At the climax of the ongoing Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) taking place in the capital Kampala, Uganda will assume chair from Azerbaijan, to run until 2027.
NAM membership consists of 120 countries — 53 from Africa, 39 from Asia, 26 from Latin America and the Caribbean, and two from Europe. It also includes the non-UN member state of Palestine, 17 other observer countries and 10 observer organisations.
The summit is one of the biggest global meetings Uganda is hosting after the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2007.
This 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) that kicked off on Monday and will conclude on Saturday with the Heads of State summit.
About 4,000 guests from different member states are attending the weeklong summit that seeks to address pressing global issues and foster cooperation among member states.
Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Gen Jeje Odong said the world needs multilateralism and solidarity to face its numerous challenges.
“Today, we are faced with several challenges, including armed conflicts in different parts of the world, food insecurity, migration, unemployment, health pandemics, climate change, and terrorism among the myriad of challenges. We also recognise challenges in financing for development and the issue of debt burden that paints a depressing global economic outlook. It is, therefore, crucial for us to address existing, new, and emerging issues collectively and in the interest of our membership, for the good of mankind,” he said.
According to organisers, the delegates have formed two committees – political, and the economic and social – whose negotiations will shape the Kampala Outcome Document that will be adopted by the Foreign Affairs ministers and declared at the Heads of State summit on Saturday.
