Special Committee on Decolonization Will Hold Pacific

 

Regional Seminar 18–20 May in Noumea, New Caledonia

 

The Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, also known as the Special Committee of 24 on Decolonization, will hold its annual regional seminar in Noumea, New Caledonia, from 18 to 20 May 2010.  The seminar, hosted by the Territorial Government of New Caledonia in concurrence with France as the administering Power, will be conducted within the framework of the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2001-2010).  It will be chaired by Donatus Keith St. Aimee, the Chairman of the Special Committee.

This year marks the end of the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, as well as the fiftieth anniversary of the General Assembly Declaration of the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and People.  A key objective of the seminar is thus to reflect on these events and to help the Special Committee assess progress made in the decolonization process in today’s world, with a particular emphasis on the Pacific region.

In this connection, the participants will hear the views of representatives of Non-Self-Governing-Territories, so as to reconfirm the commitment of the international community towards achieving the decolonization objectives in the remainder of the Decade and especially the chartering of the way forward.  The deliberations will serve as a basis for conclusions and recommendations which will be considered by the Special Committee at its forthcoming substantive session in June and subsequently transmitted to the General Assembly.

Participants will include a delegation of the Special Committee and other United Nations Member States; representatives from Non-Self-Governing Territories and Administering Powers, various NGOs based in the Territories, as well as a number of experts from both the Pacific and the Caribbean regions.

The current membership of the Special Committee consists of the following 29 Member States:  Antigua and Barbuda; Bolivia; Chile; China; Congo; Côte d’Ivoire; Cuba; Dominica; Ecuador; Ethiopia; Fiji; Grenada; India; Indonesia; Iran; Iraq; Mali; Nicaragua; Papua New Guinea; Russian Federation; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Sierra Leone; Syria; Timor-Leste; Tunisia; United Republic of Tanzania; and Venezuela.

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For information media • not an official record