The meeting served to coordinate and agree on a roadmap containing the Group’s lines of action in the multilateral organizations present in this Swiss city, such as the Human Rights Council, the Conference on Disarmament, the World Health Organization and the International Labor Organization, among other entities.

The delegations were welcomed by Ambassador Héctor Constant, permanent representative of the Bolivarian Republic to the UN-Geneva, who stressed the importance of the close cooperation and solidarity that prevails in the Group of Friends.

This allows, he said, to address and defend, in multilateral settings, the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, essential for the proper functioning of multilateralism and essential to promote human rights, peace and international security.

Also to advance the economic development and social progress of humanity, indicated a note from the Permanent Mission here of the South American nation.

The Ambassadors of the Group of Friends ratified the relevance in Geneva’s multilateral task and the need to underpin concrete actions to give it a voice and relevance, especially on the selective and politicized use of human rights against the countries of the South.

As well as denouncing the serious and negative consequences for development and human rights derived from the imposition of illegal unilateral coercive measures, contrary to international law.

This conglomerate of countries in Defense of the UN Charter is made up of: Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Palestine, Russia, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Nicaragua, Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Laos, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Syria, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

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