A delegation of the Community visited Bandung, in Indonesia, to see the place where the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference was held. Leaders from 29 countries of what was then called the ’ Third World', gathered to create an alliance and fight poverty, support the independence of those who were still under colonial rule and imagine a multipolar world based on solidarity.
Indonesia, India, China and others were among the promoters. The Conference addressed the issues of equality among nations, support for liberation movements against colonialism, and the rejection of conflicts, it concluded with the signing of the ‘Declaration on Promotion of World Peace and Cooperation’ known as the ‘Bandung Declaration’.
Its ten points include respect for human rights, recognition of ‘equality between races and all nations large and small’, the resolution of international disputes by peaceful means, and the promotion of international co-operation.
It was a project of a united and multipolar world, where every nation could exercise its right to exist and develop. A great dream of peace and justice, which unfortunately was only partially implemented in the years to come, nevertheless remains as the expression of a drive to create an alliance of nations and peoples whose voices had not been heard in history and who were just appearing on the world stage. Here the foundations were laid for what, at the beginning of the 60s, became the Non-Aligned Movement.
On the 70th anniversary of this historic Conference, the Sant'Egidio delegation visited the conference venue and the museum displaying the documents. When unifying tensions seem to have weakened, we need to remember this dream of coexistence and alliance between peoples. As Andrea Riccardi wrote in the message left in memory of this visit: ‘We recognise that the values of freedom, independence and human rights, which were affirmed here, are all the more valid today, even if only partially implemented’.
