G77, NAM states continue push for end to Gaza war

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda, and the reformation of the global financial architecture have dominated presentations by Uganda’s diplomats at various Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) and G77+China forums since mid-January when Kampala took over leadership of the two alliances.

G77+China is an alliance of 134 countries to crusade for members’ collective economic interests at the UN, while NAM is a grouping of 121 countries, dubbed the global south, to circumnavigate the complex US/West-Russia/East politics.

Uganda assumed chairmanship of the two groupings during the back-to-back NAM-Third South summits held in Munyonyo early this year.

On Tuesday last week, the NAM Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) states and China urged the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to inquire into Israel’s alleged use of chemical weapons during its onslaught on Gaza.

Speaking on behalf of the NAM CWC party states and China at the 105th session of the executive council of the OPCW in The Hague, Netherlands, the Chargé D’affaires at Uganda’s embassy in Brussels Beatrice Manano said Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories prohibited under international law requires vigilance by international organisations.

“The use of chemical weapons anywhere by anyone under any circumstances is unacceptable. Accordingly, we request the technical secretariat to take on its duty and monitor the situation in Palestine, including any threats or actual use by Israel, of toxic chemicals,” Ambassador Manano said.

OPCW is the intergovernmental implementing body of CWC, a multilateral treaty that prohibits development, production, acquisition, and stockpiling of chemical weapons. The treaty was assented to by 197 territories, including the 193-UN member countries except Egypt, North Korea, and South Sudan. Israel signed the treaty but is yet to ratify it.

Ambassador Manano underscored the NAM CWC party states and China’s long-standing principled position towards the achievement of complete disarmament, under strict and effective international control, including the prohibition and elimination of all weapons of mass destruction.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch revealed last October that Israeli forces used white phosphorus in military operations in Lebanon and Gaza on October 10 and 11, 2023, respectively, which it said highlighted the “the need to reexamine the status and adequacy of Protocol III of the Convention on CCW.” The OPCW executive council’s 105th session, which ended on Friday, is among the several meetings on the UN calendar that have agenda items on which the 122-NAM member states have a common position hence necessitating presentation.

Uganda coordinates NAM activities through the different NAM chapters in New York, Geneva, Vienna, The Hague, Rome, and Paris. Ugandan diplomats have been giving key addresses during the various summits on NAM positions: some meetings are closed, and others open.

On Wednesday, Uganda’s ambassador to the UN in New York Adonia Ayebare assumed chairmanship of the Coordinating Bureau of all member-state Ambassadors to the UN—the apex NAM technical organ—from Azerbaijan.

The meeting was dominated by Israel’s poundage of Gaza and the need for a two-state solution. This, as discussions on a ceasefire have proved an uphill task.

NAM recognises Palestine as an independent country. The NAM summit in Kampala came up with the Outcome Document, Kampala Declaration, and Political Declaration on Palestine in which member states cautiously slammed Israel and its backers.

Ambassador Ayebare said at the weekend the daunting task is ensuring common positions in a polarised world.

“We are coordinating common positions to make sure we have common views at the UN. It is not easy, but we must try and are called upon  to ensure that there is a common position,”  he explained by telephone from New York.

Earlier on March 11, deputy Permanent Representative at Uganda’s UN Mission in Geneva Arthur Kafeero called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.

“We are gravely concerned about the dangerous deterioration of the situation in the occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, especially the catastrophic humanitarian crisis and immense suffering and losses being endured by the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip, as a result of the Israeli military aggression and total siege imposed since October 2023,” Ambassador Kafeero said while delivering a statement on behalf of the NAM Group  at the 55th session of the Human Rights Council.

Other discussions
Similarly, the G77 crusades kicked off in earnest last week in New York with intense discussions on the international financial architecture, including debt, a key highlight of the Summit of the Future feted for September. 

China, diplomatic sources intimated, which is owed billions of dollars by several countries, attempted to expunge the matter from debate. There was also heated discussions on financing of the UN Resident Coordinator system, which African countries especially, want bankrolled directly from the UN budget as opposed to the current donor system.

Earlier-on during consultative meeting on Global Digital Compact—the UN Secretary General’s initiative on the digital future, the Third Secretary at Uganda’s New York Mission Marvin Ikondere underscored the need for digital cooperation to deliver benefits anchored in accelerating the SDGs, as well as the protection and promotion of human rights, including the right to development.

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