Group of 77

The Group of 77 at the United Nations is a loose coalition of developing nations, designed to promote its members' collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations. There were 77 founding members of the organization, but the organization has since expanded to 130 member countries. The group is chaired and directed in 2008 by the government of Antigua and Barbuda.

The group was founded on June 15 1964 by the "Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Countries" issued at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The first major meeting was in Algiers in 1967, where the Charter of Algiers was adopted and the basis for permanent institutional structures was begun. There are Chapters of the Group of 77 in Rome (FAO), Vienna (UNIDO), Paris (UNESCO), Nairobi (UNEP) and the Group of 24 in Washington, D.C. (IMF and World Bank).

Members

On the map, founding members are shown in dark green (except those that have since left). Members as of March 2008 are shown in dark and medium green. Former members are shown in light green. See the official list of members

Former Members

1. New Zealand signed the original "Joint Declaration of the Developing Countries" in October 1963, but pulled out of the group before the formation of the G77 in 1964.
2. Mexico was a founding member, but left the Group after joining the OECD in 1994.
3. South Korea was a founding member, but left the Group after joining the OECD in 1996.
4. Yugoslavia was a founding member; by the late 1990s it was still listed on the membership list, but it was noted that it "cannot participate in the activities of G-77." It was removed from the list in late 2003. Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only part of former Yugoslavia that is currently in G77.
5. Cyprus was a founding member, but was no longer listed on the official membership list after its accession to the EU in 2004.
6. Malta was admitted to the Group in 1976, but was no longer listed on the official membership list after its accession to the EU in 2004.
7. Palau joined the Group in 2002, but withdrew in 2004, having decided that it could best pursue its environmental interests through the Alliance of Small Island States.
8. Romania was admitted to the Group in 1976, but was no longer listed on the official membership list after its accession to the EU in 2007.

Presiding Countries

• India (1970-1971)
• Peru (1971-1972)
• Egypt (1972-1973)
• Iran (1973-1974)
• Mexico (1974-1975)
• Madagascar (1975-1976)
• Pakistan (1976-1977)
• Jamaica (1977-1978)
• Tunisia (1978-1979)
• India (1979-1980)
• Venezuela (1980-1981)
• Algeria (1981-1982)
• Bangladesh (1982-1983)
• Mexico (1983-1984)
• Egypt (1984-1985)
• Yugoslavia (1985-1986)
• Guatemala (1987)
• Tunisia (1988)
• Malaysia (1989)
• Bolivia (1990)
• Ghana (1991)
• Pakistan (1992)
• Colombia (1993)
• Algeria (1994)
• Philippines (1995)
• Costa Rica (1996)
• Tanzania (1997)
• Indonesia (1998)
• Guyana (1999)
• Nigeria (2000)
• Iran (2001)
• Venezuela (2002)
• Morocco (2003)
• Qatar (2004)
• Jamaica (2005)
• South Africa (2006)
• Pakistan (2007)
• Antigua and Barbuda (2008)
• Sudan (2009)

See also

• Non-Aligned Movement
• Third World

External links

• Group of 77 official website
• Adam Sneyd, "Group of 77", in Globalization and Autonomy Online Compendium, edited by William D. Coleman and Nancy Johnson