The Vice President, Jessica Alupo has said that hosting the ongoing Non Aligned Movement(NAM) Summit shows the trust that the world has in Uganda.
“This presence here today is an affirmation of the trust and confidence in the leadership of our country, to steer the movement in line with the founding principles and promotion of the interests of its membership in a globalized world,” Alupo said.
The vice president was on Wednesday morning speaking during the official opening ceremony of the ministerial meeting of the 19th summit of the heads of state of the Non-Aligned Movement at Munyonyo.
She said that Uganda joined NAM in 1964, only two years after her independence to the East African country’s conviction about its important and relevance.
“The principle of non-alignment is a constitutional obligation for Uganda and has been a central pillar of our foreign policy. The movement principles of sovereignty and sovereign equality of states, territorial integrity, non-intervention and non-interference in the internal affairs of other states are as relevant and important today as they were at its founding.”
“Through the vision and efforts of the founders, colonialism is almost entirely ended, except for a few non-self-governing territories. As countries of the global south, we have regularly come together to discuss issues of common interest and concern.”
Alupo said the ministerial meeting at Munyonyo is yet another opportunity for you to continue with a constructive conversation on a number of issues.
“We are cognizant of the fact that this meeting has come at a challenging time for our membership. From the political and diplomatic front, to the social and economic, there are many existing, new and emerging issues that challenge our individual and collective efforts towards building prosperous and resilient societies.”
She mentioned that ongoing geopolitical tensions and conflicts, such as the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine are a matter of concern for NAM members.
“They not only pose challenges to the core principles of our movement, but they have also caused loss of human lives, destruction of property and contributed to the already precarious humanitarian situation around the world, through internal displacement and creation of refugees.”
“On the social and economic front, many of our countries still face structural bottlenecks and weaknesses. Infrastructure to support industrialization and trade, such as energy, road and rail is still a challenge. Human capacity to effectively manage the extractive industry is still inadequate, or lacking. Financial resources for quality investment in strategic sectors of the economy, including industrialization and value addition, are still insufficient.”
She said a combination of these bottlenecks, together with other challenges, such as the financial and economic crises, climate change, recurrent food crises, energy prices volatility, and pandemics, more often than not render efforts towards socio-economic transformation futile.
