Baku, AZERBAIJAN – The Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Deng Dau Deng, earlier this month participated in the ministerial meetings of the Non-Aligned Movement’s Coordinating Bureau in Baku, Azerbaijan
The Azeri President, Ilham Aliyev himself opened the event, which was held under the theme “NAM: United and steadfast in confronting emerging challenges.”
The Non-Aligned Movement is the second-largest global body after the United Nations. The membership now totals 120 countries, including 53 African countries that represent the interests and aspirations of emerging countries.
NAM was formed during the Cold War as an organization of States that did not seek to, at least formally, align themselves with either the United States or the Soviet Union, but sought to remain independent or neutral.
The basic concept for the group originated in 1955 during discussions that took place at the Asia-Africa Bandung held in Bandung, Indonesia.
However, the NAM was officially launched during the Belgrade Conference of September 1961 under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Jawaharlal Nehru of India, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Sukarno of Indonesia.
Hon. Deng was accompanied by the Director General of Multilateral Affairs in the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and other senior Ministry officials.