Kathmandu, October 23 Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said the Non-Aligned Movement was an epitome of collective pursuit of member countries for peaceful, just, fair and equitable world order. “Drawing its strength from the Bandung Principles, NAM has always led the path towards international solidarity and cooperation in the wake of ever-increasing challenges. However, at present, our collective efforts to establish a peaceful and prosperous world are hindered by multiple challenges,” he said in his address to the NAM Ministerial Meeting being held in Baku of Azarbaijan today. He said poverty and hunger still existed as blemishes on human dignity and achievements in scientific inventions, technological advances, and managerial innovations had not succeeded in soothing the pain of disease and deprivation. “Fair distribution of economic development and prosperity remains a far dream for millions of people trapped in abject poverty. The world economy has bounced back from the great recession and has been achieving global growth since 2010, but it has failed to raise the hope of the bottom billion for a better future,” he said in his address. He also said there was unequal distribution of the benefits of globalisation, which left the poor and vulnerable countries behind. In fact, these countries had become more vulnerable to the adverse impacts of financial and economic crises. Increasing incidents of terrorism, transnational organised crimes, violent extremism, and hate speeches, among others, have become everyday phenomena, he warned. “The menace of climate change is outpacing our response. Unfortunately, it is the poorest and most vulnerable who are hit hardest by the impacts of climate change despite their negligible emissions. Multilateralism has been under attack due to growing trends of populist nationalism and protectionism. We must strengthen the multilateral system by upholding and defending the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations  and the principles of international law,” Gyawali added. According to him, no peace and security can ever be sustained without achieving sustainable development. Similarly, no sustainable development can ever be achieved without sustaining peace and security. Therefore, NAM, as a group of 120 countries, has the special responsibility to use its numerical and moral strength to ensure adequate and predictable resources in preventing conflicts and helping its members achieve peace and stability. The NAM membership, in the spirit of solidarity, should support each other in building domestic capacity by sharing their experiences, best practices and resources through the South-South Cooperation mechanism.