Expediting the decolonization process must be seen as an imperative, United Nations Secretary-General Antônio Guterres told the Special Committee on Decolonization today, emphasizing that a constructive relationship with administrating Powers and all involved is indispensable for progress on a case-by-case basis.
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message, as delivered by Rosemary A. DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, to the organizational meeting of the 2021 session of the Special Committee on Decolonization, today:
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the organizational meeting of the 2020 session of the Special Committee on Decolonization in New York today:
United Nations support for the right to self-determination — while slower than it was at its historic peak in the twentieth century — remains both a source of pride for the Organization and a crucial pillar of its work going forward, Secretary-General António Guterres told the Special Committee on Decolonization today.
The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization, currently chaired by Keisha Aniya McGuire (Grenada), will undertake a visiting mission to Montserrat from 17 to 20 December, while also holding meetings in Antigua and Barbuda.
Concluding its 2019 substantive session, the Special Committee on Decolonization today approved draft resolutions on five Non-Self-Governing Territories, including one that would have the General Assembly encourage the administering Power of French Polynesia to recognize and compensate persons impacted by three decades of nuclear testing in the South Pacific Territory.
The Special Committee on Decolonization today approved draft resolutions on self‑determination questions in eight Non‑Self‑Governing Territories, heard petitioners from the British Virgin Islands, Guam, and Turks and Caicos, and took up the question of French Polynesia and New Caledonia.
The Special Committee on Decolonization today approved a draft resolution reiterating that the only way to end the special and particular colonial situation of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) is through a peaceful and negotiated settlement of the sovereignty dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom.
Noting with concern the way in which political insubordination impedes Puerto Rico’s ability to tackle its serious economic and social problems, the Special Committee on Decolonization approved a draft resolution today that calls once again upon the United States to shoulder its responsibility to facilitate the realization of the right of Puerto Ricans to self‑determination.
Opening the substantive portion of its 2019 session today, the Special Committee on Decolonization took up the questions of Gibraltar, Tokelau and Western Sahara, while also approving draft resolutions relating to the dissemination of information about its work and its dispatching of visiting missions to the world’s 17 remaining Non‑Self‑Governing Territories.
