YEMEN HEADS G77 AND CHINA AT UN'S HEADQUARTERS

NEW YORK, Jan. 23 (Saba) - Yemen received on Saturday the presidency of the Group of 77 (G77) and China from the previous president of the group for 2009, Sudan, at the UN's headquarters in New York.

In his speech during the delivering ceremonies, Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi expressed his appreciation of the Asian Group support for the nomination of Yemen to preside over the group.

Al-Qirbi pointed out that this event is coinciding with the UN's marking 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity, which is important for the developing countries as they depend on the natural food resources and their economies on the vegetable and fisheries production.

He indicated the group would work in the coming months to finalize the plan of cooperation in this area between the South countries and to present a resolution draft to the 10th meeting of the Conference
of the Part States in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to be held in Japan in October of this year.

Yemen would continue its joint efforts to implement the recommendations of the UN's summits on the financial and economic crisis and its impact on the development in the developing countries, al-Qirbi affirmed.

The foreign minister called the international community to shoulder its responsibilities and provide assistance to the developing countries, which are the most affected by the global financial and
economic crisis.

Furthermore, al-Qirbi reviewed challenges facing the world, including climate change phenomenon and threats arising from it not only to development, poverty alleviation, agriculture, and various sectors in developing countries, but also to the survival of many of these countries, which could disappear from the face of the earth.

He urged the international community, especially the developed countries, to develop policies within the UN's Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.

BA