Special Committee on Decolonization to Hold Pacific Regional Seminar in Bali, Indonesia, 24-26 May
The Special Committee on Decolonization will hold the 2023 Pacific Regional Seminar in Bali, Indonesia, from 24 to 26 May within the framework of the fourth International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2021-2030).
The Seminar is held under the auspices of the Special Committee, which is formally known as 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 or as “C-24”).
The theme of the 2023 Seminar is “Innovative steps to ensure the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals in the Non-Self-Governing Territories”.
The Guidelines and rules of procedure can be accessed on the United Nations and Decolonization website: www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/c24/regional-seminars.
There are seventeen Non-Self-Governing Territories under the purview of the Special Committee: American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands (Malvinas)*, French Polynesia, Gibraltar, Guam, Montserrat, New Caledonia, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, Tokelau, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States Virgin Islands and Western Sahara. The administering Powers are France, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States.
The Special Committee will consider the Seminar’s conclusions and recommendations at its June substantive session, and subsequently transmit them to the General Assembly.
Ambassador Menissa Rambally of Saint Lucia, Chair of the Special Committee, will preside over the Seminar.
Seminar participants invited include a Special Committee delegation comprising the Bureau and members of regional groups, United Nations Member States, including administering Powers, as well as representatives of the Territories, civil society, and non-governmental organizations as well as experts.
The 29 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, Syrian Arab Republic, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania and Venezuela.
The 2023 annual Secretariat working papers on each Non-Self-Governing Territory are available on the United Nations and Decolonization website at www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/documents/workingpapers.
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* A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas).