Since its inception, NAM has strived for achieving a peaceful and rules-based international order with multilateralism at the core. The principled position of NAM has been to identify and pursue measures that may contribute towards achieving a peaceful and a prosperous world based on UN Charter and international law.
United Nations General Assembly has adopted April 24 as the International Day for Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace”. The UNGA passed the resolution with a recorded vote of 144 in favour to 2 against with 0 abstentions. The proposal was presented by Venezuela on behalf of 120 Member States of Non-Aligned Movement. Samuel Moncada, Permanent Representative of Venezuela in the United Nations and residential commissioner for the affairs of NAM remarked that the Resolution represented the recognition of the role of the Non-Aligned Movement in the promotion of peace and the strengthening of a multilateral global order.
It may be mentioned here that 24th April holds special significance in the annals of Non-Aligned Movement as it was on April 24, 1955, when the Afro-Asian Conference ended, leading to the foundations of the Movement in 1961 and in which the 10 Bandung Principles, that are still valid for the Non-Alignment policies, were agreed upon.
NAM has reaffirmed that the United Nations, its Charter, and international law remain indispensable tools and central in the preservation and maintenance of international peace and security and the strengthening of international cooperation. The Movement firmly believes that the responsibility for managing and achieving worldwide economic development and social progress as well as responding to threats to international peace and security must be shared among all States and exercised multilaterally through the UN, which must play the central role. NAM emphasises that States need to commit to multilateralism and its underlying values in order for the UN in order to fulfil its role in global governance.
Reiterating the principled position of NAM, Venezuelan diplomat Moncada stressed that the commemoration of the aforementioned International Day “will constitute a mean to promote the values of the United Nations, to reaffirm the faith of our peoples in the purposes and principles enshrined in its founding Charter, to reaffirm the importance and full validity of both multilateralism and international law, and to promote our common goal of achieving a lasting and sustained peace through diplomacy”. Moncada had earlier reaffirmed NAM’s position during the Open Debate of the UN Security Council held in November 2018 and remarked that NAM “considers the United Nations, the only global body with universal membership and undisputed legitimacy, as the central multilateral forum to address global issues and the most pressing challenges that the states are facing today, including those related to international cooperation for economic development, social progress, with peace, security, with the peaceful settlement of disputes, with human rights, the rule of law, cooperation and the creation of consensus among States”.
The final text of the Resolution A/73/L.48 adopted by the UNGA reflects the principled position of NAM. The Resolution reaffirms the importance of the principles and purposes of the UN Charter to settle disputes through peaceful means and save the future generations from the scourge of war. The Resolution acknowledges that approach of multilateralism and diplomacy could reinforce the advancement of the three pillars of the United Nations, namely, sustainable development, peace and security and human rights, which are interlinked and mutually reinforcing, while observing respective mandates and the UN Charter. The Resolution declared April 24 as the as the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace, with effect from the seventy-third session of the General Assembly and underlined that International Day constitutes a means to promote the values of the United Nations and to reaffirm the faith of people in the purposes and principles enshrined in its Charter, to reaffirm the importance and relevance of multilateralism and international law and to advance the common goal of lasting and sustained peace through diplomacy. The Resolution further calls upon all Member States and observers of the United Nations, organizations of the United Nations system and other international and regional organizations, as well as civil society, including non-governmental organizations and individuals, to observe the International Day in an appropriate manner and to disseminate the advantages of multilateralism and diplomacy for peace, including through educational and public awareness-raising activities.
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