Background Release

Special Committee on Decolonization to Hold Regional Seminar on Eradication

 

of Colonialism, in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 31 May - 2 June

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, will hold its annual regional seminar in Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, from 31 May to 2 June.

Within the framework of the Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2011-2020), declared by the General Assembly last December, the seminar will provide an opportunity to assess the past decade and focus on goals and expected accomplishments in the area of decolonization during the coming years.

The discussion will focus on the dynamics and possible action concerning the 16 Non‑Self-Governing Territories under the Special Committee’s purview in the Caribbean, Pacific and other regions, as well as United Nations system assistance.  The seminar’s conclusions and recommendations will be considered by the Special Committee at its substantive session in June and subsequently transmitted to the General Assembly.

The Chairman of the Special Committee, Ambassador Francisco Carrión-Mena ( Ecuador), will preside over the seminar.  The participants will include a formal delegation of the Special Committee, comprising the Bureau and delegations of regional groups, other United Nations Member States, including administering Powers, as well as representatives of the Non-Self-Governing Territories, civil society and non-governmental organizations and experts.

The members of the Special Committee are 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.

The Non-Self-Governing Territories are American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands (Malvinas)*, Gibraltar, Guam, Montserrat, New Caledonia, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, Tokelau, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States Virgin Islands and Western Sahara.  The annual Secretariat working papers on each Territory are available on the United Nations decolonization website www.un.org/Depts/dpi/decolonization.

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*     A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) (see document ST/CS/ SER.A/42).

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For information media • not an official record