Developing nations on Tuesday urged the United States and other powerful countries to consult them on tackling terror and resolving the Middle East conflict.
Ayanda Ntsaluba, director-general of South Africa's department of foreign affairs, said the 115-member Non-Aligned Movement was pushing for a more global, multilateral approach.
Ministers from the bloc gathered in Durban to discuss the US-led fight against terrorism, Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and civil wars in Burundi and Sudan.
"We will discuss practical steps that need to be taken, what pressure can be brought to bear, so that developing countries are not marginalised and their voices are heard in matters that have a global impact," Ntsaluba told reporters.
"The situation in the Middle East and the question of Palestine are of significant concern and delegates will spend a lot of time on these," added one African ambassador based at the UN headquarters in New York.
The Non-Aligned Movement, formed at the height of the Cold War in 1961 and grouping countries as diverse as South Africa, Indonesia, Honduras and Yemen, has struggled to remain relevant amid changes in world politics and the rise of the United States as the sole global superpower.
Diplomats said the US-led "war on terror" was helping to re-galvanise the movement, with South Africa and other developing nations furious that the United States and its allies were using the perception of terrorist threats to whip countries into line.
The war on terrorism is increasingly being fought on the movement's doorstep with Yemen and East Africa becoming a focus for US intelligence operations against militants.
At a meeting of senior officials preparing for this week's two-day conference, South African Deputy Foreign Minister Sue van der Merwe said Pretoria insisted on the pre-eminent authority of the United Nations in world affairs.
"It (the United Nations) is the only true democratic forum in the multilateral system and it is our duty to make its relevance felt," van der Merwe said to thunderous applause.
It was a criticism of the United States, which circumvented the United Nations to launch a military campaign to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein despite vocal protests from many countries, including South Africa.
The Non-Aligned Movement said in a summit document that the centrality of the UN in the maintenance of world peace and security, revitalisation of the work of the UN General Assembly and disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction would be substantial issues on its agenda.