Non-Aligned Movement facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
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![]() Member countries Observer countries
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Coordinating Bureau | New York City, New York, U.S. |
Membership |
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Leaders | |
• Principal decision-
making organ |
Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries |
• Chairperson
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Nicolas Maduro |
Establishment | 1961 in Belgrade as the Conference of Heads of State of Government of Non-Aligned Countries |
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is an international organization (group of countries) who do not want to be officially aligned with or against any major power bloc (group of countries). In 2018, the movement had 125 members and 25 observer countries.
The group was started in Belgrade in 1961. It was created by Yugoslavia's President, Josip Broz Tito, India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, Egypt's second President, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Ghana's first president Kwame Nkrumah, and Indonesia's first President, Sukarno. All five leaders believed that developing countries should not help either the Western or Eastern blocs in the Cold War. They also believed that developing countries should not be capitalist or communist, but should try to find a different way to help their people.
The Havana Declaration of 1979 said that the purpose of the organization is to help countries keep their "the national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of non-aligned countries" in their "struggle against imperialism, colonialism, neocolonialism, racism, and all forms of foreign aggression, occupation, domination, interference or hegemony as well as against great power and bloc politics." This means that they wanted to govern their countries without the main capitalist powers nor the major socialist states telling them how.
The countries of the non-aligned movement are nearly two-thirds of the United Nations's members and 55% of the world population.
Secretaries-General
Between summits, the Non-Aligned Movement is run by the secretary-general elected at last summit meeting. As a considerable part of the movement's work is undertaken at the United Nations in New York, the chair country's ambassador to the UN is expected to devote time and effort to matters concerning the Non-Aligned Movement. The Coordinating Bureau, also based at the UN, is the main instrument for directing the work of the movement's task forces, committees and working groups.
Secretaries-General of the Non-Aligned Movement | ||||
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Name | Country | Party | From | To |
Josip Broz Tito | ![]() |
League of Communists of Yugoslavia | 1961 | 1964 |
Gamal Abdel Nasser | ![]() |
Arab Socialist Union | 1964 | 1970 |
Kenneth Kaunda | ![]() |
United National Independence Party | 1970 | 1973 |
Houari Boumediène | ![]() |
Revolutionary Council | 1973 | 1976 |
William Gopallawa | ![]() |
Independent | 1976 | 1978 |
Junius Richard Jayewardene | United National Party | 1978 | 1979 | |
Fidel Castro | ![]() |
Communist Party of Cuba | 1979 | 1983 |
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy | ![]() |
Janata Party | 1983 | |
Zail Singh | Congress Party | 1983 | 1986 | |
Robert Mugabe | ![]() |
ZANU-PF | 1986 | 1989 |
Janez Drnovšek | ![]() |
League of Communists of Yugoslavia | 1989 | 1990 |
Borisav Jović | Socialist Party of Serbia | 1990 | 1991 | |
Stjepan (Stipe) Mesić | Croatian Democratic Union | 1991 | ||
Branko Kostić | Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro | 1991 | 1992 | |
Dobrica Ćosić | Independent | 1992 | ||
Suharto | ![]() |
Partai Golongan Karya | 1992 | 1995 |
Ernesto Samper | ![]() |
Colombian Liberal Party | 1995 | 1998 |
Andrés Pastrana Arango | Colombian Conservative Party | 1998 | ||
Nelson Mandela | ![]() |
African National Congress | 1998 | 1999 |
Thabo Mbeki | 1999 | 2003 | ||
Mahathir Mohamad | ![]() |
United Malays National Organisation | 2003 | |
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi | 2003 | 2006 | ||
Fidel Castro | ![]() |
Communist Party of Cuba | 2006 | 2008 |
Raúl Castro | 2008 | 2009 | ||
Hosni Mubarak | ![]() |
National Democratic Party | 2009 | 2011 |
Mohamed Hussein Tantawi | Independent | 2011 | 2012 | |
Mohamed Morsi | Freedom and Justice Party | 2012 | ||
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad | ![]() |
Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran | 2012 | 2013 |
Hassan Rouhani | Combatant Clergy Association | 2013 | 2016 | |
Nicolás Maduro | ![]() |
United Socialist Party of Venezuela | 2016 | 2019 |
Ilham Aliyev | ![]() |
New Azerbaijan Party | 2019 | (2022) |
Members
Full Members
Afghanistan
Algeria
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brunei Darussalam
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cape Verde
Cambodia
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
Colombia
Comoros
Congo
Cuba
Costa Rica
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Fiji
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ivory Coast
Jamaica
Jordan
Kenya
Kuwait
Laos
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mongolia
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nepal
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
North Korea
Oman
Pakistan
Palestine
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Qatar
Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
São Tomé and Príncipe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Syria
Tanzania
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Togo
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkmenistan
Uganda
United Arab Emirates
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Former members
Cyprus Cyprus is a founding member of NAM and on 2004 Cyprus ceased their membership along with Malta until they became a member of the European Union.
Malta Malta officially joined the Non Aligned Movement in 1974 and on 2004 Malta ceased their membership along with Cyprus until they became a member of the European Union.
Poland Poland officially joined the Non Aligned Movement in 1989 and on 2004 Poland ceased their membership along with Cyprus and Malta until they became a member of the European Union.
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia is a founding member of NAM. The Yugoslavian capital, Belgrade, is the birthplace of NAM. Yugoslavia hosted NAM's summits from 1961 to 1964 and 1989 to 1992. They withdrew from the Non Aligned Movement in 1992 along with their dissolution. Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only part of the Former Yugoslavia that currently joined the Non Aligned Movement.
Ukraine (Dropped Observer Status)
Observers
The following countries and organizations have observer status: