NAM summit begins at Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt

Wednesday, July 15, 2009 05:38:16 PM, Agencies

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt: The XVth Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit began here on Wednesday. Heads of Government of 118 developing nations will discuss issues related to the global economic downturn, terrorism, climate change and food security during the summit.

The two-day summit, themed "International Solidarity and Peace for Development", to be chaired by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, will focus on diplomatic, economic, developmental, and social issues like the world economic crisis and its global impact, weapons of mass destruction, the Palestinian cause, human rights, nuclear issues, and ways to develop cooperation and relations among NAM member states.

Cuban President Raul Castro, who headed the 14th summit session, will present to the NAM leaders and heads of state a report on the previous summit.

The summit's opening session will witness speeches delivered by head of the Group of 77 (G-77), China, and representatives of regional organisations.

NAM's Palestine Committee will discuss the latest developments in Palestine, particularly eastern Jerusalem.
 

A NAM First Ladies'' Summit would also take place at the initiative of Egypt in which the Prime Minister''s wife, Gurusharan Kaur, would participate. The theme of this meeting would be Women in Crisis Management - Perspectives and Challenges, Best Practices and Lessons Learned.

Egypt's First Lady Suzane Mubarak would anchor the meeting that would focus on the role of women in the context of the global economic and food, health and humanitarian crises. Heads of UN Agencies - the FAO, the WFP, the WHO, and the ITU are expected to make brief statements during the two separate sessions of the First Ladies'' Summit.

NAM, which is the second largest political bloc after the United Nations, has 118 member states.
 

The movement is largely the brainchild of Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Gamal Abdul Nasser, former president of Egypt and Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito. It was founded in April 1955 and as of 2007, it has 118 members.

The purpose of the organization as stated in the Havana Declaration of 1979 is 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."

They represent nearly two-thirds of the United Nations''s members and comprise 55 percent of the world population, particularly countries considered to be developing or part of the third world.

The previous NAM summit was held in the Cuban capital, Havana, in September 2006.

Home | Top of the Page

  Comment on this article

Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) Who devised a Secure World

France's Encounter with Pharaoh Ramesses

In 1905 more than 100 years from today, when Iqbal was a lecturer at the Government College, Lahore he was invited by his student Lala Hardayal to preside over a function. Instead of making a speech, Iqbal sang....Read Full

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad - Preacher of the Peace and Harmony

Saudi King calls for Interfaith Dialogue: The Saudi king has made an impassioned plea for dialogue among Muslims, Christians and Jews — the first such proposal from a nation with no diplomatic ties to Israel and a ban on non-Muslim religious services and...Read Full

Introducing Islam

Taliban’s Jizya is Extortion, Nothing to Do with Islam: Indian Muslim religious leaders have unanimously condemned in strongest terms the Pakistani Taliban’s kidnapping, extortion of huge amounts....Read Full

Our terror, their terror: Doval’s response was that the term ‘Hindu terror’ worried him. There were, he said, two dimensions to any battle against terror. The first was law and order. You should treat all terrorists as murderers regardless of their....Read Full

Fascism and Terrorism: Two Sides of the same coin: “It seems that the fascist forces with a clear anti-Muslim agenda have infiltrated the security forces. Since the Indian... Read Full

The storm sweeping south Asia: “Afghanistan has been known over the years as the graveyard of empires” stated  General  David H. Patraeus, head of the US Central Command, in an attempt to.....Read Full

The Hidden Face of the Terrorism Exposed At last: A nation under the siege, innocent lives are at stake and the basic structure of the country in itself is at risk...Read Full

Terrorist vs Terrorism

Victims of Terror