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The Group of 77 at the United Nations is a loose coalition of developing nations, designed to promote its members' collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations.^[1] There were 77 founding members of the organization, but the organization has since expanded to 132 member countries. Practically speaking (as of 2011), the group can be described as comprising all of UN members (along with the Palestinian Authority) excluding the following:

1. All Council of Europe members (with the exception of Bosnia and Herzegovina);
2. All Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development members (with the exception of Chile);
3. All Commonwealth of Independent States (full) members (with the exception of Tajikistan);
4. Three microstates: Kiribati, Palau and Tuvalu.

Algeria holds the Chairmanship for 2012.

The group was founded on June 15, 1964 by the "Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Countries" issued at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).^[2] The first major meeting was in Algiers in 1967, where the Charter of Algiers was adopted and the basis for permanent institutional structures was begun. There are Chapters of the Group of 77 in Rome (FAO), Vienna (UNIDO), Paris (UNESCO), Nairobi (UNEP) and the Group of 24 in Washington, D.C. (International Monetary Fund and World Bank).

Members[link]

On the map, founding and currently participating members (as of 2008) are shown in dark green, while founding members that have since left the organization are shown in light green. Currently participating members that joined after the foundation of the Group are shown in medium green.

Group of 77 countries as of 2008

Member nations are listed below. The years in parenthesis represent the year/s a country has presided. Countries listed in bold are also members of the G-24. See the official list of G-77 members.

Current founding members[link]

Other current members[link]

Former members[link]

Presiding countries of the G-77 since 1970. Colors show the number of times a country has held the position. Yellow = once; orange = twice; red = thrice. Countries in grey have yet to hold the position.

1.  New Zealand signed the original "Joint Declaration of the Developing Countries" in October 1963, but pulled out of the group before the formation of the G-77 in 1964 (it joined the OECD in 1973).
2.  Mexico was a founding member, but left the Group after joining the OECD in 1994. It had presided over the group in 1973–1974, 1983–1984; however, it is still a member of G-24.
3.  South Korea was a founding member, but left the Group after joining the OECD in 1996.
4.  Yugoslavia was a founding member; by the late 1990s it was still listed on the membership list, but it was noted that it "cannot participate in the activities of G-77." It was removed from the list in late 2003.^{[citation needed]} It had presided over the group in 1985–1986. Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only part of former Yugoslavia that is currently in G-77.
5.  Cyprus was a founding member, but was no longer listed on the official membership list after its accession to the EU in 2004.
6.  Malta was admitted to the Group in 1976, but was no longer listed on the official membership list after its accession to the EU in 2004.
7.  Palau joined the Group in 2002, but withdrew in 2004, having decided that it could best pursue its environmental interests through the Alliance of Small Island States.
8.  Romania was admitted to the Group in 1976, but was no longer listed on the official membership list after its accession to the EU in 2007.

Group of 24[link]

G-24 countries.

  Member nations

  Observer nations

The Group of 24 (G-24) is a chapter of the G-77 that was established in 1971 to coordinate the positions of developing countries on international monetary and development finance issues and to ensure that their interests were adequately represented in negotiations on international monetary matters.

The Group of 24, which is officially called the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four on International Monetary Affairs and Development, is not an organ of the International Monetary Fund, but the IMF provides secretariat services for the Group. Its meetings usually take place twice a year, prior to the IMFC and Development Committee meetings, to enable developing country members to discuss agenda items beforehand.

Although membership in the G-24 is strictly limited to 24 countries, any member of the G-77 can join discussions (Mexico is the only G-24 member that is not a G-77 member, when it left the G-77 without resigning its G-24 membership). China has been a "special invitee" since the Gabon meetings of 1981. Miguel Gustavo Peirano, former Argentine Minister of Economy, is the current chairman of the G-24.

See also[link]

• Non-Aligned Movement
• Third World
• North–South divide
• South-South Cooperation
• G20 developing nations
• Politics of global warming

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Group of 77

• Group of 77 official website
• Official list of 131 G77 members.
• Adam Sneyd, "Group of 77", in Globalization and Autonomy Online Compendium, edited by William D. Coleman and Nancy Johnson
• Group of 24 Official site