United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres highly appreciated the role of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). (Source: News .au)

On January 20, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted the leadership role of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in the international arena, especially in the current world context.

Speaking at the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Kampala, Uganda, Secretary-General António Guterres said the world is witnessing a "spiral of instability and upheaval" but also brings new opportunities for countries and NAM to lead the international community towards deeper cooperation and shared prosperity. This is also the theme of this year's NAM Summit.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations affirmed that he saw clear similarities between the principles of the United Nations Charter and the Bandung Principles of NAM. NAM has an important role in the United Nations.

Secretary-General Guterres highly appreciated NAM’s important contributions to international peacekeeping, in protecting the UN Charter, international law, human rights and nuclear disarmament. NAM is also a model of solidarity in times of crisis, including the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the UN chief, because global prosperity requires peace and stability, what is needed now is to reform bodies such as the UN Security Council, which is "paralyzed by geopolitical divisions that make it increasingly difficult to achieve effective resolutions".

Secretary-General António Guterres said that the Future of the United Nations Summit in September will be an opportunity to consider reforms and promote ideas to rebuild trust and strengthen multilateral cooperation.

Also in a speech in Kampala, UN Secretary-General António Guterres once again called for an urgent humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the unconditional release of hostages and "all-out efforts to prevent the conflict (between Israel and Hamas) from spreading throughout the region".

He once again affirmed that refusing to recognize the two-state solution, as well as denying the Palestinian people's right to establish a state, is "unacceptable".