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Presented and edited by Joseph Kizza
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 4:26 PM 

It's a wrap!

And with that, I also declare this live text page closed. But the updates don't end here. Be sure to read related stories HERE. Thank you for reading along.

To our visitors, wishing you safe flights back to your respective home nations. Karibuni tena (Welcome back to) Uganda, the Pearl of Africa.

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 4:25 PM 

 BREAKING NEWS 

MUSEVENI CLOSES THIRD SOUTH SUMMIT

After underlining the three areas of focus for Uganda's chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China (G77+China) for the next one year, President Museveni thanks each and every participant of the many delegations for coming to Uganda to attend this meeting.

He then declares the Third South Summit officially closed — with the symbolic strike of the mallet.

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 4:23 PM 

 FOCUS AREA NUMBER THREE 

Infrastructure

The third area of focus that Uganda will pay attention to is infrastructure.

Here, President Museveni gives an example of how China is supporting Uganda to build dams and other forms of infrastructure.
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 4:21 PM 

 FOCUS AREA NUMBER TWO 

Markets

Secondly, President Museveni underlines the second area of focus for sustainable prosperity after production of goods and services as being markets.

Calling for a balance, he says member states should buy and sell goods amongst each other to support their individual and collective prosperity.
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 4:13 PM 

 FOCUS AREA NUMBER ONE 

Production of goods & services

First of all, President Museveni points out the need for production of goods and services.

He says achieving sustainable prosperity requires enabling "all families, all persons, who are old enough to participate in wealth creation by producing goods or services either as a entrepreneur or as an employee of that enterprise".

"And here, we, the countries of the Global South, can co-operate to produce goods and services."
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 4:12 PM 

 BREAKING NEWS 

Museveni delivers closing statement

President Yoweri Museveni is delivering his closing statement at the Third South Summit of the G77+China at Munyonyo in Kampala..

He says the two themes of the just concluded 19th NAM Summit and of the Third South Summit of the G77+China are related because they drive towards the same aspiration: "Everybody in the world should be prosperous sustainably."

As such, Museveni says his year-long chairmanship of the group will focus on three areas intended to achieve sustainable prosperity.
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 2:26 PM 

Entebbe International Airport continues to facilitate the departure of leaders that have been attending the 19th NAM Summit and Third South Summit in Kampala since last week.

The latter summit (of the Group of 77 and China) concludes today.

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 1:43 PM 

✈️  From Kampala to New Delhi

The UN General Assembly President, Dennis Francis, flew out of Uganda on Sunday after attending both the 19th NAM Summit and the Third South Summit. He said he left the Pearl of Africa "with deep appreciation for the warm hospitality" he received during his stay in the country.

In a post on social media X, Francis said he is "grateful to the Government of Uganda for hosting these impactful gatherings, fostering collaboration and dialogue".

Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly chief has already landed in India's capital New Delhi for another official visit.

While in India, he will meet government representatives and engage with civil society, think tanks as well as participate in events and field visits related to sustainability, accessibility, multilateralism and digital public infrastructure.

India is a member of both the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the G77+China coalition. The largest democracy in the world joined the NAM in 1961 and went on to host the Seventh NAM Summit in March 1983.

It has been represented here at the Kampala summits.

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 1:06 PM 

🚦 'Traffic situation still normal'

The Uganda Police Force says the current traffic situation is still normal as Uganda continues to host international guests for the just concluded 19th NAM Summit and the ongoing Third South Summit of G77+China in Kampala.

"The roads remain busy with activity as delegates and the general public utilize them," says SP Michael Kananura of the Directorate of Traffic and Road Safety in a statement Monday.

He says, though, that "slight congestion" has been observed along the designated summit routes leading to the venue, Speke Resort Munyonyo.

"We are grateful to all individuals who have made adjustments and complied with our guidelines," says Kananura.

"We would like to reiterate the importance of vigilance and patience from everyone involved. Your co-operation contributes significantly to the smooth flow of traffic in and around the summit areas."

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 12:29 PM 

Closed-door summit plenary

Right now, the G77+China heads of state and government and heads of delegation are busy engaged in a plenary session behind closed doors at Munyonyo.

