Mr. Chair,

The Group of 77 and China has taken note of the report of the Secretary-General on the activities of the Department of Global Communications contained in document A/80/323.

We commend the Department in advancing the United Nations efforts to combat misinformation, hate speech, and disinformation and to foster international solidarity, as well as supporting the United Nations agenda on issues such as peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights.

Recognizing that safe, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence systems have the potential to contribute to progress in all dimensions of development, the Group also notes with concern that their improper or malicious use could undermine information integrity and access to information, particularly through disinformation and misinformation.

Mr. Chair,

The Group underscores the urgent need to bridge the digital divide and promote digital cooperation. Equal access to information and communications technologies is vital to enabling all countries, particularly developing countries, to participate meaningfully in the global digital environment. The Group calls on all stakeholders to expand connectivity, foster collaboration, and promote the dissemination of factual and evidence-based information, ensuring that digital transformation benefits all.

The Group stresses the importance of mainstreaming multilingualism in all of the Organization's activities as an essential pillar for mutual understanding, inclusivity, and diversity. We encourage the Department of Global Communications to mobilize resources to promote multilingualism and address the disparity in the use of all official languages in United Nations public information materials and platforms.

In this context, the Group further emphasizes the vital importance of multilingualism and local content, and encourages all stakeholders to promote the creation of and access to educational, cultural, and scientific content online so as to foster quality of access and ensure that all people and cultures can express themselves and have access to Internet content in all languages, including Indigenous languages.

We strongly urge the DGC to intensify its efforts to combat disinformation, including that directed against United Nations peacekeeping operations, to raise awareness of the new realities, successes and challenges faced by peacekeeping operations and special political missions, and to provide accurate content, including in local languages and in coordination with national authorities, to strengthen understanding of UN peacekeeping mandates, manage expectations, and build trust and support.

In the context of the ongoing review of the Peacebuilding Architecture, we underline the importance of communication activities and the dissemination of information relating to peacebuilding efforts, and welcomes the call for the development of a communication strategy in consultation with the Peacebuilding Commission, country-specific configurations, the Peacebuilding Support Office and the Peacebuilding Fund, with a view to increasing the visibility, raising awareness about the peacebuilding architecture, widening its outreach and encouraging national ownership.

The Group expresses serious concern over attacks against journalists and media professionals, especially the deliberate targeting in Lebanon and Gaza since October 2023. Impunity for such attacks remains a major challenge, and ensuring accountability is essential to prevent future violence.

Mr. Chair,

We commend the Department's global strategic communications response to challenges such as climate change and proliferating conflicts. The Department should continue to enhance public awareness about reinforcing multilateralism and addressing humanitarian crises. We also call for greater focus on disseminating factual, clear, accessible, multilingual, and science-based information, and on promoting messages of tolerance, peaceful coexistence, and interfaith and cultural harmony among all religions and nations.

In conclusion, the Group of 77 and China reaffirms its full support for the Department of Global Communications in fulfilling its vital mandate: to communicate the UN's mission effectively, to combat disinformation while respecting human rights, to bridge the digital divide, to promote multilingualism and accessibility, to strengthen peacekeeping and peacebuilding communications, and to ensure accountability for attacks on journalists.

Together, we must safeguard the United Nations as a source of accurate and reliable information for the global public good.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank the Secretary-General for his comprehensive report on the item we are discussing today (A/80/83).

The Group regrets that the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba for more than six decades remains in full application and continues to be enforced. We regret the measures undertaken recently and during the current year aimed at reinforcing the embargo on Cuba, which represents the main obstacle to the process of achieving normalized relations between the two countries.

We are deeply concerned about the widening of the extraterritorial nature of the embargo on Cuba, notably through the full implementation of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act. The application of this law is a clear transgression to the freedom of commerce among nations because of its intimidating purpose by punishing any trade or investment transactions between any given country and Cuba.

In the same vein, we urge the immediate removal of Cuba from the US Department of State´s list of countries that are allegedly sponsors of terrorism. Cuba is a long-standing active partner of Members of the Group in promoting South-South cooperation. Thanks to the efforts made by Cuba, many countries within the Group have developed their scientific and technical potential. All we know about Cuba is friendship and solidarity, we know nothing about terrorism.

The inclusion of Cuba in this list does not represent only a reputational damage but is also among the core elements in the recent reinforcement of the embargo. Because of this categorization, it has been extremely difficult for Cuba to engage in international banking operations, regardless of whether it is the case of state/private companies or private entrepreneurs, which sets extremely harmful conditions for the development and well-being of the Cuban population.

The Group of 77 and China reaffirms its commitment to the purposes, principles and spirit of the Charter of the United Nations, particularly regarding the sovereign equality of States, non-intervention and non-interference in States' internal affairs and freedom of international trade and navigation. We believe that it is the duty and responsibility of every Member State to strictly comply with those principles and that any policy or action that disregards them - in this case, unilateral economic, commercial and financial measures against Cuba - should be immediately repealed.

