President Ramkalawan of Seychelles to Attend Group 77 and China Summit and 78th UN General Assembly

President Ramkalawan of Seychelles to Attend Group 77 and China Summit and 78th UN General Assembly

Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan is set to attend the Group 77 and China Summit, which will take place in Havana, Cuba. The summit, scheduled for September 15 and 16, is being chaired by Cuba. The event will center around the theme ‘Current Development Challenges: The Role of Science, Technology and Innovation’.

Following the summit in Cuba, President Ramkalawan will join other world leaders in New York for the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 78). The theme for this year’s UNGA is ‘Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress, and the sustainability for all’. The high-level General Debate of UNGA 78 is scheduled to start on September 19, 2023.

Seychelles Delegation to the UNGA 78

President Ramkalawan will be accompanied by the First Lady Linda Ramkalawan and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Sylvestre Radegonde. Joining them later in New York for UNGA 78 will be the Minister for Finance, National Planning and Trade, Naadir Hassan, and Seychelles’ ambassador to the United States and Seychelles’ permanent representative to the United Nations, Ian Madeleine. During President Ramkalawan’s absence, Vice-President Ahmed Afif will handle his duties and responsibilities.

The Group of 77 and China is the most extensive bloc of developing countries within the United Nations System. Formed on June 15, 1964, it is the most diverse consultative group within the multilateral sphere. The group represents two-thirds of the United Nations’ membership and 80 percent of the world’s population, with 134 member states. The aim of the group is to stimulate the economic interests of the founding countries and to strengthen their joint negotiating capacity within the UN. Cuba joined the Group in 1971 and assumed its pro tempore presidency for the first time in January 2023.