But we expect a press conference soon for an update on what's been happening behind those doors.
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 12:24 PM 

🇺🇬 🇨🇺  Uganda, Cuba mark 50 years of ties

 DIPLOMACY 

Uganda and Cubs has celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations that began in 1974.

The celebrations were held at Uganda Christian University on Saturday, presided over by Cuba's Vice-President Salvador Valdés Mesa, who commended Uganda and other African countries that have stood by Cuba the Caribbean island nation.

More on this story here.

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 12:03 PM 

Don't feed monkeys!

Today, away from the Third South Summit main engagements which are currently going on behind closed doors at Munyonyo, the spouses of the participating heads of the state and government have their own side activities.

They are scheduled to visit the Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre (UWEC), formerly called The Zoo, in Entebbe with the aim of showcasing Uganda's tourism potential.

Scroll down this page to entry 9:25am for their programme.

Meanwhile, during their tour, the high-profile guests will definitely be briefed on the dos and don'ts while at the facility.

UWEC says that human food can pose health risks to monkeys. Foods that are safe for humans may be harmful or toxic to them.

Monkeys may also become bold and try to snatch food from people, which leads to potential bites or scratches. This behavior poses a risk to visitors and the animals.

Take note.
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 11:00 AM 

China pledges continued support to Global South

During the opening session of the Third South Summit on Sunday, President Museveni invited Liu Guozhong, Chinese President Xi Jinping's Special Representative, to address the summit "as a special guest".

In his delivery, Liu underlined China's committment to continue supporting the Global South in a determined quest to 'leave no one behind' as per the Third South Summit's theme.

"China firmly supports countries of the South in realizing common development," Liu told the summit.

"In the early days of its founding, New China began assisting other countries to the best of its capacity. More than 78 years on, thousands of complete projects and projects for providing goods and materials have been implemented.

"Over 10,000 technical co-operation projects have been conducted and over 400,000 training opportunities have been provided to developing countries. In all these endeavours, we have never attached political strings or interfered with other countries' internal affairs, winning deep friendship from countries of the South.

"In recent years, President Xi Jinping has put forward the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Global Development Initiative (GDI), the Global Security Initiative (GSI) and the Gobal Civilization Initiative (GCI). The aim is to promote common development, lasting stability, enduring security and mutual learning among civilizations and lay the ground work for a bright prospect of peace, security, prosperity and progress in the world.

"Working closely with over 20 international organizations, China has implemented over 130 trilateral co-operation projects in nearly 60 countries in the areas such as poverty reduction, food security, public health and climate change.

"More than 30 million people have benefitted from these projects and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development received a good boost .

"President Xi Jinping has underlined that China, as a developing country and one of the Global South, has invariably stood in solidarity with fellow developing countries through thick and thin.

"China will continue to take South-South co-operation as a priority in its co-operation with other countries, stand together, and work with G77 members and contribute to the common development of countries of the South with its philosophy and progress in pursuit of Chinese modernization."

Read here more of what Liu said.
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 10:26 AM 

💬  'Institutions must reflect today’s world'

In Kampala, the United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has addressed both the 19th NAM Summit and the Third South Summit of the G77+China.

Here are some of his comments on various sticking issues:

 ON GLOBAL FINANCIAL SYSTEM 

The global financial system has failed to provide a global safety net for developing countries in distress. It must be reformed so that it is truly universal, reflects the realities of today and is much more responsive to the needs of developing countries.

 ON GAZA CONFLICT 

People in Gaza are dying not only from bombs and bullets, but from lack of food and clean water, and hospitals without power and medicine. This must stop.

I will not relent in my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

 ON TWO-STATE SOLUTION 

The refusal to accept the two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, and the denial of the right to statehood for the Palestinian people, are unacceptable. The right of the Palestinian people to build their own state must be recognized by all.

 ON SECURITY COUNCIL 

How can we accept that Africa still lacks a single Permanent Member in the Security Council? Institutions must reflect today’s world, not that of 80 years ago.

September’s Summit of the Future will be an opportunity to consider global governance reforms and re-build trust.

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 9:47 AM 

📸  Pictorial recap of Day One

The two-day Third Summit of the G77+China officially opened in Uganda's capital Kampala on Sunday, with over 100 nations represented.

