Global crises, climate change dominate NAM day two talks
The interior of the convention centre at Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala on January 15,2024. The long-awaited Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit finally kicked off yesterday. Photos/Abubaker Lubowa
What you need to know:
- The ministry of Foreign Affairs says more delegates are expected for the weeklong conference running until January 20.
- NAM is a grouping of 120 countries working together to address concerns of developing countries.
Geopolitical tensions, wars and humanitarian crises dominated day two of the meeting of senior officials at the ongoing 19th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Kampala.
The delegates were split into two committees: the Political Committee chaired by Uganda’s Permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Adonia Ayebare, and the Economic and Social Committee chaired by Uganda’s Deputy High Commissioner to London, Ambassador Leonard Mugerwa.
While the sessions were closed to the media, in a brief, Dr Sam Omara, the head of diplomacy at Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told journalists the delegates in the Political Committee discussed “the Middle East peace process, the Palestinian issue, the situation in Syria and Lebanon. In Africa, they discussed issues of colonialism... The situation in Myanmar, Afghanistan, Colombia, Libya,”
The Economic and Social Affairs Committee discussed issues of climate change, sand and dust storms, and human trafficking, Dr Omara said.
Discussions were still going on by press time. This publication established that there had been a stalemate, with countries disagreeing on the Palestine question.
The war by Israel on Palestine, which has been raging since October 2023, has dominated the NAM meetings since Monday. While the majority of the countries are said to have been in support of Palestine, there were divergent views on the wording of the final input.
The senior officials were expected to conclude their sessions yesterday and adopt the Kampala Final Document which will be passed on to the ministers meeting sitting today for further deliberations.
As of January 15, 350 delegates from 93 countries were taking part in the summit running under the theme, Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence.
The ministry of Foreign Affairs says more delegates are expected for the weeklong conference running until January 20.
NAM is a grouping of 120 countries working together to address concerns of developing countries.
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