Today in Baku, the founding conference of the Global South NGO Platform has kicked off, with the participation of influential NGO leaders and civil society representatives from 116 countries, representing nearly 80% of the world’s population, APA reports.
The event is considered a significant milestone in the life of civil society in the Global South, which covers the regions of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Oceania—two-thirds of the world’s countries.
The initiative to establish the platform was initiated by the Azerbaijan National NGO Forum in November 2024 – within the framework of COP29. The initiative quickly gained international resonance. As a result, the COP29 NGO Coalition raised the issue of institutionalizing this platform before the Azerbaijan National NGO Forum.
The initiative of Azerbaijani NGOs has gained such global support on a global scale for the first time. During Azerbaijan’s chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement, its intense activity for a new and fair world order, the important initiatives it put forward, and the achievement of the “Baku Turn” during COP29 have created great sympathy for the Azerbaijani state in the Global South.
This event is considered a new beginning in the life of Azerbaijani civil society.
The formation of the Global South NGO Platform in Baku is another manifestation of Azerbaijan's successful role as a mediator and bridge between the Global North and the Global South.
The Global South NGO Platform aims to provide strong support for the problems faced by countries in this strategic geography to be heard at the international level, to speak from a single position in international organizations, including the UN, and to conduct global coordination. This is a platform for joint efforts to combat the injustices faced by their countries - poverty, the consequences of climate change, the colonial past, the digital divide, trade inequality and other issues.
It also promotes South-South cooperation.
The platform’s inaugural conference will take place today at the Baku Congress Center. The two-day international conference, titled “Action in Solidarity: Strengthening Global South NGOs for a New and Just World,” will feature speeches from leading NGOs around the world, global discussions, and a focus on the historic “Bandung Principles,” adopted in Indonesia 70 years ago.
These principles reject interference in the internal affairs of states, promote the creation of a peaceful, just world order, respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries, ensure the equality of peoples, and call for mobilization to strengthen mutual interest and cooperation and economic prosperity.
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