1. We, Chairmen/Coordinators of the Chapters of the Group of 77, meeting in Paris from 2 to 3 April 2002, declare our full commitment to the Havana Programme of Action and the South Summit Declaration as the two guiding documents of the south, reflecting the interests and concerns of the developing countries.

2. We reaffirm our commitment to the Millennium Declaration and call upon the international community and the United Nations system to fully and speedily implement the provisions set out in that Declaration and in other major United Nations conferences and summits and their respective reviews, in particular those related to development and achieving the goal of poverty eradication.

3. We are meeting at a time of great uncertainty and expectations. The economic crisis that has affected most of our countries is a major threat to our future stability and growth. The obstacles are many and formidable. This year's calendar of activities including the preparations for the World Conference in Ageing, Johannesburg Summit and the World Food Summit should be fully explored in search of a new and more enlightened basis for international cooperation.

4. The political changes, the information development and technological advances of the last decade have provided a stronger basis for economic growth. The world of today has the necessary resources, knowledge and expertise, as well as the technical means by which theses assets can be shared between countries. Its global economic interdependence offers the prospects of higher productivity and living standards. However, it also links national economies more closely to exogenous financial and other disturbances. The financial and economic crisis we are presently witnessing is global in its causes and its implications. Its negative impact will unfortunately be felt perhaps most severely by the developing countries because of the vulnerability of developing economies to external forces.

5. The Group of 77 will strive in the UN to develop its full potential and address urgent and serious economic and social problems facing developing countries. We reiterate the importance of the United Nations as the central forum for dialogue and negotiations on issues relating to international cooperation for development. The G- 77 Chapters attach great political importance to the strengthening of the role of the United Nations in promoting international cooperation for economic and social development. We strongly believe that the United Nations should be allowed to develop its full potential in the field of international economic cooperation. To that end, the realization of the right to development should be given utmost priority by the United Nations.

6. The landmark event of the Havana Summit needs no elaboration as to its importance and significance. We all attach the highest priority to the outcome of this first Summit of the Group of 77 since its establishment in 1964. We believe that the important result coming out of the Havana Summit was the contribution it played in reestablishing solidarity and commitment of the membership of the Group to the principles of the founding fathers. The founding fathers of the Group of 77, strove to build a just and equitable world economic system based on shared perceptions of the need to readdress the existing economic order.
7. Today, South-South cooperation is a prominent item on the agenda of the Group of 77. The Group of 77 will maintain and strengthen its unity and expand functional cooperation among the Chapters. We are well aware that there are no miraculous answers to the problems of international trade and development. We strongly believe that bringing about the solutions to the problems is a process. It can be speeded up; it can be directed and it can be made less turbulent, but it will remain a process that takes place through cooperation and partnership for development.

8. We reiterate our firm commitment to further strengthening South-South cooperation. This modality of cooperation is increasingly important, both as a strategy in support of development and as a means of ensuring the effective participation of developing countries in the emerging global economic order. We believe that there is a need to consolidate ongoing efforts, to further increase resources, and to identify priority areas for South-South cooperation. These priority areas should be included in the cooperation among developing countries to enhance their understanding of complex global economic, environmental and human settlement issues and to formulate joint strategies, especially in the field of regional and sub-regional economic cooperation. We are very confident that the G-77 High-level Conference on Science and Technology in Dubai next October, as well as the High-level Conference on South-South Cooperation in Caracas next December will be a major events and an excellent opportunity to reassert developing countries' solidarity and their desire and ability to act together.

9. We believe that respect for the diversity of cultures, tolerance, dialogue and cooperation, in a climate of mutual trust and understanding are important factors for the promotion of development, peace and solidarity among nations. The ongoing process of globalization, facilitated by the rapid development of new information and communication technologies, though representing a challenge for cultural diversity, creates the conditions for renewed dialogue among cultures and civilizations. In this context we call on UNESCO to continue to play its role in the fulfilment of its ideals which place moral and intellectual solidarity among its principal objectives. The major UNESCO programmes illustrate these concerns which aim at ensuring the preservation and promotion of science, information, technology, education, culture through the implementation of various innovative programmes and initiatives such as Dakar Forum "Education for All".

10. We express our determination and commitment to bring the action of the Group of 77 to a new level of commitment, to strengthen its institutional effectiveness with a view to consolidating common positions of our Group on all the issues and activities of the United Nations system. In this context we believe that: Streamlining the flow of information among chapters will increase awareness of the key issues being dealt with by each chapter. Information flows could be facilitated through more regular meetings between chapters especially prior to major UN conferences, video conferences, publication of the Group of 77 journal and the management of the G.77 website.

11. We hereby declare our firm resolve and commitment to continue to contribute to strengthening the role of the United Nations in the promotion of peace and development. Indeed, development is a prerequisite for lasting peace. The realization of the right to development as a basic human right should be given utmost priority.

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DECLARATION
OF THE CHAIRMEN/COORDINATORS
OF THE CHAPTERS OF THE GROUP OF 77
Paris, 2 - 3 April 2002

The Chairmen/Coordinators of the Chapters of the Group of 77, meeting in Paris at the headquarters of the UNESCO from 2 to 3 April 2002, and referring to the Declaration adopted on the 16 November by the 25th Annual Meeting of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77 (Para 30), in New York, vigourously condemn the dread policy enforced by the government of Ariel Sharon against the Palestinian People and his national authority.

This policy aims at terrorising and asphyxiating the Palestinian Civilian Population through all means, be they military or economic; its further objective is to distroy the Palestinian National Authority, a democratically-elected body. This policy threatens to inflame the entire Middle-East; its stated objective is, in fact, to drag the entire region into a new war which threatens world peace and stability.

The Chairmen/Coordinators of the Chapters of the Group of 77 vigorously condemn this policy, which casts a pall over any prospect for peace in the Middle-East.

The Chairmen/Coordinators of the Chapters of the Group of 77 call upon the international community to take urgent action in order to put an end to this escalation.

In this regard the Chairmen/Coordinators of the Chapters of the Group of 77 support the declaration of the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura, who has stated that no lasting peace can be imposed by armed force and that it is urgent for negotiations with the elected representatives of the Palestinian people to be resumed.

The Chairmen/Coordinators of the Chapters of the Group of 77 call for the immediate resumption of the peace negotiations based upon the relevant resolutions of the United Nations, in particular Security Council resolutions 242, 338 and 1397 and request the Chairman of the Group of 77 in New York to contact the Security Council and other parties to reiterate this position.

The Chairmen/Coordinators of the Chapters of the Group of 77 fully support the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the peace efforts in the region, including the Arab Peace Plan adopted in Beirut on 28 March 2002.

The Chairmen/Coordinators of the Chapters of the Group of 77 mandate the Chairman of the Group of 77 in New York to bring this Declaration to the attention of the member States of the Group for their consideration.

3 April 2002

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