Palestine takes over Chair of Group of 77 (G-77) for 2019

The State of Palestine has launched the historical phase by presiding Group of 77 (G-77) for 2019 on January 15. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas succeeded Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi with a promise to confront “assaults” on multilateralism and a pledge to seek a peaceful two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The decision to elect Palestine as the 2019 Chair of the G77 was taken in September 2018 by the foreign ministers of the Groups’ member states. For this, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in 2017 adopted a resolution granting the observer-state of Palestine additional rights to act as chair of the G-77. The bloc – which through an expanding membership is now comprised of 134 countries – rotates chairmanship duties each year to different members. The G-77 is the global body’s largest intergovernmental organisation of developing countries including India. It is established in 1964 by 77 developing countries in Geneva. It claims to provide the means for the countries of the South to articulate and promote their collective economic interests and enhance their joint negotiating capacity on all major international economic issues within the UN system and promote South-South cooperation for development.