NAM summit to deepen global cooperation

The 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) opened in Kampala on Monday, January 15, with a focus on deepening cooperation for shared global affluence.

The 120 member States, 18 observer countries and 10 observer Organisations are participating in the five-day meeting.  

The ongoing summit is fundamental for Uganda as President Yoweri Museveni takes over the chairmanship of the organization from President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan.  

President Museveni says Uganda takes up the chairmanship for its neutral stance on international issues, which was evident during the vote on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Uganda was among 17 African countries to abstain in a vote on a UN resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  

 At the 11th emergency session of the UN General Assembly, 31 African countries voted to endorse a resolution asserting the ‘Principles of the Charter of the UN’ seeking a “comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”  

In the vote in which 141 member states supported the resolution, seven voted against and 32 abstained, including Uganda which chose to remain neutral.  

Now Uganda will for three years, starting this year until 2026, take the chairmanship of NAM, whose member countries contain 55% of the world population, largely in developing countries, although NAM also has several developed nations.  

Uganda was endorsed to chair NAM on behalf of Africa from 2024 to 2026.  

The NAM chair position rotates every three years during its summit. The chairman of the movement is assisted by both the former and incoming chairs. According to the movement, this structure represents its past, present and future.  

Uganda this year takes up the chairmanship from Azerbaijan that chaired the NAM from 2019 to 2022 having taken over from Venezuela.  


The Non-Aligned Movement was founded in 1961 at the height of the Cold War between the West and East.   

It was also during the end of the colonial system and the independence struggles of the peoples of Africa, Asia, Latin America and other regions of the world and at the height of the Cold War.  

In the early days of the movement, its actions were a key factor in the decolonisation process, which led later to the attainment of freedom and independence by many countries and to the founding of several new sovereign states.   

Throughout its history, the movement has played a fundamental role in the preservation of world peace and security.  

While some meetings were held before 1955, historians consider that the Bandung Asian-African Conference was the most immediate precursor to the creation of NAM.   

This Bandung conference in Indonesia from April 18-24, 1955 gathered 29 Heads of States belonging to the first post-colonial generation of leaders from Asia and Africa.  

Their aim was to identify and assess world issues at the time and pursue joint policies in international relations.        

In 1960, in light of the results achieved in Bandung, the creation of NAM countries was given a significant boost during the 15th ordinary session of the United Nations General Assembly, during which 17 new African and Asian countries were admitted.   

A key role was played in this process by the then Heads of State and Government Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Jawaharlal Nehru of India, Ahmed Sukarno of Indonesia and Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, who later became the founding fathers of the movement and its emblematic leaders.  

Six years after Bandung, NAM was founded on a wider geographical basis at the First Summit Conference of Belgrade, which was held from September 1-6, 1961.   

The conference was attended by Afghanistan, Algeria, Yemen, Myanmar, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Congo, Cuba, Cyprus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Lebanon, Mali, Morocco, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Yugoslavia.  

Today the movement has a membership of 120 countries from the developing world, 53 from Africa, 39 from Asia, 26 from Latin America and the Caribbean, and two from Europe. All African countries, save for South Sudan, are members of the NAM.  



Uganda was admitted as a member of NAM at the second summit of heads of state and government, held on October 5th – 10th, 1964 in Cairo, Egypt.   

The admission came after only three years of founding the Movement in Belgrade in 1961, and two years from the time Uganda attained her independence from the British, on October 9th, 1962.    

Uganda was one of the 47 member states to attend the Summit. Uganda’s decision to join NAM was inspired in great part by the Bandung Principles which the movement stood for.  

The principles have served and continue to serve the movement and its membership well.   

Since Uganda joined the movement, it has been an active member. Uganda aims to use its chairmanship of the movement for the period 2024 – 2026 to further contribute to the aspirations of NAM and pay attention to all issues on the NAM agenda.  

The movement is not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. The primary goals of NAM countries focused on the support of self-determination, national independence and sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.  

It also includes opposition to apartheid; non-adherence to multilateral military pacts, and the independence of non-aligned countries from great power or block influences and rivalries.  

Also contained in its goals is the struggle against imperialism in all its forms and manifestations; the struggle against colonialism, neocolonialism, racism, foreign occupation and domination  

NAM countries are also focused on disarmament; non-interference in the internal affairs of states and peaceful coexistence among all nations;  

Currently, South Africa a member of Nam has gone to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in The Hague, and is charging Israel for committing genocide in Gaza, Palestine.  

NAM countries reject the use or threat of use of force in international relations; aim at the strengthening of the United Nations; the democratization of international relations; socio-economic development and restructuring of the international economic system; as well as international cooperation on an equal footing.  

Uganda’s permanent representative to the United Nations Adonia Ayebare earlier reiterated that Uganda remains a firm believer in the movement’s ideals.  

The Kampala NAM summit themed "Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence”, is believed to be a reflection of Africa’s growing influence on the international scene.  

The summit will raise discussion on shared interests at a time when the world is facing challenges of emerging power centres, away from the traditional global blocs.  

Lucy Nakyobe, the chairperson of the National Organising Committee for the Summit, says leaders from around the world will address pressing global issues and foster cooperation among member nations.