Algeria’s Minister of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the National Community Abroad and African Affairs, Ahmed Attaf, said Wednesday in Kampala (Uganda) that the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) “must make its voice heard on the need for a new approach to address global challenges” related to security and development.
Speaking at the opening of the 19th Ministerial Meeting of the NAM, held under the theme “Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence,” Attaf, representing President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, said the theme chosen by Uganda’s chairmanship “embodies the spirit and principles of Bandung.”
“Our Movement is called upon today to make its voice heard on the imperative of adopting a new approach to deal with the security–development nexus,” he stressed.
Such an approach, he explained, should be based on “rebuilding trust between the North and the South through partnerships grounded in sovereign equality, mutual respect and constructive cooperation — as opposed to the logic of domination, dependency and exclusion.”
It should also aim to “correct the structural dysfunctions of the international system — from the United Nations Security Council to the World Trade Organization, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund,” Attaf added.
The new approach, he said, must also “ensure the fulfillment of all international commitments to sustainable development — including development financing, debt relief, climate justice, good governance, innovation support and technology transfer to developing countries.”
Algeria hails NAM’s adherence to Bandung principles
The meeting coincides with “the 70th anniversary of the Bandung Conference, this historic milestone that paved the way for the creation of our Movement, a civilizational turning point that sparked the decolonization process in Africa, Asia, and beyond, and a pivotal moment in our shared journey that all members of our Movement take pride in, starting with my country, Algeria,” said the Minister of State.
He added that “Algeria has not forgotten, and will never forget, that its liberation cause found its first support and best ally in the Bandung Conference, which actively contributed to placing the Algerian question on the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly as the first decolonization issue addressed directly by the UN body.”
“While we remember the role played by our brothers and friends on our behalf, we welcome our Movement’s steadfast commitment to the principles, spirit, and aspirations of Bandung, as well as its loyalty to authentic positions supporting liberation causes worldwide and reforming the international governance system in economic, political, monetary, and trade aspects,” Attaf emphasized.
In this regard, he said, “Algeria welcomes the content of the final documents of this meeting regarding the Palestinian cause in particular, and the issue of security and stability in the Middle East in general,” noting that “the Palestinian people currently nurture two hopes: consolidating the ceasefire agreement with the effective fulfillment of urgent needs in Gaza, and ensuring that this stage is accompanied by a serious political process addressing the core of the conflict, ending the occupation of Palestinian and Arab territories, and accelerating the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state as a just, lasting, and final solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
Regarding the Sahrawi people, “they demand nothing other than exercising their legitimate and legal right to self-determination, to freely decide their future without constraint or tutelage,” Attaf recalled, reaffirming that “Algeria fully embraces the Non-Aligned Movement’s consistent and principled stance on this issue, a position our Movement has remained faithful to over the past five decades, in line with international legality resolutions and respecting UN doctrine on decolonization.”
