The 15th Non- aligned Movement (NAM) Summit was wrapped up in Sharm El-Sheikh Thursday, after member countries reached consensus on promoting solidarity and ratified documents on jointly addressing international and regional issues.

Delegates walk to the venue of the 15th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, a Red Sea resort city in Egypt, July 16, 2009. The 15th NAM summit closed here Thursday, with the approval of a final document and a declaration calling for solidarity among member states to address global threats and challenges and promote world peace and development. [Xinhua]

At the two-day summit held in this Egyptian Red Sea coastal city, leaders from over 100 NAM countries or their representatives focused their debate on the summit's theme of International Solidarity for Peace and Development.

They extensively discussed current hotspot international and regional problems, such as the ongoing global financial crisis, climate change, the Middle East peace process, food security, energy and nuclear issues.

The Summit admitted Argentina as NAM observer country and the World Peace Council as its observer organization.

Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak was elected as NAM Chairperson for the following 3 years.

At a speech delivered before the Summit's closing, Mubarak said: "The Summit has provided new evidence of the vitality of the Non- aligned Movement, and affirmed the significance of this massive bloc of over half of the world's states, as well as the importance of the values and principles that they defend."

"The success of this Summit is not the end of the road. We must work together, hand in hand, to follow up on its decisions and outcomes," he added.

Delegates leave the venue after the closing of the 15th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, a Red Sea resort city in Egypt, July 16, 2009. The 15th NAM summit closed here Thursday, with the approval of a final document and a declaration calling for solidarity among member states to address global threats and challenges and promote world peace and development. [Xinhua]

The Summit signed the Sharm El Sheikh Declaration and the over 100-page Final Document.

The Document detailedly expressed NAM's standpoints on a variety of international and regional matters, including disarmament, international security, peacekeeping and peace- building, human rights and democracy, self-determination, issue of Palestinians, UN reforms, the world financial crisis, food security, international terrorism, among others.

Meanwhile, the Declaration is regarded to be an outlined edition of the Document, charting the course for the Movement in the future 3 years.

According to the Declaration, leaders of NAM countries reiterate their strong commitment to the purposes and the principles of the UN Charter and international laws.

The leaders are determined to revitalize and reinvigorate NAM's role and influence as the principal political platform representing developing countries in multilateral fora, in particular the United Nations, the Declaration says.

They vow to enhance the strengthening and revitalization progress of the Movement through concrete measures, at all levels, and in different multilateral fora, and to maximize the ability of NAM to deal with the current rapidly evolving global situations, crises and challenges, it added.

The two-day First Ladies Summit, which was parallel to the NAM Summit, was also ended here Thursday, with an aim to seek ways to strengthen women's role in crisis management.

First ladies of NAM leaders and female representatives of some international organizations attended the gathering, which was a platform for NAM's first ladies to express their views on a series of issues.

Soldiers stand guard at the gate of the venue of the 15th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, a Red Sea resort city in Egypt, July 16, 2009. The 15th NAM summit closed here Thursday, with the approval of a final document and a declaration calling for solidarity among member states to address global threats and challenges and promote world peace and development. [Xinhua]

First Lady of Egypt Suzanne Mubarak, who chaired the women's summit, said women are the most negatively and disproportionately impacted by these interconnected challenges, especially in developing counties.

She called for giving women more chances to empower and enable them to stimulate positive changes in society.

Founded in September 1961, NAM now groups 118 member states, 17 observer countries and 10 observer organizations.

The Movement, which includes nearly two-thirds of UN member states and comprises 55 percent of the world population, devotes itself to striving for the interests of developing countries all over the world.

(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2009)