The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was founded in 1961 with the view to advancing the interests of developing countries in the context of Cold War confrontation.
In its first three decades, the Movement played a crucial role in decolonization, the formation of new independent states, and the democratization of international relations.
At present, the NAM consists of 120 States that account for about 60% of the United Nations’ overall membership. Observer status in the NAM has been provided to 18 states and 10 organizations.
The Non-Aligned Movement aspires to occupy a niche of a political gathering that seeks to oppose the West’s unilateral approaches and actions on the global stage.
NAM builds its work on ten Bandung principles, including respect for the sovereignty, equality, and territorial integrity of all states; rejection of the possibility of an unconstitutional change of government, as well as external attempts to change the regime of government; the preservation of the inalienable right for each state is free, without interference from outside, to determine its political, social, economic and cultural system; refusal from aggression and direct or indirect use of force; non-application of any unilateral economic, political or military measures.
The functioning of the NAM is organized without any formal administrative structures and a budget. NAM holds summits, foreign ministers level conferences, and meetings in New York at the level of ministers of foreign affairs of the NAM member countries during the sessions of the UN General Assembly, meetings of the NAM Coordination Bureau, activities of the Chairman and “Troika”, meetings of sectoral ministers of NAM members countries (ministers of labor, health, information), topical thematic meetings.
The XVIII Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement was held on October 25-26, 2019 in Baku. In 2019 — 2023 NAM is chaired by Azerbaijan. The Republic of Belarus has been a member of the Non-Aligned Movement since 1998. When using the site materials reference to the source is required.
the first Conference of Heads of State or Governments of Non-Aligned Countries. The purpose of the organization was summarized by Fidel Castro in his Havana Declaration of 1979 as to ensure “the national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of non-aligned countries” in their “struggle against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, and all forms of foreign aggression, occupation, domination, interference or hegemony as well as against great power and bloc politics.”
The countries of the Non-Aligned Movement represent nearly two-thirds of the United Nations’ members and contain 55% of the world population. Membership is particularly concentrated in countries considered to be developing countries, although the Non-Aligned Movement also has a number of developed nations
The Non-Aligned Movement gained the most traction in the 1950s and early 1960s, when the international policy of non-alignment achieved major successes in decolonization, disarmament, opposition to racism, and opposition to apartheid in South Africa, and persisted throughout the entire Cold War, despite several conflicts between members, and despite some members developing closer ties with either the Soviet Union, China, or the United States.
In the years since the Cold War’s end in 1991, the movement has focused on developing multilateral ties and connections as well as unity among the developing nations of the world, especially those in the Global South
Origins and the Cold War
The term ‘Non-Alignment’ was used for the first time in 1950 at the United Nations by India and Yugoslavia, both of which refused to align themselves with any side in the multi-alliances involving Korean War.
Drawing on the principles agreed at the Bandung Conference in 1955, the Non-Aligned Movement as an organization was founded on the Brijuni islands in Yugoslavia in 1956 and was formalized by signing the Declaration of Brijuni on 19 July 1956.
The Declaration was signed by Yugoslavia’s president, Josip Broz Tito, India’s prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and Egypt’s president, Gamal Abdel Nasser.
One of the quotations within the Declaration is “Peace can not be achieved with separation, but with the aspiration towards collective security in global terms and expansion of freedom, as well as terminating the domination of one country over another”.
According to Rejaul Karim Laskar, an ideologue of the Congress party which ruled India for most of the Cold War years, the Non-Aligned Movement arose from the desire of Jawaharlal Nehru and other leaders of the newly independent countries of the third world to guard their independence and sovereignty “in face of the complex international situation demanding allegiance to either two warring superpowers”
Organizational structure and membership
The movement stems from a desire not to be aligned within a geopolitical/military structure and therefore itself does not have a very strict organizational structure.Some organizational basics were defined in the 1996 Cartagena Document on Methodology
The Summit Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned States is “the highest decision-making authority”. The chairmanship rotates between countries and changes at every summit of heads of state or government to the country organizing the summit.
Requirements for membership of the Non-Aligned Movement coincide with the key beliefs of the United Nations. The current requirements are that the candidate country has displayed practices by the ten “Bandung principles” of 1955:
- Respect for fundamental human rights and for the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
- Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations.
- Recognition of the movements for national independence.
- Recognition of the equality of all races and of the equality of all nations, large and small.
- Abstention from intervention or interference in the internal affairs of another country.
- Respect for the right of each nation to defend itself singly or collectively, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations.
- Refraining from acts or threats of aggression or the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any country.
- Settlement of all international disputes by peaceful means, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations.
- Promotion of mutual interests and co-operation.
- Respect for justice and international obligations.
non-aligned movement summit 2024
H.E. GEN. YOWERI KAGUTA MUSEVENI
H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and the People of the Republic of Uganda warmly welcome Your Excellencies Heads of State and Government, Heads of Delegations and all delegates to the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Kampala, from 15th – 20th January 2024.
