United Nations Welcome to the United Nations. It's your world.
  • العربية
  • 简体中文
  • English
  • Français
  • Русский
  • Español

Statement by H.E. Mr. Thongphane SAVANPHET, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic at the Ministerial Meeting of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)

Wednesday, 21 September 2022

Mr. Chairman,

Distinguished colleagues,

I would like to begin by commending you, Mr. Chairman, for your able stewardship of our Movement and for convening this Ministerial Meeting, under the theme: “The Role for the Non-Aligned Movement in Post-Pandemic Global Recovery: The Way Forward”, which is most timely and relevant. I assure you of our full support and cooperation in discharging your nobble duty. Due to time limit, I wish to raise a few points as follows:

First, upholding and defending NAM’s fundamental principles, which advocate peace, security, cooperation for development with multilateralism remains at the core under the auspices of the United Nations and in view of maintaining our Movement’s validity, relevance and unity amidst the rapidly changing global geopolitical landscape.

As multilateralism is being contested by coercive and unilateral measures, sovereignty and territorial integrity has been breached and non-interference in internal affairs of member states have been challenged, it is an absolute necessity for all Member States of NAM to jointly stand firm in upholding and defending our founding principles and objectives while further enhancing solidarity of our Movement in order for us to preserve our significant role in all areas of international relations.

          Second, it is obvious that unilateralism cannot solve any global challenges. Therefore, by upholding multilateralism, conflict resolutions through peaceful means and diplomatic negotiations guided by the Charter of the United Nations remains our core value and fundamental mechanism for addressing the ongoing global crises we all are facing today.

At his important juncture, it is more crucial than ever for all countries to reaffirm our strong political will and renew our collective commitment to strengthening multilateralism by upholding and defending the principles of international law, in particular, the principles of sovereign equality of state, independence, territorial integrity, non-interference in internal affairs and peaceful settlement of disputes, all of which are enshrined in the UN Charter in addressing the current and future challenges as well as in promoting friendly relations and preventing divisions among member states.

          Third, further strengthening our collective efforts in addressing the impact of the current global crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, food and energy insecurity, among others, which have reverted our hard-earned development gains especially in poverty eradication and SDGs implementation in order to build back in a more sustainable manner and create all necessary conditions for developing countries, especially the most vulnerable ones to recover from the crises.

          It is gratifying to witness that throughout the past few years, NAM has been at the center of multilateral efforts in eliminating the negative consequences of the global health crisis without discrimination. In this connection, it is crucial for the Movement to maintain its leading role in the post-pandemic global recovery.

Mr. Chairman,

          Let me conclude by reiterating the Lao PDR’s full support and unwavering commitment to multilateralism and the noble cause of NAM in defending and promoting our founding principles, objectives and legitimate interests. We look forward to working closely with all Member States to overcome the ongoing global challenges.

Thank you.