Secretary-General Says with 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories Remaining, Dialogue

among Special Committee, Elected Representatives, Administering Powers Essential

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the Pacific Regional Seminar on the Implementation of the Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism:  Current Realities and Prospects, as delivered by Sergei Cherniavsky, Chief, Disarmament and Peace Affairs Branch, Department of General Assembly Affairs, in Quito, Ecuador, 30 May:

I am pleased to greet the participants in the 2012 Pacific regional seminar on decolonization held in the context of the United Nations Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism.

I thank the Government and people of Ecuador for hosting this important event.  This seminar is intended to assess current realities and prospects, and explore how the Special Committee can advance the objectives of the United Nations in the area of decolonization.

Sixteen Non-Self-Governing Territories remain to be decolonized.  Dialogue among the Special Committee, the elected representatives of the Territories and the administering Powers is essential for progress.

I invite the Special Committee to promote genuine communication at all levels, formal and informal, in which interlocutors are genuinely listened to and heard, on a case-by-case-basis.  This seminar provides an opportunity towards that end. 

I look forward to working with you to accelerate the process of decolonization wherever possible.  Please accept my best wishes for a productive gathering.

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For information media • not an official record