Foreign Affairs Minister addresses NonAligned countries in new York

Members of the Non-Aligned movement attending the 73rd UN General Assembly in New York have ceased the occasion to meet and take stock of the group and find means to remain relevant amid global challenges such as terrorism and trade disputes. The New York meeting comes on the heels of a mid-term ministerial conference held in April this year in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

The Non-Aligned movement is made up of 120 countries. Formed in 1961 in Belgrade, which was the capital of the then Yugoslavia, it was aimed at not formally being aligned to the power blocs such as the west led by the US or the east also by the defunct Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR which had Russia as the head.

Though the cold war between US and Russia is over, member-states of NAM still believe that the group is relevant, following challenges including conflicts, climate change, inequality, terrorism, poverty, youth unemployment among others which are still plaguing the world.

However, with unity and sense of purpose under the banner of NAM most of these problems can be solved. In pursuant of this goal, a high-level meeting of NAM was held on the sidelines of the 73rd UN general assembly underway in New York.

Ghana is one of the five founding nations of NAM, which include Egypt, India, Indonesia and Yugoslavia. Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey said several conflicts in the world today point to the failure of the international community to take decisive action to address them when they come up. The trend, Hon. Ayorkor Botchwey said should be of concern to member-states of NAM. The minister added that terrorism and fundamentalism also pose threats to peace and security and with common position they can be tackled head on.



Recommendations from the NAM conference in New York will form part of issues that the foreign ministers will table before the heads of state when they meet in Baku, the Azerbaijanian capital in June 2019.