The Group of 77 and China is deeply concerned about the debilitating impact that the United States' embargo of more than 60 years has had on Cuba and its people. The direct and indirect damage is enormous. It affects all the critical sectors of the Cuban economy, including public health, nutrition and agriculture, as well as trade, investment, tourism and banking. The persecution of Cuban financial transactions in third-country jurisdictions, which has had a significant deterrent effect in economic terms, has continued. The limited foreign investment and difficulty of access to development credits translate directly into economic hardship and humanitarian suffering for the people of Cuba. As a result of these unilateral measures, it will be impossible for Cuba to successfully embark on the path towards sustainable development envisaged in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, to which all Member States have pledged support.

The Group recognizes the long-standing and positive contribution of the Cuban international medical cooperation and solidarity in saving the lives of millions of people around the world, particularly but not exclusively in developing countries. Cuba has extensively and consistently contributed to the international community for many decades. Its assistance to other countries has been a great example of South-South cooperation. The Group, therefore, rejects any unilateral coercive measures that are not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations or attempts to hinder this international medical cooperation and solidarity for political or any other reasons.

We, the members of the Group of 77 and China, reiterate our support for draft resolution A/80/L.6, as well as our call for an end to the United States' economic, commercial and financial embargo on Cuba.

The urgency and necessity of lifting the blockade is ever clearer, especially considering that this is the thirty-third occasion on which the General Assembly will adopt a resolution to call for its end. We therefore appeal to the international community to step up its efforts calling for the elimination of the embargo, not just to improve Cuba's prospects but also to help all members of the global community in their quest to fully realize their economic and social development.

I thank you.

The Group of 77 and China would like to thank the Secretary-General for his report (A/80/437), which provides a detailed account of activities undertaken to implement the Programme of Assistance. I would also like to express the Group's appreciation for the members of the Advisory Committee on the United Nations Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law and its Chair, H.E. Harold Adlai Agyeman, Permanent Representative of Ghana to the United Nations. We also commend the Codification Division of the Office of Legal Affairs for their continued efforts to implement the Programme of Assistance as well as recognize the contribution of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (DOALOS).

Mr. Chair,

The Group of 77 and China reaffirms its support for the Programme of Assistance which serves as an effective means of strengthening international peace and security and promoting friendly relations and cooperation among States through the dissemination of international law. As it marks its 60th year after its establishment, the Programme continues to be relevant in furthering the objectives of the United Nations by training generations of specialists, particularly those from the developing countries, in the field of international law. The Group of 77 and China appreciates the necessary resources that are budgeted for the administration of the Programme and reiterates its call for the continued funding of the Programme in years to come. Such funding remains essential for conducting the International Law Fellowship Programme and the United Nations Regional Courses in International Law; issuing publications; developing and maintaining the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law; and for the award of the Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe Memorial Fellowship on the Law of the Sea. These capacity-building activities help to improve the participation of developing countries in the multilateral arena. In this regard, the Group expresses its concern that the deteriorating liquidity situation of the Organization has had a significant impact on the implementation of the activities of the programme and invites States to continue to support these activities through the Organization's regular budget, as well as the Trust Fund, and encourages the Secretariat to explore practical solutions including partnership models with academic institutions in participating States to help ensure the Programme's financial sustainability when regular budget funds are no longer available. We also express our sincere appreciation to all Member States that have made financial and in-kind contributions to ensure the continued success of the Programme of Assistance.

Mr. Chair,

The Group of G77 and China welcomes that, during the reporting period, the Regional Course in International Law for Latin America and the Caribbean, was held at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago from 23 May to 16 May, 2025, for Asia-Pacific was held at the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok from 18 November to 11 December 2024, and for Africa it was held at the Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa from 20 February to 14 March 2025. The Group also notes with satisfaction the International Law Fellowship Programme was also held in The Hague from 7 to 25 July 2025, as well as the various seminars organized by the Codification Division.

Mr. Chair,

The importance and utility of the Audiovisual Library of International Law cannot be overstated. It continues to provide virtual high-quality training to an unlimited number of individuals around the world free of charge through the internet. The Group of 77 and China also supports the off-site recording sessions undertaken by the Codification Division in various locations in order to promote a broader geographical and linguistic representation of the recorded lectures and to record lecturers who are unable to travel to New York and encourage remote recording where applicable. We also commend the Codification Division for its efforts to facilitate access to the lectures for users with limited high-speed Internet on computers and mobile devices through the Library podcast.

We applaud the efforts of the Office of Legal Affairs to promote knowledge of international law in an inclusive manner and encourage its continued outreach to Member States to inform them of how to access and use available resources.

The Group reiterates the importance of the Programme of Assistance in achieving SDG 16, more particularly, Target 16.3 which calls for the promotion of the rule of law at the national and international levels. The training activities under the Programme will ensure greater dissemination of international law and, ultimately, strengthen the rule of law.

I thank you.