Note: Colour shift (Yellow) in the first block of Sri Lankan stamps.
Stamps issued by Cuba and Sri Lanka in commemoration of 50th anniversary of NAM in 2011
Fifty years ago in 1961 the heads of 28 nations gathered in Belgrade, former
capital of Yugoslavia, to attend the first conference of the Non-Alignment
Movement (NAM). The Non-Aligned Movement is a group of states
considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power
bloc. As of 2011, the movement has 120 members and 17 observer countries.
The origins of the
movement lay in the Bandung Conference, Indonesia, in 1955, at which Asian and
African states met to find common ground and agreement for future cooperation,
and proclaimed anti-colonialism and neutrality between East and West power
blocs.
50thAnniversary of Bandung Conference (1955–2005)
The first Afro-Asian conference of the newly
independent states of Africa and Asia held in Bandung, Indonesia in April 1955.
The
post-World War II period saw the beginning of the Cold War confrontation and
rivalry between the superpowers. It was at this juncture that the Non-Aligned Movement was forged,
putting forth an alternative vision for the handling of international affairs and
the resolution of international tensions. Rooted in the five principles of
peaceful coexistence (Panchsheel),
the movement stands for an alternative to confrontation.
The NAM movement’s
founders are considered to be India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru;
Egypt’s second President, Gamal Abdel Nasser; Ghana’s first President, Kwame
Nkrumah; Indonesia’s first President, Sukarno; and then-Yugoslavia President
Josip Broz Tito. All five leaders were prominent advocates of a middle course
for states in the developing world between the Western and Eastern blocs in the
Cold War. Leaders at the 1961 summit agreed to promote world peace and
cooperation by not aligning with either power bloc.
The phrase itself was first used to represent the doctrine by Indian diplomat
and statesman V. Krisna Menon in 1953, at the United Nations.
Non-Aligned Movement Summit is the main meeting within the movement and are
held every few years:- First Conference - Belgrade, Yugoslavia, September 1961
- Second Conference - Cairo, United Arab Republic, October 1964
- Third Conference - Lusaka, Zambia,, September 1970
- Fourth Conference - Algiers, Algeria, September 1973
-
Unissued (Withdrawn ?)stamp of Bhutan -
- Fifth Conference - Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 1976
- Sixth Conference - Havana, Cuba, September 1979
- Seventh Conference - New Delhi, India, March 1983
- Eighth Conference - Harare, Zimbabwe, September 1986
- Ninth Conference - Belgrade, S.F.R. Yugoslavia, September 1989
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- Tenth Conference - Jakarta, Indonesia, September 1992
- Eleventh Conference - Cartagena de Indias, October 1995Twelfths Conference – Durban, South Africa, Sept. 1998
- Thirteenth Conference - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, February 2003.
Unissued (Withdrawn ?)stamp of Bhutan
Fourteenth Conference - Havana, Cuba, Sept. 2006
Fifteenth Conference - Sharm
El Sheikh, Egypt, July 2009
Sixteenth Conference - Belgrade, Serbia, Sept. 2011.
