By Jimmy Odooki Acellam
The 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) took place in Kampala, Uganda from January 15-17 and the theme of the conference was; “Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence.” Uganda’s President, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni took over the mantle of NAM Chairperson from Chair of the 18th Summit, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Heydar Oghlu Aliyev. President Museveni will chair NAM for three years.
NAM was the antidote to the irrational polarization of the World at the time between the Capitalist (Western countries) and the Communist (mainly Eastern countries) and contributed to the independence of many colonized countries at the time. The first Summit of NAM took place in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1961 and the delegates were from only 25 countries. The membership has increased steadily over the years to 120 countries.
NAM is not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. Together, these countries have a strong sense of what is wrong and right with the world and where it needs to stand on important issues. It is committed to fighting oppression and suppression, the struggle against imperialism, neocolonialism and working towards peace and security for its members.
The Non-Aligned Movement was founded on the Bandung principles; Respect for fundamental human rights and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations; Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations, Recognition of the equality of all races and of the equality of all nations, large and small, ….Promotion of mutual interests and cooperation and respect for justice and international obligations. To be entrusted with the leadership of such a big forum of global leaders by consensus is a vote of confidence in President Museveni, the NRM Chairman whose Pan-African agenda is not in doubt. The National Resistance Movement (NRM) party is therefore bound to gain some form of legitimacy out of NAM.
During the NAM summit in Kampala, the UN Secretary General; Antonio Guterres echoed similar sentiments about much- needed reforms at the United Nations. He particularly mentioned the Security Council and criticized the outdated global financial system which he said is not helping developing countries as much. The strength of NAM is therefore going to be crucial at the United Nations for the ffective transformative process 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. “The World should concentrate on the common human problems; Prosperity through trade. Advance of science and technology to deal with the problems of the environment and tackling climate change issues, crime, and terrorism,” said President Museveni in his keynote address to heads of states and governments at the summit. NAM Chairperson has his work cut out to try and restore peace and security in war-torn non-aligned countries.
Just before the NAM Summit, Uganda hosted the 27th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC2024), and immediately after NAM, the Group of 77and China (G-77+China) Summit. With these, Uganda is destined to be a host of more international and regional conferences. Moreover, the intra-trade among NAM member countries offers big market opportunities, many investment destinations, and diversification in trade. The Indian cottage
industry is one of the interesting ventures under consideration. The benefits to be accrued from the attention and focus on Uganda as a result of NAM are immense and go beyond the aspects of tourism, trade, economic, political and security, etc.
