G77 Ministerial

The G77 Ministerial Meeting is the principal decision-making gathering of the Group of 77 and China, the largest intergovernmental bloc of developing countries at the United Nations. Originally founded in 1964 by 77 states issuing the Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Countries at the close of the first UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva, the Group has since expanded to 130+ member states while retaining its historical name.

The Annual Ministerial Meeting is convened in New York on the eve of the opening of the UN General Assembly's general debate. It is chaired by the country holding the rotating G77 chairmanship for that calendar year. Foreign ministers (or their designated representatives) review the work of the Group across UN bodies, adopt a Ministerial Declaration, and provide political guidance to the New York chapter for the coming GA session. The Declaration typically addresses:

• financing for development and the 2030 Agenda
• climate change, including loss and damage and climate finance
• reform of the international financial architecture
• unilateral coercive measures and sanctions
• South-South cooperation
• the situation in occupied Palestinian territory

Decisions are taken by consensus, which gives the Ministerial significant weight as a coordinated Global South voice in subsequent negotiations on resolutions, the Second Committee agenda, and ECOSOC outcomes.

Separate from the New York Ministerial, the G77 also convenes occasional South Summits at heads-of-state level (Havana 2000, Doha 2005, Santa Cruz 2014, Kampala 2024) and sectoral ministerials in Geneva (UNCTAD), Vienna (UNIDO, IAEA), Rome (FAO), Nairobi (UNEP), and Washington (IMF/World Bank).

The chairmanship rotates annually among the Group's regional sub-groups (Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean). Uganda held the chair in 2024, having hosted the Third South Summit in Kampala in January 2024.