General Assembly: Press Release

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will convene the United Nations International Meeting in Support of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process in Istanbul, Turkey, at the Sheraton Hotel Istanbul Ataköy, from 25 to 26 May.

“Our task this morning is simple — to look at the way forward,” Donatus St. Aimee (Saint Lucia), Chairman of the Special Committee on Decolonization, said today as that body began the final session of its Pacific Regional Seminar on Implementation of the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism.

The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization continued its deliberations today at its Pacific Seminar on the Implementation of the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, discussing challenges in the Pacific, Caribbean and elsewhere, as well as the broader role of the United Nations in the decolonization process.

In a message to open the Pacific Regional Seminar on the Implementation of the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged all involved to undertake “fresh and creative efforts” towards full implementation of decolonization.

Countries will open negotiations today on the road back to Rio, where, in 1992, countries agreed on the landmark Agenda 21, the blueprint for sustainable development. In 2012, countries will meet again in Rio de Janeiro to determine the next steps for achieving sustainable development — to manage and protect the ecosystem and bring about a more prosperous future for everyone.

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 on Decolonization, will hold its annual regional seminar in Noumea, New Caledonia, from 18 to 20 May 2010.

The wide-ranging efforts of the United Nations to better communicate with the world public will be reviewed in the thirty-second annual session of the Committee on Information, taking place at Headquarters from 26 April to 7 May. During the two-week session, delegations will review the activities of the Department of Public Information and its three subprogrammes -- Strategic Communications, News Services and Outreach Services -– in the period July 2009 to February 2010.

VIENNA, 22 March -- The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will convene the United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People at the United Nations Office at Vienna, on 24 and 25 March 2010.

This statement was issued today by the Bureau of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People on the situation in occupied East Jerusalem:

The United Nations today announced the selection of the members of the Senior Advisory Group for the Review of International Civilian Capacities. The Advisory Group, named by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, includes senior figures from a diverse range of backgrounds who couple operational experience in the aftermath of conflict with a deep understanding of the United Nations system and its Member States.