Kampala NAM meeting to advance right to development covenant
Ayebare, who chaired a meeting of the NAM Coordination Bureau in New York, said the meeting focused on preparations for the Kampala ministerial meeting and negotiations on the draft covenant.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Adonia Ayebare chairs a meeting of the Coordination Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on October 1, 2026. (Courtesy)
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The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) will advance negotiations on a proposed right to development covenant at its ministerial meeting in Kampala in December, Foreign Affairs Minister Adonia Ayebare has said.
Ayebare, who chaired a meeting of the NAM Coordination Bureau in New York, said the meeting focused on preparations for the Kampala ministerial meeting and negotiations on the draft covenant.
“Today I chaired a meeting of the Coordination Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). We discussed preparations for the coming Ministerial meeting to take place in December 2026 in Kampala, Uganda, and the negotiations on the draft Right to Development covenant,” Ayebare said in a post on X on Saturday.
Foreign Affairs Minister Ambassador Adonia Ayebare chairs a meeting of the Coordination Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on October 1, 2026. (Courtesy photo)
The meeting also received briefings on the situations in Cuba and Palestine, Ayebare said.
The proposed right to development covenant is being negotiated as an international legal framework aimed at strengthening recognition of development as a human right and addressing structural barriers that affect developing countries.
The initiative seeks to make the 1986 UN Declaration on the Right to Development legally binding, transforming the right to development from a broad political commitment into an enforceable international legal instrument.
Proponents of the covenant argue that it would place the right to development alongside other internationally recognised human rights protected under major treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
Uganda, which currently chairs NAM, is expected to use the meeting to advance discussions on issues affecting developing countries, including development and reform of the international system.
Uganda took over the leadership of NAM at the movement’s 19th Summit in January 2024 and is due to chair the movement for three years.
NAM is a grouping of states that seeks to maintain an independent position from major power blocs and promote cooperation among developing countries.
The movement was founded in 1961 during the Cold War, when newly independent countries sought to avoid formal alignment with either of the major power blocs. It has since expanded its focus to include economic development, international peace and security, and reform of the global system.