Also in attendance was UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and UN General Assembly President Dennis Francis, both of whom also attended the 19th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit that concluded on Friday also in Kampala.

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni became the chairman of the G77 and China (G77+China) coalition and delivered his remarks during the opening session of the Third South Summit.

There were addresses made by other key speakers, including UN General Assembly President Dennis Francis.

After the opening ceremony, the heads of state and government of the G77+China took an official group photo, before getting back in for the plenary session.

Later in the day, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres addressed a press conference.

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 9:30 AM 

Bahamas PM visits chimp island

Speaking of tourism and wildlife conservation, the Prime Minister of Bahamas, Philip Davis, here in Kampala for the summits, took time off to visit Ngamba Chimpanzee Island on Lake Victoria.

Led on the excursion by Uganda's trade state minister David Bahati, Davis commended Uganda's conversation efforts.

New Vision's Julius Luwemba captured his trip to the chimp island here.

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 9:25 AM 

📝 Spouses programme

Meanwhile, away from the main summit engagements at Munyonyo, the spouses of the participating heads of the state and government have their own side activities.

Today, they will visit the Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre (UWEC), formerly called The Zoo, in Entebbe. Here, the objective of this visit is to showcase Uganda's tourism potential.

▪️  At UWEC, Uganda's First Lady, Janet Museveni, will be joined by the visiting spouses, with the Rwankunyonyo cultural troupe delivering on the entertainment bit.

▪️  After Uganda's tourism minister delivering welcome remarks, the special high-profile guests will conduct a physical tour of the zoo. It will be a behind-the-scenes experience.

▪️  Later in the afternoon, the group will depart to State House Entebbe, which is not far from UWEC. They will be welcomed by a performance from Clevers' Origin Junior School.

▪️  Uganda's First Lady will deliver her welcome remarks, shortly before lunch is served. After lunch, the guests will view a documentary on Uganda's tourism, after which a group photo will be taken followed by departure.
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 9:20 AM 

📝 Today's programme

▪️  Today, the G77+China heads of state and government and heads of delegation will be engaged in a plenary session for the entire morning period inside the Rwenzori Convention Centre. During this time, statements will be presented.

▪️  After lunch, they will get back to the plenary session for the rest of the afternoon.

▪️  Then later in the evening, shortly after 7pm, the closing session will get under way. This session will be open to G77 affiliated UN agencies and the press.

▪️  President Yoweri Museveni will then deliver his closing statement as chair of the Third South Summit and chair of the Group of 77 and China (G77+China).
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 9:14 AM 

#⃣   Join the conversation

For all things G77+China and Third South Summit, follow the conversation on social media by, specifically X (formerly Twitter), using the hashtag #G77ChinaSummitUg24.
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 9:13 AM 

🗞️ In the New Vision today

Got your copy of New Vision yet? We have got an electronic version for you this way.

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 9:02 AM 

'2024 a crucial year'

President Museveni told the Third South Summit that 2024 year is "a crucial year with various intergovernmental processes at the United Nations on issues that are of paramount importance to the group".

These include;

▪️  Fourth international conference for the Small Island Developing States
▪️  Third UN Conference on the Landlocked Developing Countries
▪️  ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council) Forum of Financing for Development Follow-up
▪️  ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council) High Political Forum on Sustainable Development
▪️  Summit of the Future
▪️  Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development 
▪️  2024 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP29).

Museveni said all these upcoming engagement "demand that we as the Group, remain even more steadfast in promoting the interests of developing countries".

He expressed Uganda's committment to "consolidate the unity, presence and influence of the Group in these intergovernmental processes".

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 8:51 AM 

Uganda's agenda at helm of G77+China

In his opening address to the Third South Summit on Sunday, President Museveni said Uganda’s chairmanship will strive to further promote, among others: 

▪️  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 co-operation
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 8:49 AM 

📝  HIGHLIGHTS: Museveni's address

Here in Kampala, international delegates are attending a first South summit in 18 years — the previous one (second edition) having taken place in Doha, Qatar in 2005.

Host President Yoweri Museveni said their attendance "demonstrates your commitment to the work of G77 and China".

