WASHINGTON, D.C., 19 April 2002 – Addressing the annual spring meeting of the Ministers of Finance of the Group of 24, Ambassador Milos Alcalay of Venezuela, Chairman of the Group of 77, reiterated the call for the establishment of an international humanitarian fund which President Hugo Chávez Frías of Venezuela proposed at the International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey last month. The fund, which is aimed at saving the lives of children dying of disease and huger around the world, would draw on 10 percent of the external debt of developing countries and 10 percent of the world’s military expenditures, which would be reallocated for humanitarian ends.

The Chairman of the Group of 77 made his address at the opening ceremony of meeting of the Ministers of the Intergovernmental Group of 24 on International Monetary Affairs held on 19 April 2002 at the IMF/World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C., which was chaired by Nigeria. The Group of 24 is the counterpart of the G-77 in the Bretton Woods institutions.

In his address to the Group of 24, the Chairman of the Group of 77 thanked all the members of the Group of 24 for their expressions of support and solidarity with the people and Government of Venezuela. In their statements many members of the Group of 24 expressed their satisfaction that the democratically elected president of Venezuela had been restored to power and that the rule of law had prevailed in Venezuela.

The Chairman of the Group of 77 singled out poverty eradication as one of the most critical challenges facing developing countries. "Eradication of poverty remains a priority goal of all developing countries", Ambassador Alcalay said. He went on to state that the "Bretton Woods institutions should join the UN effort in formulating a global strategy for the eradication of poverty in developing countries." It was in that context that Ambassador Alcalay reiterated President Chavez’s proposal for the establishment of an international humanitarian fund as a matter of priority.

The Chairman of the Group of 77 stated that all of the outcomes of all the major international summits and conferences, culminating with the UN Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey last month, have explicitly and implicitly addressed and highlighted the indispensability of financial resources for development. Ambassador Alcalay added that the issue of financing of development "is identified by the Group of 77 as the most critical and core issue in the quest of evolving a dynamic international cooperation for development", he concluded.

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