Your Excellency Mr. Faud Mohammad Hussein, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq,
Excellency Mr. Philemon Yang, President of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly,
Excellency Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates and guests,

It is my pleasure to welcome you all to this handover ceremony as the Chair of the Group of 77 and China for the year 2024. The Republic of Iraq will be taking over the Chair of G77 and China for the year 2025 and H.E. Faud Mohammad Hussein, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq will duly assume the responsibility as our next Chair of the Group.

It was a great honour and privilege for Uganda to Chair the G77 and China for the first time since the inception of our Group sixty years ago. I commend all members of the G77 and China for the trust, support, cooperation and confidence given to Uganda's Chairmanship after the successful Third South Summit held in Kampala, Uganda in January 2024.

I pay tribute to the President of the United Nations General Assembly, the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, the UNDP Administrator, the Under- Secretary General of DESA, the UN Office of South-South Cooperation and the G77-Secretariat for their support and assistance extended to Uganda during our tenure as Chair of G77 and China during the past year. We strongly appreciate the efforts of the Secretary General of the United Nations in the past year, particularly, through his proposals to ensure that the United Nations addresses the development priorities and needs of the developing countries.

Excellencies,

Last year, under Uganda's Chair of the G77 and China, the group took leadership in the formulation and securing intergovernmental outcomes at the United Nations on issues of interest to the group and its members as we continue to demand for a more just and equitable international economic system that offers opportunities for prosperity to raise the standard of living of all our peoples. In this regard, the Group has pursued the realization of a revitalized multilateral system which is capable of adequately addressing current and emerging global challenges.

We firmly believe that multilateralism remains a fundamental and crucial mechanism for addressing our common challenges together as nations in solidarity. Today Uganda hands over the Chair of G77 and China to the Republic of Iraq continue to lead the group in the defence and promotion of all our collective interests. As a Group we demand mutual and genuine international cooperation for development in accordance with our established principles of unity, complementarity, cooperation and solidarity of the developing countries and their determination to strive for economic and social development, individually or collectively.

Excellencies,

At the beginning of Uganda's Chair of the G77 and China, Uganda committed to further promote: acceleration of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda; scaling up action to address climate change and biodiversity loss; strengthening international tax cooperation; financing for development; fight against illicit financial flows and strengthening digital cooperation, among others. In fulfillment of the above commitment, it is my honour to highlight some intergovernmental outcomes that the group secured to support developing countries to address the multiple challenges that we face as follows:

1. The Group secured an agreement on measures to address the widening financing gap faced by developing countries in achieving the SDGs at the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Forum on Financing for Development Forum, in April 2024;

2. At the fourth International Conference of the Small Island Developing States, the group secured the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for Small Island Developing States (SIDS)- A Renewed Declaration for Resilient Prosperity to support the SIDS to address their unique and particular vulnerabilities;

3. The Group collectively negotiated the means of implementation to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achievement of all the 17 SDGs in the remaining six years at the ECOSOC High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July 2024;

4. At the Forty-Eighth Ministerial Meeting of for Foreign Affairs of the Member States of the Group of 77 and China in September 2024, we agreed on the Ministerial Declaration of the Group of 77 and China reflects the diversity of issues and challenges facing developing countries. Undoubtedly, eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, remains the greatest global challenge and the overarching objective of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. In this regard, the eradication of poverty must remain at the heart of the UN agenda as the only way to achieve the sustainable development.

5. The Group was able to secure consensus for action on major economic, financial, development and environmental issues at the resumed session of the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly as well as the main session of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly;

6. At CoP 29, through our mutual and collective endeavours, the Group was able to achieve a historic decision on the New Collective Quantifiable Goal on Climate Finance;

7. The Group secured consensus on the Programme of Action for the Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) for the decade 2024-2034, which contains actions to support the LLDCs to address their special development needs and challenges.

8. At the Summit of the Future, the Group secured agreement on actions of critical importance to the group's priorities as contained in the Pact of the Future and the Global Digital Compact.
Therefore, the Group needs to continue to prioritize the follow up on implementation of these outcomes and all earlier outcomes to ensure that all agreed commitments are fulfilled.
Excellencies,

2024 was a critical year for the United Nations Development System. While we appreciate the work of the United Nations, the system should nevertheless adapt and become more responsive to the global challenges. In this regard, the G77 and China played the leadership role in setting out the guidance to the UN development system for the next four years as it continues to support countries, particularly programme countries in their efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, along with their own national development aspirations and plans. The system can further work to improving itself through inter alia enhancing its accountability, transparency, coherence, collaboration, and efficiency in an effort to continue to be the trusted partner for countries, especially programme countries. Furthermore, the operational activities for development of the UN development system should take into account the need to build, promote and strengthen capacity of developing countries in their efforts to address long-term sustainable development at the national level. We emphasize+ the importance of national ownership and leadership and bearing in mind the different development levels and realities on the ground in these countries.
 
I am delighted to say that the Group of 77 and China has remained united in its pursuit of collective interests at the United Nations and should remain even more united and steadfast in promoting the interests of developing Countries.

Your excellency, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Foreign Affairs,

Undoubtedly, 2025 will be a crucial year with various intergovernmental processes at the United Nations on issues that are of paramount importance to the group. These include, inter alia, Third UN Conference on the Landlocked Developing Countries, ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council) Forum of Financing for Development Follow up, ECOSOC High Political Forum on Sustainable Development, Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, Second World Summit for Social Development, High-level 2025 United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development the preparatory commissions for the implementation of the BBNJ Agreement, the 20th review of the World Society for Information Society (WSIS20), the modalities for the establishment of the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance and 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP30). We need to consolidate the group's common positions during these intergovernmental processes.

We remain confident that you and your distinguished delegation in New York will lead all of our efforts in defending and promoting the Group of 77 and China 's interests and priorities within the United Nations. We fully trust in your efforts to find solutions in a spirit of consensus building. I wish Iraq every success in leading our Group towards the realization of our common aspiration for a just and equitable international economic, social and environmental order.

Uganda will extend its full cooperation and support in this endeavour and will continue to play an active role as a member of the Group of 77 and China.

I thank you.