Sustainable development, poverty eradication are G77 priorities

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon promised that a new agenda of the Group of 77 (G77) and China will have sustainable development at its core and poverty eradication as its most urgent priority.
The agenda will also address basic needs such as energy, infrastructure, equality, justice, growth, economic transformation, food, education, health care and decent employment, Ban told the 38th annual meeting of ministers for Foreign Affairs of the G77 and China held on Friday.
Ban confirmed that the agenda will also highlight the link between development, peaceful and inclusive societies.
He expressed happiness and pride that the G77 and China have a proud history of advocating for development that is fair, lasting and equitable.
"With your support and encouragement," he said, "the world has adopted important action plans, including for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
"I am confident," he said, that the G77 will build on this valuable tradition and use its powerful voice to influence the current discussions on a new and transformative universal development agenda.
The Group agreed that the post-2015 development agenda must finish the work of the MDGs.
The Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals has built on MDGs to articulate a much broader agenda, one that is universal, inclusive and responsive to the key global challenges, Ban said.
"Official Development Assistance is necessary but not a sufficient element of the entire financing picture, all resources are needed, the public and private, the domestic and international," he said.
He also called for the need to boost cooperation on technology.
"Transformation is our goal, ending poverty and transforming societies and economies to meet fundamental human needs is an essential step toward achieving planetary sustainability," he said.
Kuwait's delegation to the meeting is being led by Director of the International Organizations at the Foreign Ministry Ambassador Jassem Al-Mubraki.
Source: KUNA