Trusteeship Council Elects President, Vice-President of Sixty-ninth Session, Adopts Provisional Agenda

Opening briefly its sixty-ninth session today, the Trusteeship Council elected Alexis Lamek of France as its President and Peter Wilson of the United Kingdom as its Vice-President.

Both candidates were elected by acclamation after being nominated on the basis of consultations among Council members.  Following the election, incoming President Lamek thanked the members for their confidence.  The Council also adopted its provisional agenda.

The Trusteeship Council is a principal organ of the United Nations, created to administer 11  Trust Territories placed under the Organization’s care at its founding in 1945.  Its major goals were to promote the advancement of people in the Territories, as well as their development towards self-government or independence.

The Council suspended operation in 1994, after the last remaining United Nations Trust Territory, Palau, achieved independence.  It amended its rules of procedure to drop the obligation to meet annually and agreed to meet as the occasion required.  It now meets by its own decision, the decision of its President, at a request from a majority of its members, or at a request from the General Assembly or Security Council.

Membership of the Council now comprises the five permanent members of the Security Council — China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States.  The Council’s future role is under consideration as part of the broader reform of the United Nations and the Security Council.

The Trusteeship Council will meet again at a date and time to be announced.