Uganda Hosting the 19th Non-Aligned Movement-NAM Summit and G77 in January 2024

Uganda hosts the 19th Summit of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Heads of State and Government, a forum of 120 member states from 15 to 20 January 2024, at the Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort.

Then from 21 to 23 January, at the same venue, Uganda hosts the Third South Summit organized under the framework of Group 77 and China, a loose alliance of developing countries.

The two summits provide a platform to market Uganda’s unique tourism and investment opportunities to a larger and wider community of international actors.”

At the events, Uganda assumes the chairmanship of NAM for three years and, G77 and China for one year which comes along with a boost to the economy. The events include a business forum that will facilitate direct business-to-business interaction and partnerships.

Hosting the summits would enhance the positive image of Uganda and that potential economic and commercial benefits would accrue over the medium to long term.

President Yoweri Museveni takes over from Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev to lead the second-biggest group of countries after the United Nations.

The Non-Aligned Movement, founded in 1961 at the height of the Cold War between the West and East, has a membership of 120 countries — 53 from Africa, 39 from Asia, 26 from Latin America and the Caribbean, and two from Europe.

The event attracts approximately 2,000 delegates from around the world. The summit makes participation from 120 member states, including leaders and representatives who converge to discuss various global and regional challenges.

Non-Aligned Movement is a Platform for Cooperation

The Non-Aligned Movement, a group of states not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc, has a significant global membership.

The summit serves as a crucial event for member nations to foster dialogue and collaboration on mutual interests. It further offers a platform for these nations to address various issues, including their responses to evolving global and regional challenges.

The event’s scale and the magnitude of the discussions underscore the importance of the summit in fostering international cooperation among member countries.

The summit is not just a testament to Uganda’s increasing influence in international affairs, but also a reflection of the significance of the Non-Aligned Movement in the global political landscape.

India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar confirms to represent India at the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Uganda’s capital Kampala January 2024. Scheduled from January 17 to 20, 2024, the 19th edition of the NAM summit is preceded by a crucial foreign ministerial meeting from January 15.

At the 2019 NAM summit in Azerbaijan, and the 2016 NAM Venezuela summits, India was represented at the Vice President level. This is the External Affairs Minister’s 2nd visit to the country in a year. He was in the country in April 2023 as well during which he inaugurated the first foreign campus of India’s National Forensic Science University (NFSU). Located in Uganda’s Jinja, the focus of the Indian government is to build capacity in Africa. Remember, prior to this, India also opened the campus of IIT Madras in Tanzania’s Zanzibar.

The Birth of NAM

NAM was founded on 1 September 1961 in Belgrade ( Federal people’s republic of Yugoslavia ) with the view of advancing the interests of developing countries in the context of cold war confrontation. After the Korean war , some countries resolved to counterbalance the rapid bi-polarization of the world where two major powers formed blocs ( The union of Soviet Socialist Republics and NATO) with allies on a policy to pull the rest into their obits .

The initiative by the president of Yugoslav Josip Broz Tito, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah, and Indonesian President Sukarno during the bandung conference in 1955 gave birth to NAM.

In 1979, Fidel Castro a pure communist while in Havana Cuba ,declared that NAM was 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 are protected and observed as well as against great powers and bloc politics . The conference of Head of state or Non-aligned countries is held after a few years and on a rotational basis in member states and the recent was held in 2019 in Azerbaijan. In 1982, the 7th summit which was intended to take place in Baghdad, Iraq under the leadership of Saddam Hussein was jeopardized by Iran-Iraq war during the Baghdad operation of Islamic Republic of Iran Air force who threatened that they would kill the heads of states using McDonnell Douglas F-4 phantom II and exposing Iraq’s airspace was unsafe for flights .
NB: All African countries are members of NAM except South Sudan.

Our Anticipation of NAM

As Kitara Foundation for Regional Tourism, we anticipate these summits mean a lot to our work and the entire tourism industry in the region. Remember, our main work is to foster coordination and linkages among tourism and hospitality actors in the region. Secondly, aim at building standards and professionalism in the industry in this region. Thirdly, we work to strengthen capacities of all actors in tourism and hospitality industry in the region.

We hope that the  outcomes of these conferences and their long term benefits will positively impact on our work. At Kitara Foundation for Regional Tourism we emphasize tourism sector’s importance to the economic development of the country; especially for those communities that would otherwise be left behind in the national development yet they hold some of the potential tourism resources.

Our Aim is to Contribute to the National Strategic Goal of a sustainable tourism sector that helps to create jobs, increase foreign income, improve livelihoods and preserve natural and cultural resources in the Region.

Our emphasis is on Sustainable tourism, Responsible Tourism, Regenerative Tourism, Community Based tourism, Green Tourism, and Ecotourism in Uganda,

Interact with Kitara School of Tourism and Hospitality, follow these links to access the different course Modules at Kitara Foundation School of Tourism and Hospitality;

1. A carrier in Tourism: https://kitararcc.com/a-currier-in-tourism/
2. Sustainable Development Through Tourism: https://kitararcc.com/sustainable-development-through-tourism/
3. Tourism Business Development and Management: https://kitararcc.com/tourism-business-management/
4. Principles of Tour Guiding: https://kitararcc.com/principles-of-tour-guiding/