TEHRAN – Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber will travel to Uganda to attend the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) that is to be held in Kampala on January 19 and 20.

In addition to delivering a speech at the summit, Mokhber plans to engage in bilateral meetings with some participating countries.

The 19th NAM Summit under the leadership of Uganda is being held under the theme “Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence” and brings together more than 120 developing countries on a platform of crucial historic significance.

About 4,000 guests from different member states are expected to attend the summit that seeks to address pressing global issues and foster cooperation among member states.

The summit aims to review the movement’s principled positions on global issues pertaining to development, human rights, peace and security, and the promotion and preservation of multilateralism, in line with the Charter of the United Nations and the Bandung Founding Principles of the NAM.

Uganda recently took over chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement from Azerbaijan. Referring to the summit, Ugandan Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeje Odongo stressed the continued significance of the NAM in the face of increasingly complex international challenges.

NAM is the second-largest group of countries after the United Nations, founded in 1961 at the height of the Cold War between the West and East. The movement officially existed during the Bandung Conference of 1955, where leaders from 29 Asian and African countries convened to establish a platform that would maintain global peace and stability while staying independent of the superpower conflicts.

MAS