Thank you, Excellencies,

I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

The Group thanks your Excellencies for preparing the zero draft of the Political Declaration on the Second World Summit for Social Development, which contains relevant elements that can be fruitful for our negotiations.

The Group considers the zero draft as a good basis for negotiations. The group emphasizes the objective and scope of the Summit to be focused on addressing gaps and recommitting to the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and its programme of action and its implementation, and to give momentum to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

30 years following the World Summit on Social Developments, some progress has been achieved while challenges and setbacks have impacted people around the globe in a disproportionate manner due to the persistence and emergence of global challenges as barriers to the attainment of social development manifested in poverty eradication, the promotion of productive employment and decent work for all, and social inclusion. Poverty remains the greatest global challenge. Likewise, the global context threatens to miss the target date of the Sustainable Development Goals, including its social dimension, with less than 5 years left for accelerated action. As such, concrete action is required at national and global levels to live up to the commitments made for the achievement of social development as well as for sustainable development, especially in developing countries.

Against this backdrop, the group wishes to express the following general remarks, which constitute a preliminary response to be consolidated further with concrete proposals on the political declaration's zero draft:

1. The G77 and China encourages the co-facilitators to ensure that the final political declaration builds a tangible bridge between the legacy of Copenhagen and the urgent delivery of the 2030 Agenda. Along with the recognition of structural global inequalities, and the repeated calls for a renewed multilateral commitment aligned with the long-standing advocacy for a more equitable international economic order.

2. Addressing today's social challenges requires strengthening international solidarity, building trust, and a renewed commitment to multilateral action on the social pillar of sustainable development. Such efforts must be guided by and uphold the vision set forth in the Copenhagen political declaration.

3. The zero draft should benefit from a more explicit focus on building resilient public institutions.

4. We must recommit ourselves to creating an economic, social, cultural, and technological enabling environment that will enable the achievement of social development in all its dimensions.

5. Reaffirming the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the commitments made in Copenhagen were made on the premise of harmony and equality within and among countries, with full respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as policy objectives, development priorities and religious and cultural diversity, and full respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms. These precepts must remain the guide to our commitments today and must be clearly reflected in the political declaration.

Your Excellencies,

The Group believes that certain elements should be added to the text or, if present, further strengthened, and as follows:

1. Although the text refers to the right to development under the human rights framework, it lacks a clear articulation of mechanisms to operationalize this right. Thus, the group calls for a standalone reaffirmation of the right to development, as recognized in the Declaration on the Right to Development, and the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, as well as the outcomes of the Group of 77 and China.

2. The Group Underscores that the ODA remains one of the most concrete expressions of international solidarity and a key instrument to advance sustainable development, social progress, and the achievement of the social development goals, as per the commitments enunciated in the Copenhagen Declaration and its programme of action, particularly in developing countries.

3. Eradication of Poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme and multidimensional poverty, remains the greatest global challenge. The group also recommends a reference to some of the root causes of the feminization of poverty-particularly, the unequal distribution of unpaid care work, overrepresentation of women in the informal sector, and the persistent wage gap between men and women, and the required means to address those root causes.

4. The Group urges stronger language recognizing education as both a right and a key driver for social inclusion, mobility, and resilience. The Declaration should emphasize the provision of inclusive and equitable, quality primary and secondary education, as well as investment in STEM and vocational training.

5. While the zero draft acknowledges migrants' positive contributions, it lacks substantive commitments. The declaration should include clear commitments on the provisions to protect the rights of migrants, in particular migrant workers, and refugees. The group further notes the need to support host communities and refugees alike in the spirit of leaving no one behind. The Group will also provide further detailed input in this domain.

6. The Group calls for specific action in the political declaration to end unilateral coercive measures, which undermine development efforts in many parts of the world.

7. The Declaration should strengthen its approach to informal employment by committing to strategies for the transition from the informal to the formal economy, ensuring income protection, social security coverage, and equal pay for work of equal value. These steps are crucial for building resilience and advancing SDG 8.

8. The zero draft reflects that international trade has expanded and global unemployment reached historic lows. However, challenges persist in ensuring a rule-based, non-discriminatory, open, fair, inclusive, equitable and transparent multilateral trading system, with the World Trade Organization at its core, with access to markets and equitable integration of developing countries in the global economy. This can only be achieved through the removal of tariff and non-tariff trade barriers, regional and international economic integration, and respect for a rule-based multilateral trading system. Strengthened commitments to support the Global South are required, including through enhancing trade partnerships that enable inclusive growth, and sustainable development for all peoples to leave no one behind.

9. The group requests a particular emphasis on National ownership of development strategies, aligned with country-specific priorities, cultural contexts, and democratic institutions. This reflects the Copenhagen Declaration's core commitment to people-centered development, where policies are shaped by local needs and capacities, and implemented through inclusive, participatory processes that respect national sovereignty and foster sustainable outcomes.

10. Under the section harnessing technology and artificial intelligence to advance social development, the Group seeks stronger commitment to closing the digital divides within and among countries, including by advancing an equitable and inclusive digital environment for all. This requires concrete support for developing countries through increased financial resources, capacity-building, and technology transfer, alongside the development of governing frameworks that ensure digital equality, data protection, and responsible use of AI, with a focus on investing in digital public infrastructure.

11. The Copenhagen declaration reaffirmed the essential interdependence between social development, peace and security, and respect for human rights. This interdependence remains valid, Therefore, the group supports the zero draft in underscoring this element and in highlighting the need to ensure human dignity and inclusion, as essential for the achievement of social development.

12. The Group recognizes the severe difficulties faced by countries under colonial rule, impeding the enjoyment of the right of peoples to self-determination, and the right to development, and thereby impeding the attainment of social and sustainable development. We reaffirm, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, the need to respect the territorial integrity and political independence of States.

13. It is important for the text to adopt a life-course perspective, including references to population ageing and the need for specific policies for older persons, adapted to national contexts and ensuring the capitalisation on the demographic dividends for social development purposes.

14. The Group calls for a greater focus on persons with disabilities in the zero draft of the Political Declaration, emphasizing the need for strengthened inclusion of persons with disabilities across all dimensions of social development.

15. Furthermore, the text should reinforce the recognition that women, particularly in contexts of poverty and vulnerability, represent a significant share of the informal labor force, facing precarious working conditions, lack of social protection, and wage inequality.

16. The Group urges the inclusion of clear language on timely, equitable, and unhindered access to safe, affordable, effective, and quality medicines, vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics, and other health technologies and support to local production of medicines and other health technologies. These elements are essential to realizing the right to the highest attainable standard of health. They must be explicitly reflected in the commitments, with more focus on strengthening health infrastructures.

17. Under the item Social Integration, the Group would like to include to the current listing, people of African descent, homeless people, and residents of informal settlements.

18. While we welcome the recognition of the need to combat racism, discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance, the current language falls short of the commitments made in the 1995 Copenhagen Declaration and is not in line with the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. The Group wishes to see a strengthened reference to racism, making it action-oriented. We already requested the recognition of the existence of structural and system racism as constituting an impediment to social development.

19. The zero draft is missing a reference to desertification, which was referred to in bullet (f) of commitment 7 of the Copenhagen declaration. This could be added on page 8 under the title "climate resilience, just transition and DDR". We also have to be mindful not to dilute commitments made under any of the relevant processes guiding international action in these domains.

20. On Review and Follow-up, we thank the co-facilitators for proposing a mechanism for review of implementation and follow-up. The format and process are under further consideration within the group. Meanwhile, the group reiterates its emphasis on the role and mandate of the CSocD in the follow-up and review of implementation of the social development agenda. Accordingly, its role should be strengthened and reinvigorated following the 2nd World Summit for Social Development.

Finally, on the matter of the timeline, while the Group acknowledges and appreciates the co-facilitators' efforts to keep the process on track, we note that, given the Group's size and the significance of this document to our priorities, some flexibility may be necessary. This is particularly important in light of the overlapping processes currently underway.

We hope the co-facilitators will understand this need and accommodate it where possible.

Excellencies, please be assured of our constructive and meaningful engagement in this process.

I thank you.