Sudan elected to chair Group of 77 at UN

Sudan elected to chair Group of 77 at UN
Saturday 27 September 2008.
By Daniel Van Oudenaren
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article28750


September 26, 2008 (NEW YORK) — Sudan scored a diplomatic victory at
the United Nations today when African nations in the Group of 77
coalition of developing countries handed it the 2009 chairmanship of
the organization, which includes most of the countries of the "global
South" as well as China.

Logo of the G77 The Group of 77 is the largest intergovernmental
organization of developing states in the United Nations and aims to
articulate and promote the collective economic interests and enhance
the joint negotiating capacity of its member states during
negotiations at the United Nations.

At the group's ministerial meeting on Friday evening in New York, on
the sidelines of the current meetings of the UN General Assembly in
New York, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon congratulated the Sudanese
Vice-President and head of Sudan delegation to the current General
Assembly's session, Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, on winning the confidence
of the group.

Sudan was elected in part because it was an African nation's turn to
lead the group, providing Sudan with an opportunity to push its
candidacy in the midst of a wider diplomatic offensive at the UN to
stall the International Criminal Court's indictment of Sudanese
President Omar Al-Bashir. This step was regarded as a new
accomplishment of Sudanese diplomacy.

After the election process, Taha addressed the meeting, expressing
Sudan's thanks to the member states of the Group of 77 for their
confidence.

The meeting was attended by a number of ministers of the group, who
expressed their confidence on Sudan's capability to assume the
leadership of the group.

As chair of the Group of 77, Sudan will lead on economic issues,
international trade negotiations, issues of the Millennium
Development Goals initiative, climate change, poverty, the
international food shortage, and preparations for the Summit of the
South Countries.