STORY: Non-Aligned Movement meeting opens in Uganda with members calling for Palestine-Israel issue to top agenda
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 15, 2024
DATELINE: Jan. 16, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:50
LOCATION: Kampala
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of national flags at the summit venue
2. various of the senior officials meeting as part of the summit
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): VINCENT BAGIIRE, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Uganda
4. various of the summit
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): RIYAD MANSOUR, Palestinian Ambassador to the UN
6. various of conference
7. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): HAMZA ADAN HAADOOW, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Somalia
8. various of conference
9. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): VINCENT BAGIIRE, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Uganda
10. wide shot of flags

STORYLINE:

Senior officials of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) member countries on Monday started a two-day meeting in Kampala with a call that the issue of the Palestine-Israel crisis should top the agenda.

The meeting was opened by Yalchin Rafiyev, deputy minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan and head of the Azerbaijani delegation, who urged member countries to remain united amid complex global challenges.

Azerbaijan assumed the chairmanship of NAM in 2019 and is set to hand it over to Uganda later this week.

Vincent Bagiire, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uganda told reporters that Uganda, as the new chair of NAM, will ensure that a consensus is reached on what should top the agenda of the meeting.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): VINCENT BAGIIRE, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Uganda
"Our key focus area, first and foremost, (is) harmonizing and reinforcing collaboration within the movement. As you know this movement started in 1961, so Uganda will focus on creating cohesion within the movement to ensure that we can work together as a movement for the good of humanity."

In the plenary session, Riyad Mansour, Palestine's ambassador to the UN, urged the members to address the Palestine-Israel crisis. Mansour argued that while the NAM faces several challenges, the crisis in the Middle East is the most pressing.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): RIYAD MANSOUR, Palestinian Ambassador to the UN
"We believe that the burning issue for this summit is the aggression against our people particularly in the Gaza Strip. Therefore, for the conference to concentrate on addressing what needs to be done is the appropriate thing to do."

Delegates from Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Togo, Mauritania, and Maldives among others seconded the push to put the Israel-Palestine issue on top of the agenda.

Hamza Adan Haadoow, permanent secretary of Somalia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, told the meeting that member states must also address the undermining of Somalia's sovereignty by one of its neighbors.

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): HAMZA ADAN HAADOOW, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Somalia
"What we have requested from NAM delegates was to help us, to assist us to safeguard our sovereignty, our unity and our integrity."

Ethiopia and Somaliland, a self-declared region of Somalia, signed an agreement allowing Ethiopia access to the Red Sea in return for its recognition of Somaliland as an independent state. Somalia described this as a violation of its territorial integrity.

According to Uganda's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 93 countries out of the 120 member states of NAM are attending the meeting, which will culminate in the foreign ministers' meeting and the summit later this week.

Uganda says it will use the event to promote South-South cooperation and solidarity among member states.

SOUNDBITE 4 (English): VINCENT BAGIIRE, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Uganda
"Uganda is non-aligned, and it would be premature to discuss Uganda's position because as I have said, the session has just started and we are negotiating an outcome document. All those issues are outlined, the team is in there discussing the issues and we shall come up with our position."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Kampala.
(XHTV)