The 15 th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit closed in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt on July 16, agreeing to select Iran to host the 16 th NAM Summit in 2012.
At this meeting, NAM member countries agreed to admit Argentina and the World Peace Council as new members of the group of observing countries and organisations, increasing the total number of NAM observers to 16 countries and nine organisations.
The 15 th NAM Summit adopted a Final Document that touches upon orientations for addressing complicated international issues.
The document affirms the need to heighten NAM ’s role and pro-activeness in contributing to the world’s peace and security and to uphold the movement’s fundamental principles.
It also underlines the determination to protect the interests of developing countries and extend solidarity, in words and deeds, toward NAM members that are being threatened by the use of force and aggression, or likely to fall victim to unilateral pressure from outside.
On socio-economic issues, the document maps out specific cooperation measures at regional and global levels, including promoting internal strengths and cooperation at regional and international forums and expanding of social exchanges and cultural dialogues on civilisation and beliefs.
It reiterates support for human rights as universal values of humankind and expresses the view that there is no single model of democracy for all nations, while protesting against the use of democratic and human rights issues as a political tool to interfere with the internal affairs of a country.
According to the document, over the past three years, the rising position and influence of the NAM on many important international issues has helped to accelerate the process of formulating mechanisms and specific coordination methods at international forums.
The NAM Summit also adopted the Sharm El-Sheikh Declaration to affirm the NAM’s positive viewpoints on current major issues, a special declaration calling for an end to the US’s economic, trade and financial embargoes against Cuba, a declaration on Palestine and another on declaring July 18 as Nelson Mandela International Day in honour of his contributions to the fight against racial discrimination and protection of humane values.
The Vietnamese delegation to the 15th NAM, led by President Nguyen Minh Triet, reflected Vietnam ’s commitment to working for the NAM ’s common cause.
Vietnamese officials presented views on issues of concern discussed at the event and shared opinions with officials from other NAM member states on the content of declarations adopted there.
The Final Document praises Vietnam, in the capacity as the United Nations Security Council’s Chair in July 2008, for taking the initiative to reform the methodology the UN Security Council uses to make its annual reports and for helping speed up the adoption of a working programme for the disarmament conference after experiencing a deadlock for years.
Later in the day, President Triet and his entourage left Sharm El-Sheikh for home.
Source: VNA/VOVNews