After assuming leadership of the group, he delivered an address that touched on a number of issues. Here are the highlights of what he said:

▪️  We must continue to embrace the founding principles that gave life to this heterogeneous and representative group of nations.

▪️  Currently, the population of the G77+China represent 80% of the global population and its GDP accounts for more than 40% of the global GDP, indicating that the group has registered progress in defending and promoting the interests of developing countries, according to Museveni.

▪️  Overall progress in the attainment of the sustainable development as agreed at  the UN in September 2015 falls short of the expectations. Developing countries are lagging far behind.

▪️  Third South Summit is an appropriate forum to collectively voice the urgent need for effective actions to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

▪️  To ensure no one is left behind, G77+China needs to remain united in our demand to the international community to support developing countries to urgently address the global challenges, particularly: poverty, hunger, digital divide and climate change.

▪️  The threat to multilateralism and the rise in unilateralism continues to exist, which makes all susceptible to the impacts of the current unjust international economic order.

▪️  As the G77+China, we should continue to work collectively to ensure that we achieve an international economic order that is just and equitable.

▪️  Uganda remains committed to the pledge to “leave no one behind”.

▪️  At national level, Uganda is focusing on four key sectors of wealth creation and job creation to support our socio-economic transformation: commercial agriculture, industralization, services and ICT.

▪️  Additionally, Uganda is also prioritizing the promotion and protection of all human rights, including the right to development. We wish to emphasize that the issue of human rights should be handled objectively and not politicized.

▪️  South-South Co-operation continues to play a critical role in supporting developing countries in their efforts to achieve self-reliance.

▪️  We need to strengthen trade and investment among our countries.

▪️  The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) leads the way to strengthen intra-trade among African countries to ensure prosperity for the African people.

▪️  As developing countries, we should support the implementation of these regional trade blocs. We must also support strengthening triangular co-operation.

▪️  We need to adequately address the challenges and needs faced by countries in special situations, particularly, African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing states.

▪️  We also need to address specific challenges faced by many middle-income countries, conflict and post-conflict countries as well as countries and peoples living under foreign occupation.

▪️  We, therefore, support the call for the international community to provide targeted support to enable these countries address their challenges.

▪️  We also support the urgent reform of the international financial architecture to ensure that it is fit for purpose to respond to the financing needs of developing countries.

▪️  In our view, the international financial institutions and multilateral development banks must support the national priorities of developing countries without any conditionalities that infringe on these countries’ sovereignty.

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 8:40 AM 

'Invaluable new step'

Uganda has now taken over the chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China at what President Yoweri Museveni — the new chair of the coalition — describes as "an opportune time" because it is this year that the Group marks its 60th anniversary.

He is also firm that Uganda's leadership of this group of more than 130 nations will be "an invaluable new step to the path towards the realization of our aspirations as developing countries".

After taking the top seat during the opening ceremony of the Group's Third South Summit on Sunday in Kampala, Museveni was keen to thank member nations for entrusting Uganda with the role for this one year, also commending the African nations for endorsing his country's candidature.

In his inaugural address as chair, the Ugandan leader said the Group continues to "yearn for a revitalized multilateral system which is capable of adequately addressing current and emerging global challenges".

The G77+China, he said, is firm in its belief that "multilateralism remains a fundamental and crucial mechanism for addressing our common challenges together as nations in solidarity".

Museveni underlined that it is critical that the coalition remains "united in its pursuit of collective interests" at the United Nations.

"In the intergovernmental processes at the United Nations, we must ensure that priorities of the Group are promoted and defended.

"I assure you that my team, led by the Permanent Representative in New York, has my full support to chair the Group of 77 and China.

More from his speech coming up...
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 8:31 AM 

Brand-new week!

And that's all it takes, ladies and gentlemen: a rotation of seven and we are back to yet another Monday! Feels like last Monday was just yesterday, innit?

Hello and welcome to our continuing text coverage of the Third South Summit of the Group of 77 countries and China (G77+China) that officially opened in Uganda's capital Kampala on Sunday — coming right on the back of the week-long 19th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit that was also hosted by Kampala.

So, with back-to-back international events of this magnitude, it is undoubtedly busy days for Uganda.