The Philippines in now the chairman of the Group of 77 (G-77), as the country assumes the chairmanship of the group which is now composed of a total of 132 developing countries worldwide, according to the announcement released by the Department of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, July 23, 2014.
According to DFA, the Philippines took over the chairmanship of G-77 from the previous chairman, Sri Lanka, which chaired the group from January to June 2014. Philippine Ambassador to Vienna Lourdes O. Yparraguirre, the Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations in Vienna, assumed the G-77 chairmanship starting on July 16, 2014.
As the newest chairman of the Group of 77, Ambassador Lourdes O. Yparraguirre will lead the group in advancing its interests within the framework of the different UN and other international organizations based in Vienna, Austria.
Some of the organizations based in Vienna are the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). The G-77 will closely coordinate with this offices in Vienna.
The G-77 was established during the first session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva, Switzerland on July 15, 1964. The group is composed of developing countries worldwide, although the members right now expanded into 132 countries, the group decided to maintained its original name “to keep the vision of the Group at its inception alive,” the DFA noted.
The Philippines will now lead the G-77, the only group that represents over half of the world’s population and more than two-thirds of the entire United Nations membership.
