Fourth Committee

A voluntary and comprehensive dispute resolution procedure, tailored to arbitrating disagreements over outer space activities, was taking shape, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) was told today as it concluded its annual debate on the realm’s peaceful uses, with delegates weighing in on how space technology could mitigate challenges that affected their nations and regions of the world.

While many countries today in the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) were proud to highlight their significant advances in space exploration and technology, which they said contributed to economic growth and social benefits, others pressed for comprehensive international regulation owing largely to the dual use of outer space activities, so as to preserve the realm for civilian rather than military purposes.

At a time when the world was becoming “more confined and dangerous than ever before”, the work of the University for Peace in bringing humanity closer to a peaceful planet had become even more relevant, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today before it approved by consensus a draft resolution on the University.

The Fourth Committee today, having considered the question of decolonization in depth since its began its session on 8 October, forwarded 11 draft texts to the General Assembly, with half approved without a vote, reaffirming the rights of the people of Non-Self-Governing Territories to shape their destiny.

As a deep-seated desire for peace and democracy shapes a new world in the Mediterranean, it was vital to do away with cold war perspectives and consider the Western Sahara dispute with new eyes, Morocco’s representative told the Fourth Committee today as it concluded its debate on decolonization.

With the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) wrestling today with ways to conclude the unfinished journey for 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories, it was told that the body tasked with completing the decolonization process — long championed as a United Nations success story — no longer had a relevant role with respect to the Overseas Territories of the United Kingdom.

The political ambiguity surrounding the decades-old conflict in Western Sahara, despite the string over the years of settlement proposals and initiatives to resolve it, again underpinned debate today in the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) as petitioners laid bare both the plight of the Saharans and their potential to secure a positive future.

As the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) met to hear petitioners on its annual draft of decolonization issues, many decried the violation of the human rights of Western Saharan refugees, including what some claimed was the exploitation of their natural resources by Morocco.

In order to finish the unfinished task of decolonization and speed the process, it was necessary to evolve “a new dynamic” between collecting objective information about the situations in the remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories — home to 2 million people — and pursuing stronger dialogue between them and their administering Powers, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) was urged today as it began its annual debate on that subject.

In a brief organizational meeting today, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) approved its work programme for the current session, containing more than a dozen topics for consideration, including the effects of atomic radiation, questions relating to the University of Peace, and the granting of independence to Non-Self-Governing Territories and peoples.