realise a just and equitable
global economic and social regime - in order to achieve a better life for
all.

With the adoption of the resolution strengthening the Economic and Social
Council, and another General Assembly resolution on the Development Follow-up,
together with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Ministerial Declaration,
the Group succeeded in maintaining a strong central theme of enhancing the
global partnership for development, and the necessity of strengthening
international obligations, commitments and their full and timely implementation
of commitments already made.

The Group has furthermore continued to emphasise that the United Nations
system, including the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade
Organisation, must translate all commitments made at the major United Nations
Conferences and Summits in the economic, social and related fields into
action.

We have continued to call for concerted multilateral action to achieve the
internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) as a means towards solving economic and social problems and
promoting peace and security. We have also worked for the creation of an
enabling international economic environment in order to support developing
countries efforts to achieve sustained economic growth and sustainable
development.

On achieving the Millennium Development Goals, we have stressed the fact
that in spite of appropriate measures taken, and the tremendous efforts made by
developing countries to build enabling environments for development, the
support received from development partners is still insufficient for
substantial economic growth and economic development. We emphasised the
imperative need for the full and timely implementation of all the outcomes of
all major conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields in
order to meet the MDGs target date of 2015.

The Group of 77 and China identified the promotion of gender equality as one
of the most effective ways to eradicate poverty and to achieve development,
peace and security. We furthermore supported the central role of the Commission
on the Status of Women (CSW) in the follow-up to, and review of, the
implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the
outcome of the twenty-third special session and its broad mandate in covering
women�s human rights and its social and economic dimensions.

The overall result of our solidarity and collective positions throughout
2006 has resulted in a greater understanding and respect for the positions of
developing countries, and also our positions, interests, needs and aspirations.
This has placed international economic, financial and social development
obligations and commitments firmly on the United Nations Agenda and has once
again reinforced the vital role of multilateralism and, in particular, the
important role of the United Nations system in promoting economic and social
development.

Your Excellencies,

The past year will also be remembered as one in which the United Nations
focused on the implementation of the 2005 World Summit Outcome. We have
strongly supported the request by the Secretary-General for additional
resources to implement the World Summit decisions. This we did despite the
obstacle we faced with the spending cap being imposed on the Organisation by
the largest contributors, and the fact that the voice and participation of
developing countries in the United Nations was being challenged.

Yet, 2006 will also be remembered as the year in which we developing
countries successfully withstood numerous attempts to divide us. Through our
unity, we ensured that Member States adopted decisions that guaranteed the
smooth and effective functioning of the United Nations and reflected the
interests of developing countries.

As mandated by the Ministerial Meeting in Putrajaya, the Group of 77 and
China ensured that the spending cap was lifted by consensus in June 2006. The
lifting of the spending cap guaranteed the continued financial solvency of the
United Nations and enabled the Secretary-General to implement programmes and
activities for the remainder of 2006 and 2007.

The Group of 77 and China also upheld the right of every Member State to
pronounce on administrative and budgetary matters, irrespective of the size of
their contributions, as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations by
sponsoring a resolution that our partners did not support. Through further
dialogue and negotiation, we also managed to ensure that the General Assembly
adopted a second resolution on governance and oversight by consensus.

On Secretariat and Management Reforms, the Group of 77 and China ensured the
adoption of no fewer than five General Assembly resolutions addressing various
issues including the increase in the representation of developing countries in
the Secretariat, in particular at senior levels; the increase in access for
vendors from developing countries in the United Nations procurement market; and
the improvement of accountability by the Secretariat towards Member States in
the use of resources and the implementation of mandates.

Our Group was instrumental in ensuring that the refurbishing of the ageing
and unsafe United Nations Headquarters in New York could proceed without
further delay. We further ensured that additional resources were provided to
the Development Account, which was one of the first reform measures introduced
by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997, his first year in office. The Group
furthermore contributed towards ensuring the provision of adequate financing to
the two International Tribunals, several peacekeeping operations and
twenty-seven special political missions for 2006 and 2007.

We supported the establishment of a peace building support office, the
provision of resources required for the functioning of the Human Rights
Council, the adoption of new accounting standards for the United Nations,
improving the information and communication technology system of the United
Nations, strengthening the procurement function of the Secretariat, increasing
the level of the Working Capital Fund, and strengthening the oversight
functions. We also set a framework for the consideration in 2007 of measures to
reform the human resources management system and policies, oversight and
accountability structures, and the procurement system.

