Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, delivered by Rie Kadota, Senior Political Affairs Officer, Decolonization Unit, Department of Political Affairs, to the Pacific Regional Seminar on Decolonization, in Managua today:
The Special Committee on Decolonization will hold the 2016 Pacific Regional Seminar in Managua, Nicaragua from 31 May to 2 June with a view to accelerating action in implementation of the third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2011‑2020).
The Special Committee on Decolonization today decided to hold its Pacific Regional Seminar in Managua, Nicaragua, from 31 May to 2 June, and approved the theme, agenda and other organizational issues related to the modalities of the biennial meeting.
The Special Committee on Decolonization should intensify action-oriented dialogue with the aim of generating further momentum to fulfil the United Nations decolonization mandate, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement read out on his behalf at the opening of that body’s 2016 session today.
Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, delivered by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Tayé-Brook Zerihoun, to the opening of the 2016 session of the Special Committee on Decolonization, in New York today:
Closing its resumed 2015 session today, the Special Committee on decolonization examined two Non-Self-Governing Territories, New Caledonia and French Polynesia, and approved resolutions reaffirming the right of the peoples of those Territories to determine their own future.
The Special Committee on decolonization today approved a resolution calling for the peaceful settlement of the “Question of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), as delegates urged an end to the “festering” dispute that had long plagued the South Atlantic islands and surrounding territories.
Swift action must be taken to end the “dangerous status quo” in Western Sahara and to finally grant independence to the “last African colony”, the Special Committee of 24 heard today, as it approved five draft resolutions on a range of items on its agenda.
Puerto Rico remained locked in a cycle of poverty, brain drain and sluggish economic development caused by the “imperialist” policies of the United States, the Special Committee of 24 was told today as it heard from more than 30 petitioners on the matter and approved a resolution urging the United States to allow Puerto Ricans to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination.
The Special Committee of 24, resuming its annual session today, approved several texts, including on the dissemination of information on decolonization to the Non-Self-Governing Territories, with particular emphasis on the options for self-determination, and the transmission of information from them, while also considering the question of Gibraltar.
