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'Africa should lead in global politics,' says Mugabe
17 Jun 2014 at 16:39hrs | Views
President Robert Mugabe returned home on Tuesday from Santa Cruz, Bolivia where he was attending the 50th Group of 77 developing countries and China summit held over the past weekend.
He was met at the Harare International Airport by Vice President Joice Mujuru, Service Chiefs and Cabinet Ministers who included Media, Information and Broadcasting Services Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo.
The summit adopted a number of declarations including the need for urgent restructuring of the international financial architecture and reform of the United Nations system, in particular the Security Council. Themed "A New World Order for Living Well," the summit also pushed for the post 2015 development agenda that prioritised poverty eradication, food security and gender equality among other matters of global concern.
President Mugabe, who was accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, told the summit that it should leverage on its status as the single largest bloc in the UN to influence changes in global political and financial systems.
Other leaders who attended the summit are Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, Zambian Vice President Guy Scott, Cuban President Raul Castro and Iranian Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri. The summit this year was also focusing on creating sustainable ways to protect the earth.
The G77 was established in 1964 and now comprises 133 countries, mostly developing nations. At its formation, the G77 & China members declared their unity under a common interest and defined their Group as "an instrument for enlarging the area of co-operative endeavor in the international field and for securing mutually beneficent relationships with the rest of the world."
While the initial mandate of the G77 & China was to accentuate the trade and development related issues of its members, the focus of the group has since evolved and today, it is a successful lobby group within the United Nations structures.
Source - New Ziana
