Uganda hosts Non-Aligned Movement summit

Leaders from about 120 countries across the world have converged in the Ugandan capital Kampala for the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) that kicked off on Monday.

About 4,000 guests from different member states are expected to attend the weeklong summit that seeks to address pressing global issues and foster cooperation among member states.

The delegates will form 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.

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 recognize 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.

NAM is the second-largest group of countries after the United Nations, founded in 1961 at the height of the Cold War between the West and East. But, unlike other regional and international organizations, it neither has a formal founding Charter, Act, or Treaty, nor a permanent secretariat. The country holding the rotational chairmanship is responsible for coordinating and managing the affairs of the Movement.