Fourth Committee

Forwarding five consensus draft texts to the General Assembly, including on the questions of Western Sahara, Gibraltar, New Caledonia and Tokelau, the Fourth Committee reaffirmed the inalienable right of all people to self-determination and independence, as it concluded today its general debate on decolonization matters.

The many decolonization achievements of the United Nations over the years could not be considered truly global while some peoples continued to live under colonial rule, Jamaica’s representative told the Fourth Committee today as it continued its consideration of decolonization issues.

In Press Release GA/SPD/479 issued 4 October, during the debate on the question of Western Sahara, the statement made by journalist Jose Maria Garre Gil was incorrectly attributed to Juan Jose Ibarretxe Markuartu, President of the Gobierno Vasco.

Despite the dire need for humanitarian assistance in the Tindouf refugee camps in Algeria, much of that aid was misappropriated and wound up in the markets of Algiers and Timbuktu, one of 33 petitioners on the question of Western Sahara told the Fourth Committee today as it continued its debate on decolonization. Humanitarian aid rarely reached the camps, as most of it was sold in North African markets to buy weapons, stressed one petitioner who spoke today.

The United Nations could no longer “turn a blind eye” to the risks posed by a failed State in the Western Sahara, as that would jeopardize global security, the Fourth Committee heard today, as petitioners for Western Sahara, New Caledonia, Guam, Turks and Caicos, and the United States Virgin Islands took the floor in the decolonization debate.

Decolonization was one of the most defining issues of the latter part of the twentieth century, and the untiring efforts of United Nations had ensured that nearly all of the world’s population no longer lived under colonial rule, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) was told as it began its annual general debate on that issue.

In a brief organizational meeting, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today approved its work programme for the current session, containing more than a dozen topics for consideration, including a review of peacekeeping operations, assistance in mine action, and the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples.

Simona-Mirela Miculescu, Permanent Representative of Romania to the United Nations, was elected Chair of the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) on 22 June 2011.

The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) met this morning to fill vacant positions on its Bureau for the upcoming sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly.

Convinced that the United Nations must continue to improve its peacekeeping capabilities and enhance the effective deployment of its operations, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today approved, without a vote, a draft resolution by which the General Assembly would review the implementation of previous proposals of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations and consider new ones, so that the Organization could fulfil its responsibilities in that field.