News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Tues. Oct. 6, 2020: There is a new Chair of The Group of 77 (G77) and China.
Guyana’s Former Foreign Affairs Minister, Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, will take up the post after she was virtually accredited as Permanent Representative of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana to the United Nations (UN) on October 2, 2020.
The Group of 77 (G77) at the United Nations is a coalition of 134 developing countries, designed to promote its members’ collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations. There were 77 founding members of the organization headquartered in Geneva, but it has since expanded to 134 member countries according to the organization, one of which is China.
China does not consider itself to be a member, nor did it when it was generally regarded as a developing country. However, the country supports and financially contributes to G77. Guyana assumed the chairmanship as of January 2020.
Birkett replaces Ambassador Rudolph Michael Ten-Pow in the post.
She has previously served as director of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, (FAO) Liaison Office in Geneva since 2017. Before that, she was FAO’s Special Coordinator of Parliamentary Alliances, from 2015 to 2017.
Birkett served as Guyana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and International Cooperation from 2008 to 2015. She was Minister for Amerindian (Indigenous Peoples) Affairs from 2001 to 2008. She holds a bachelor’s degree in social work, with distinction, from the University of Guyana and a certificate in business administration from the University of Regina in Canada.
