President Cyril Ramaphosa has travelled to Kampala in Uganda to attend the 19th Non Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit.

The two-day NAM Summit is being held under the theme ‘Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence’.

According to the Presidency, the summit is the highest decision making body of the NAM.

‘The summit is also the occasion when the movement formally rotates its Chair to the Head of State of the host country of the summit, who then holds office until the next summit. Azerbaijan has been the Chair since 2019 and will hand over the position to Uganda in 2024 for the next three years (2024-2027).

‘The Government of Uganda has identified five focus areas and priority goals of its Chairship and they are: regional and international peace and security; the international fight against terrorism; international migration and humanitarian crises; human trafficking and drug smuggling; as well as Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals,’ the Presidency said.

The summit is expected to adopt
a Final Outcome Document, the Kampala Declaration and the NAM Ministerial Declaration on Palestine.

‘With its 120 member states, the NAM is the largest grouping of countries outside of the UN, making it an important roleplayer in global and multilateral affairs.

‘Since its inception in 1961, the movement has played a crucial and obvious political role in representing the interests of developing countries, particularly in the eradication of colonialism, supporting struggles for liberation and self-determination, the pursuit of world peace and the search for a more equitable and just global order,’ the Presidency said.

Following the conclusion of the NAM Summit, the President – accompanied by Department of International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Dr Naledi Pandor – is expected to attend the Group of 77 (G77) Third South Summit also to be held in Uganda.

That summit will be held under the theme ‘Leaving No One Behind’ and is aimed at boosting South-South cooperation, including in the areas of trade,
investment, sustainable development, climate change, poverty eradication, and digital economy.

‘The Group of 77 plus China is the largest negotiating bloc of developing countries in the United Nations, which provides the means for the countries of the South to articulate and promote their collective economic interests and enhance their joint negotiating capacity on all major international economic issues within the United Nations system, and promote South-South cooperation for development.

‘South-South cooperation remains an important pillar for strengthening the economic independence of countries of the South as a complement and not a replacement to North-South cooperation. South Africa participates in the work of the G77 to ensure its strength, unity and cohesion in pursuit of the vision of a fair and equitable multilateral system,’ the Presidency said.

Source: South African Government News Agency