Non-Aligned Movement.

NON ALIGNED MOVEMENT

Six years after African and Asian nations condemned colonial and neo-colonial practices at the Bandung Conference, their coalition was formalized in September 1961 at the first Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit held at Belgrade. The twenty-five countries present agreed to not enter into strategic alliances with either the United States or the Soviet Union.

Embracing Indian Prime Minister Nehru's vision for non-alignment, countries in attendance vowed to respect territorial boundaries and to not interfere with, or adopt aggressive postures towards, one another. Leaders such as Yugoslavia's Tito, Indonesia's Sukarno, Ghana's Nkrumah, and Egypt's Nasser believed that the cooperative strategy would give new countries a more powerful voice in global affairs to overcome their economic weaknesses. Although the NAM doubled in size during the 1960s, this voice was muted somewhat as many members accepted financial aid from the superpowers. Nonetheless, the NAM demonstrated its unity through supporting national liberation movements in Africa and seeking a restructuring of the world economy. Its efforts also focused on enabling members to pursue more autonomous paths to interacting with the global economy. At their 1973 Summit meeting in Algiers, the NAM brought its development concerns into a single package of prescriptions for a New International Economic Order (NIEO) and mandated the Group of 77 (G-77) now which has been increased to 131 countries (Current Founding Members :- Afghanistan,  Algeria (1981-1982, 2009), Argentina, Benin, Bolivia (1990), Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia (1992), Congo, Costa Rica (1996), Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt (1972-1973, 1984-1985), El Salvador, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana (1991), Guatemala (1987), Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India (1970-1971, 1979-1980), Indonesia (1998), Iran (2001), Iraq, Jamaica (1977-1978, 2005), Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Laos People's Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar (1975-1976), Malaysia (1989), Mali, Mauritania, Morocco (2003), Myanmar , Nepal , Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria (2000), Pakistan (1976-1977,1992-2009), Panama, Paraguay, Peru (1971-1972), Philippines (1995), Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan (2009), Syrian, Tanzania (1997), Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia (1977-1978, 1988), Uganda, Uruguay, Venezuela (1980-1981, 2002), Viet Nam, Yemen. Other Current Members:-Angola, Antigua and Barbuda (2008), Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh(1982-1983), Barbados, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia, Botswana, Brunei, Burundi, Cape Verde, China, Comoros, Côted'Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea (1999), Eritrea, Fiji, Gambia, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Lesotho, Malawi, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Mozambique, , Namibia, North Korea, Oman, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Qatar (2004), Saint, Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa (2004), Suriname, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Zambia, Zimbabwe.) to follow through with this initiative at the UN General Assembly.

The NAM has remained a uniquely unstructured international organization. It has not adopted a formal constitution and has no permanent secretariat. Decisions are made by consensus at Summit Conferences of Heads of State and Government that occur every three years. Hosts chair the NAM between Summits, coordinating members through day-to-day activities at the United Nations in New York and at Ministerial Conferences.

Many commentators assert that the NAM lost its reason with the end of the Cold War, though it has continued to propound South-South cooperation to advance economic development. South African President Thabo Mbeki, for one, has argued that the NAM remains a relevant forum for the development of common policy positions on poverty eradication, terrorism, and the restructuring of political, economic, and military power. As Cuba takes over the Chair in 2006 it confronts the reality that NAM members represent more than half the world's population, but continue to account for only a small percentage of global economic output.

On the map, founding and currently participating members (as of 2008) are shown in dark green, while founding members that have since left the organization are shown in light green. Currently participating members that joined after the foundation of the Group are shown in medium green.

Presiding countries of the G-77 since 1970. Colors show the number of times a country has held the position. Yellow = once; orange = twice; red = thrice. Countries in grey have yet to hold the position.

   G24 Member nations.       G24 Observer nations.