The attribution of the status of permanent observer of the United Nations (UN) to the g7+ will be decided during the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly that will take place in new York, between 17 and 27 September 2019.

The g7+ Secretariat will organize a meeting of g7+ Foreign Ministers during the 74 session of the United Nations General Assembly. The meeting will be organized by Timor-Leste and Sierra Leone with the aim of consolidating the g7+ Group at the UN and leading to the attribution of observer status to this intergovernmental organization.

The ratification of the g7+ Charter, adopted in Lomé at the 3rd Ministerial Meeting, in May 2014, a minimum requirement for the group to be recognized at the UN as an observer, has already been completed by Afghanistan and Sao Tome and Principe. In Timor-Leste the process should be completed shortly with the publication in the Republic Journal by the President of the Republic. The other countries are also completing the ratification process.

The role of the g7+ was formally recognized in the G7 declaration during the summit in Biarritz, France, last July. In the statement the members of the G7 affirm that “peer learning and South-South cooperation are fundamental”, and in this sense, “support the international dialogue on the construction of peace and state building” and recognize “the g7+ cooperation structure, Fragile to Fragile, which encourages the sharing of experiences among fragile countries”.

This global recognition was also confirmed in a recent study conducted by the BRICS Policy Center, which analyzed the influence of the g7+ since its inception, in 2010, the peace and development agendas and the roles of development partners with regard to fragile States. The report presents the challenges currently facing the g7+, confirms the substantial impact of this organization globally and recognizes the important role played by the Government of Timor-Leste.

The intergovernmental organization g7+ will celebrate its tenth anniversary next year, since its inception, in 2010, as a Timorese initiative. The g7+, originally founded by seven countries, is now comprised of 20 countries from Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Caribbean and the Middle East: Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, Comoros, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Yemen, Solomon Islands, Liberia, Papua New Guinea, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Timor-Leste and Togo. The total population of the nations that make up the g7+ is 1.5 billion people.

The president of the g7+, the Minister of Planning and Economic development of Sierra Leone, Francis Kai Kai, will participate in the Forum of the Sustainable Development Goals 16 + that will take place in Dili, between 11 and 14 November 2019, under the theme “To promote peaceful, fair and inclusive societies”.