In paragraph 89 of the Caracas Programme of Action (CPA), the Group of 77 established the Intergovernmental Follow-up and Coordination Committee (IFCC) on Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries (ECDC) to assure a global scheme of coordination for the effective implementation of ECDC. It is comprised of senior officials responsible for ECDC and the National Focal Points for South-South Cooperation. IFCC is entrusted with the task of examining the progress made in the implementation of ECDC, review periodically the programme and calendar of activities, agree on measures designed to give more impetus to those activities and recommend to the Annual Ministerial Meeting new policy guidelines, when so required. At the Eleventh Annual Meeting of Ministers for Foreign Affairs, held in New York in September 1987, the Ministers decided that IFCC meetings should be held every two years as from 1989.
To date, ten meetings of IFCC have been held: IFCC-I in Manila, Philippines (23-28 August 1982); IFCC-II in Tunis, Tunisia (5-10 September 1983); IFCC-III in Cartagena, Colombia (3-10 September 1984); IFCC-IV in Jakarta, Indonesia (19-23 August 1985); IFCC-V in Cairo, Egypt (18-23 August 1986); IFCC-VI in Havana, Cuba (7-12 September 1987); IFCC-VII in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (31 July-5 August 1989); IFCC-VIII in Panama City, Panama (30 August-4 September 1993); IFCC-IX in Manila, Philippines (9-12 February 1996); and IFCC-X in Teheran, Islamic Republic of Iran (18-23 August 2001).
IFCC-XI originally was scheduled to take place in 2002, but was postponed. The Government of the Republic of Cuba accepted the request of the Chairman of the Group of 77 through the Executive Secretary of the Group of 77 to convene IFCC-XI in Havana, Cuba from 21 to 23 March 2005.
IFCC-XI will consider the follow-up and implementation by governments
and relevant institutions of Chapter IV of the Havana
Programme of Action related to South-South cooperation, adopted
in the South Summit; and the agreements adopted at the High-Level
Conference of South-South Cooperation that took place in Marrakech,
Morocco, in December 2003. At the same time, this meeting will address
follow-up actions by governments and relevant institutions on recommendations
made by IFCC-X at
the national, subregional, regional and inter-regional levels.