PH reaffirms support for Non-Aligned Movement
THE Philippines reaffirmed its support for the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) during the Ministerial Meeting of the 19th NAM Summit on Thursday in Kampala, Uganda.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and International Economic Relations Charles Jose thanked Uganda for its hosting of the 19th NAM Summit and expressed full support to the Ugandan leadership of the NAM until 2027.
Jose highlighted how the NAM has “always stood for the principles of…sovereign independence, equality of all states, non-intervention, non-use of force and coercion, peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with the UN Charter and international law, mutual respect and cooperation.”
He thanked NAM members for including reference of the Philippines’ recent hosting of the Manila Conference on Lethal Autonomous Weapons last December 2023 in the Outcome Document.
He noted the important elements reflected in the Outcome Documents of the NAM Summit, such as the priorities of the African Union.
“Africa has an important role to play in world affairs,” said Jose. “For multilateralism to be effective, it must be inclusive.”
In this context, Jose stressed the need for the UN Security Council to have greater representation of NAM member countries and requested support for the Philippines’ candidature for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council for the term 2027-2028.
Heo also joined other ASEAN Member countries in expressing the group’s collective position on the South China Sea to uphold the peaceful settlement of disputes and the rule of international law. ASEAN called for NAM’s unity and solidarity in respect of ASEAN centrality.
Philippine Non-Resident Envoy to Uganda Ambassador Marie Charlotte G. Tang and Philippine Deputy Permanent Representative to New York Ambassador Leila Lora-Santos were part of the delegation to the Ministerial Meeting.
On January 20, Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo will address the 19th NAM Summit as head of Philippine Delegation.
The 19th NAM Summit will be held back-to-back with the 3rd G77 South Summit on 21-23 January 2024, with DICT Secretary Ivan Uy representing the Philippines.
NAM is the largest political caucus of developing nations in the UN system comprising 121 member states, 17 observer countries and 10 observer organizations.
