With New Caledonia looking forward to a historic self-determination referendum in 2018, many petitioners called today for United Nations oversight of that vote in light of problems with the electoral list, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) continued its general debate on decolonization questions.
The Non-Self-Governing Territory of French Polynesia was led by an “accommodationist” government that provided its people with only the illusion of self-determination, many petitioners declared today, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) entered its second day of debate on decolonization issues.
Describing decolonization as a complex issue spanning multiple interests, a delegate emphasized today that the United Nations must support the rights of indigenous populations over those of colonizers, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) began its general debate on the issue.
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today approved its work programme for the seventy‑second session, which covers topics ranging from the decolonization of the 17 remaining Non‑Self‑Governing Territories, through the peaceful uses of outer space to the plight of Palestinian refugees and Israel’s practices in the Occupied Arab Territories.
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) elected Rafael Darío Ramírez Carreño (Venezuela) on 31 May 2017.
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) concluded its work for the seventy-first session of the General Assembly today, approving a draft resolution on peacekeeping (document A/C.4/71/L.18).
Concluding its work for the main part of the General Assembly’s seventy-first session, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) approved 10 draft resolutions and two draft decisions today, on such issues as Israeli practices, to the operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), to the question of Gibraltar.
Palestine refugees had suffered unimaginable hardship, including obstacles to the delivery of humanitarian aid, and those in Syria had been twice displaced, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as it concluded its general debate on the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
Young Palestine refugees continued to face unquantifiable challenges, including the risk of radicalization due to mounting insecurity and the frustration of unmet humanitarian needs as resulting from the lack of sustained and predictable funding, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as it took up the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
Israel’s expanding settlements constituted blatant symbols of its occupation and threatened the viability of a prospective two-State solution to the conflict with the Palestinians, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today.
