The Non-Aligned Movement is an organisation of states that declares itself as formed by independant countries that aim to establish mutual peace, independant resolutions of each state’s internal affairs, integrity and territorial sovereignity.

Nowadays the organisation’s aims are declared loudly and without concern. One of the recent activities of the movement has been the US policy critisism. The War on Terrorism, the interference in North Korean’s and Iran’s nuclear plans and the expansions over Iraq and Afganistan have been the main issues discussed by the organisation -according to their views with these activities the US violates a range of human rights and infringes the national sovereignity of the independant countries in question and their right to govern themselves through policies formed by politicians and independent financial advisors by using whatever means are avalible to them, in this case nuclear technology. Thus the movement declares itself against the recent actions of the US and the policies issued.

Anti-Zionism has also been largely discussed within the movement and the members declare themselves against the use of force to settle down existing international matters. The NAM announced itself against the occupation of the Gaza Strip by Israel and has asked the country to open up the borders and to allow the free movement of people. The organisation has also declared its negative view on the use of power that leads to constant human rights abuses by Isreal and has asked the UN to try to settle the dispute and put pressure on Isreal in order to cut the use of violance and the military occupation of the territories inhabited by ordinary and innocent people.

The movement proclaims the idea of the establishment of specific working gropus within the UN in order to restructure it making it more efficient, the creation of specific working groups to deal with human rights disputes and violations, the control and proclamation of disarmament and certain committees to work for the development and the healing of problematic states (such as Palestina and Somalia).

The Non-aligned Movement is an organisation that includes many of the countries that rejected the opportunity to join the political blocs of the East and the West during the Cold War. Its main priorities are to ensure the peaceful coexistance of each member state and to respect its sovereignity, integrity and ability of each state to cope with its internal affairs intependantly, while trying to provide a haven for countries that are not aligned with others to collectively deal with issues, for example medical and debt problems, they many encounter.

The origin of the organisation is considered to be a part of the famous speech of the Indian Prime Minister in 1954 in Sri Lanka. In that famous speech the Prime Minister described 5 crucial pillars for the Sino-Indian international relations which later became of essential meaning for the main goals of the movement. Prior to its establishment, independant states that did not want to join either the West or the East in the Cold War were unofficially known as non-aligned nations.

The core principles that the Indian Prime Minister described and later the Chinese Prime Minister put forth were basic for the peace establishment between the states included in the movement. These were the mutual respect for territorial and social integrity and severeignity, the proclamation of non-aggression, respect for each state’s ability to resolve and maintain its domestic affairs, the mutual benefit and the peaceful coexistance. These core principles were embodied in the declaration of the movement. which was significantly influenced by the famous Bandung Conference in 1955 in which the independant Asian and African states took part.

These are the basic points that led to the establishment of the movement and in 1961 the member states had the first NAM Summit, organised by the Yogoslav President Tito inBelgrade where the main aims, programs, priorities and responsibilities of the movement were discussed and later new goals for the countries were included.

But the question remains- Is NAM a relevant body today?

Nihal Rodrigo, a former secretary-general of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) feels that NAM has still got its own important role to play, though the body is not as important as it was considered before. The very purpose of giving birth to NAM was to fight the bi-polar ideology that existed during the civil war. The group has got its own political significance.

Ever since its inception in April 1955, the chairmanship has been rotated every 3 years among the third world countries as well as some of the developing countries including India.

There is lot of division and conflict on various economic and political issues within the body itself; seldom do the members totally agree on any matter. The body does not force upon its members any rules and regulations of the body.

NAM today, is starting to lose its importance due to its inefficiency in utilizing its influence on the member countries. On the world stage because the movement does not account for any major economic power they are not really holding any clout.

Their power, if any, comes from being consumers of product and services. To become more of a world leading organization, the movement must focus on correcting the efficiencies in each member country’s social and economic issues. They also must do research and have concrete evidence that they can use when dealing with other international bodies and countries.

The movement must show themselves to be a unified force or else they will not be taken seriously.

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) originally came out of a 1955 Asia-Africa conference that was held in Indonesia. Officially the movement began in 1961 with a majority of the countries involved being third world countries. The countries involved as members are considered to be not aligned whether against or with any other country or bloc of countries, mainly the super powers. Original members include Egypt, The former Yugoslavia, India, Burma, and Pakistan. There are currently about 118 members with some 17 countries as observers. The Movement was originally formed in an effort to break up the Cold War but with the Cold War being over its objective has had to be shifted. Here are some of the current objectives of the Movement.

Speak out against the irresponsible policies of the Developed countries. Their main target in the manner is the United States. The movement speaks out against Human Rights violation and the perceived dominances of certain developed countries over other less developed nations. It also rejects the idea that terrorism should be used to promote any religious or political ideal.

To encourage sustainable development among member countries. The Movement believes that much more can be done by the international community to create the conditions necessary for the achievement of this goal. They believe that development is hindered by situations such as the inequity in financial decision making, debt burden, globalisation, and unfair trade. If you currently work in a profession of one of the member states you will find the improvement vast, and may gain a new understanding and appreciation of Qatar jobs.

To assist in the prevention of armed conflict. Through encouraging mediation and dialog, the movement hopes to be involved in any process that seeks to end or prevent armed conflict.

The promotion of cultural diversity and the rights of all people. The movement sees human rights as universal and that social justice is for all. Cultural diversity is to be encouraged and respected and there is to be a tolerance of religious views.

Poverty has been a major social problem all across the world as an inevitable by-product of industrialisation, economic activity, and natural events. It is widely accepted worldwide that while the rich get richer, the poor will get poorer. While most of the world’s rich nations are quite satisfied with their economic stations, there are those nations that suffer as a result, most notably nations in Africa. The poor can be found anywhere in the world in any nation so are there ways to help the state of poverty in the world. It takes a lot of work to make poverty alleviation a reality. Here are four steps that the world’s governments can take to help alleviate the poverty problem.

1. Property rights to the poor. By giving property to the poor, they can begin to fix their own financial situation on their own. This way, the poor will become self sufficient as opposed to relying on the welfare of the state (although the rich plays a key role in alleviating poverty).

2. Education. As with property rights, providing free and effective education to the poor will help them become more skilled and marketable in the labour environment. Some of the skilled labour will even be able to find better paying jobs overseas. The more educated the populace the more job worthy they are.

3. Improved living conditions. It is difficult to balance a job and family when you have to walk 20 miles for fresh water, or when there are no fuel services being offered not only to you, but your entire town. By improving the living conditions of the poor, they will be able to concentrate on earning a decent income.

4. Aid from the wealthy. Although it is important for the poor to attack their own issues by giving them the necessary means, it cannot be accomplished without aid from the wealthy. This could come in the form of income grants or low interest loans, or can come by means of property financing. By giving the poor the means to address their financial problems, they need help from those who are more fortunate.

Poverty alleviation will not happen overnight and as a social problem it presents a serious challenge. With great commitment from governments and the poor it can be achieved.

Although the Non-Aligned Movement does not officially align itself with other states, it does work in cooperation with other organisations in the developing world, such as the Group of 77. Where they have recently formed multiple joint committees and released statements concerning the shared interests, goals, and global awareness of both groups.