ifda dossier 74 - Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation

a common position. At UNCTAD 1, the G77 successfully displayed a
remarkable solidarity despite their obvious heterogeneity, as evidenced
by their voting pattern. This encouraged them to continue to act
together in order to strengthen their bargaining power in negotiations
with the industrial countries of the North. After UNCTAD 1, the G77,
whose members have grown to 125 in 1981, has adopted common
approaches at subsequent UNCTAD meetings and has come to be
recognized as the Third World spokesman, presenting Third World
viewpoints at other international economic fora.
In the e:irly years, 1964 to 1967, G77 policies and strategies would be
formulated in the following way - the three constituent regional groups
of Latin America, Asia and Africa would first thrash out a regional
consensus which would then be "aggregated into a general G77
position". And the 31 member Trade and Development Board of
UNCTAD, which functions as the decision-making body between
conferences, was virtually the G77's executive committee.13 This skeletal
structure was substantially amplified after the first Ministerial Meeting
at Algiers in 1967. It was decided that the principal organ in between
conferences was to be the Ministerial meeting which would be convened
not only before each plenary conference of UNCTAD but whenever
necessary. Next, four Main Committees were set up with Co-ordinator
Countries appointed at different venues, namely at the UN in New
York, at UNCTAD in Geneva, at the IMF and the World Bank in
Washington, at UNIDO in Vienna. Since then, co-ordinating committees
have been established at other UN bodies, such as the Food and
Agricultural Organization in Rome, UNESCO in Paris, the International
Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, the United Nations Environmental
Program in Nairobi and at almost all the UN specialized agencies.11
The third organizational layer consists of the Working Groups which are
formed to investigate specific issues and to formulate positions for
negotiations. However, only the working groups at UNCTAD are
permanently constituted and as of 1981, there were 14 of them.
A detailed look at the areas of involvement of the G77 reveals that 'the
concerns of the Group of 77 now influence near!)' all considerations of
international economic issues in the United Nations system' (italics
supplied). 11 This explains why it is seen at the Third World spokesman
on any economic matter. In addition, at any significant international