For this reason, we welcome the steps taken by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon
to enhance accountability and ensure that staff acts in an ethical manner. By
disclosing his own financial assets to the public, the Secretary-General has
already shown that he will be leading by example. Also, the G77 and China has
consistently called for greater transparency and dialogue between Member States
and the Secretariat. So, the willingness of the Secretary-General to share his
vision for the Organisation with the G77 and China bodes well for future reform
efforts.

We also made sure that the interests of developing countries are reflected
in the scale of assessment that will determine the apportionment of the
expenses of the United Nations from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2009.
Throughout difficult negotiations on the scale of assessment the Group remained
united and at the General Assembly ended up adopting a scale of assessments
that maintains the adjustments for developing countries, thereby reflecting the
fundamental criterion of the �capacity to pay.�

The Group of 77 and China also ensured that developing countries, facing
large increases in their rates of assessment of the scale, received relief
through mitigation by the redistributing of the points received from the
Russian Federation. On behalf of our Group, I wish to express our appreciation
to the Russian Federation and some Members of our Group for contributing to the
mitigation for developing countries.

Your Excellencies,

Our Group was also active away from the United Nations in New York. On 3
September 2006, a meeting of the Ministers of Science and Technology of the
Member States of the Group of 77 was held in Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro
(Brazil). On that occasion the Ministers successfully launched the G77
Consortium on Science, Technology and Innovation for the South (COSTIS), to
fulfill the mandate given us by the Havana Programme of Action and the Doha
Plan of Action, both which called for the establishment of �a consortium on
knowledge and technology of the South.�

The consortium was launched following the decision adopted by the Third
World Network of Scientific Organisations (TWNSO) to transform itself into the
Consortium on Science, Technology and Innovation for the South. This launching
was made possible through the support and collaboration of the Trieste System,
especially TWAS as well as the Brazilian Academy of Sciences which hosted the
meeting. The first meeting of the Task Force on the Consortium will be held in
Rome on 19 January 2007.

I am also pleased to report that several countries have responded to my
appeal at the Pledging Conference last November for the expansion of the
resources for the Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund (PGTF). Last month, a grant
agreement of US$200,000 was signed with the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD) and we hope that other UN organisations will make similar
contributions.

The role of the Special Unit for South-South Co-operation has been critical
in supporting the implementation of the outcomes of the South Summits,
especially in terms of South-South co-operation. Many initiatives were
undertaken including the 10th World Summit of Young Entrepreneurs, held in Sao
Paolo (Brazil) in March 2006, and the 2006 Global Assets and Technology
Exchange System (GATES) Summit and Expo held in Shangai (China) in May 2006.
Other initiatives have taken place such as the preparatory meeting of the
Global South Development Forum (GSDF) held in Shangai in October 2006; the
brain-storming session on South-South Co-operation on Biodiversity in Montreal,
Canada; and the Forum on Creative Economy for Development held in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil.

Your Excellencies,

As I conclude, allow me to quote from the book by Nobel Laureate for
Economics, Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz�s titled �Globalization and its
Discontents�:

�The developed world needs to do its part to reform the international
institutions that govern globalisation. We set up these institutions and we
need to work to fix them. If we are to address the legitimate concerns of those
who have expressed a discontent with globalisation, if we are to make
globalisation work for the billions of people for whom it has not, if we are to
make globalisation with a human face succeed, then our voices must be raised.
We cannot, we should not, stand idly by.�

With these words, South Africa wishes to pay tribute to the Member States of
the Group of 77 and China whose solidarity and collective spirit ensured that
the Group was able to reach important outcomes that are good for the United
Nations while protecting the interests of developing countries. We are truly
humbled by your support and co-operation during the year in which we served as
Chair of the Group of 77 and China.

Furthermore, I wish to express deep appreciation for the work done by the
Secretariat of the Group of 77 and China headed by the Executive Secretary, Mr
Mourad Ahmia. It is a small group of professionals, yet they carry heavy
responsibilities and work very hard. A special �thank you� to Mr Arturo Lozano,
Mr Vincent Wilkinson and Mrs Marcelle Alexandre for their tireless efforts,
assistance and co-operation.

Also, our sincere thanks go to the Special Unit for South-South Co-operation
and to various UN Agencies, particularly UNCTAD, United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO),
Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), and the International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD) for their valuable support to the Group.

Lastly, it is a great honour and pleasure for me to hand the Chair�s Gavel
over to His Excellency Mr Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar, Minister of State for
Foreign Affairs of Pakistan. We wish Pakistan great success in 2007 and assure
you of our continuing support as you assume your responsibilities to the
Group.

I thank you.

For further information, please contact:
Ronnie Mamoepa
Cell: 082 990 4853

Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
10 January 2007