Delegates attend the opening ceremony of the 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Kampala, Uganda, on Jan. 19, 2024. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua)
The 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) opened in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, Friday with a call by leaders to member states to focus on unity as the world grapples with the continued push for unilateralism.
KAMPALA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) opened here Friday with a call by leaders to member states to focus on unity as the world grapples with the continued push for unilateralism.
Uganda officially took over the chairmanship of the NAM from Azerbaijan at the opening ceremony.
Azerbaijan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov, who opened the summit on behalf of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the outgoing chair of NAM, said the meeting takes place at a time when the international system is facing many challenges. He called for continued unity among the member countries to address these challenges. Azerbaijan assumed the chairmanship of NAM in 2019.
Yoweri Museveni, Ugandan president and incoming chair of NAM, said the NAM will not accept the continued push for unilateralism and dictating by the developed North on what independent states must do. He said nations should not be manipulated, lectured, or threatened.
"Our stand is that the world should concentrate on the common human problems -- prosperity through trade, the advance of science and technology to deal with human problems, the environment, crime, and terrorism. The future is bright if we act right," he said.
Museveni said the strength of NAM should be used to exercise considerable influence, particularly at the UN for the effective transformative process for a better common future.
"In the negotiations for the Pact of the Future, the outcome document of the upcoming United Nations Summit of the Future to be held in New York in September 2024, we should clearly define priorities that favor developing countries by maintaining unity, solidarity and collective coordination among our member states," he said.
Yoweri Museveni, Ugandan president and incoming chair of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), addresses the opening ceremony of the 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement in Kampala, Uganda, on Jan. 19, 2024. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua)
Salvador Valdes Mesa, vice president of Cuba, said NAM should continue to remain united despite increased external pressure to weaken the Movement. He said the world system is deeply unjust, exclusive, and discriminatory toward the people of the Global South.
"Our distinctive diversity is our strength. It allows us to find consensus amid different loopholes based on the principles and values we share," he noted.
Mesa stressed NAM has been an advocate of many just causes in the world, including the struggle against colonialism, neocolonialism, fascism, racism and apartheid. It has also opposed wars and imposition of unfair sanctions and unilateral coercive measures against some of its members.
Dennis Francis, president of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly, said the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East are undermining the multilateral system in resolving conflicts. The UN has persistently called for a ceasefire in the Gaza crisis, but fighting has continued, leading to loss of lives and human displacement.
"I am deeply concerned and dismayed about the ongoing calamity in the Gaza Strip. I call upon this movement to exert its influence in bringing a halt to the carnage that we are witnessing," Francis said.
Close to 30 heads of state and government are attending the two-day summit, according to Uganda's foreign affairs ministry. The summit, held under the theme "Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence," was preceded by the ministerial meeting and the senior officials' meeting.
Since its establishment in 1961, the NAM has been guided by the Bandung Principles, which include respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations, recognition of the equality of all races and nations, large and small, and abstention from intervention or interference in the internal affairs of other countries. ■
