General Assembly

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will convene the United Nations African Meeting on the Question of Palestine in Rabat, Morocco, at the conference centre of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, from 1 to 2 July.

The sixteenth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women this morning elected by secret ballot 12 members of the 23-member body, which monitors compliance with the Treaty.

Concluding its 2010 session, the Special Committee on Decolonization unanimously approved today a draft resolution, which, if adopted by the General Assembly, would pave the way for the Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism beginning in 2011, as well as a draft decision by which the Assembly would designate 14 December as the day for commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.

After hearing petitioners on the question of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) as well as a statement by the Foreign Minister of Argentina, the Special Committee on Decolonization recommended today that the General Assembly reiterate its call for direct negotiations between Argentina and the United Kingdom over that Non-Self-Governing Territory.

Expressing deep concern that colonialism had not yet been totally eradicated 50 years after the General Assembly adopted the seminal Declaration on Decolonization, the “Special Committee of 24” unanimously approved today a draft resolution reaffirming the obligations of all administering Powers to create the necessary economic, social and other conditions to enable Non-Self-Governing Territories under their purview to achieve genuine self-government and economic self-reliance.

Speaking out against the militarization of Guam by the United States, several petitioners today called upon members of the Special Committee on Decolonization to visit the Non-Self-Governing Territory and see the situation for themselves as soon as possible.

The Special Committee on Decolonization today approved a draft resolution calling on the Government of the United States to expedite a process that would allow the Puerto Rican people to exercise fully their right to self-determination and independence, and for the General Assembly formally to consider the situation concerning Puerto Rico, which the world body had not formally taken up since the Territory’s removal from the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories in 1953.

The Fourth Biennial Meeting of States to consider the implementation of the 2001 Programme of Action aimed at eradicating the illicit small arms trade today adopted by consensus its outcome document, as it concluded its week-long session. Sergio Duarte, United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, praised all delegates and organizers for a successful session and for reaching a consensus on the important outcome.

Weapons-tracing data was currently often scattered, unreliable and fragmented, hindering the effectiveness of the world’s attack on the illegal small arms trade, many delegates told the Fourth Biennial Meeting on combating the trade today, as States also began consideration of its final document by agreeing on the annex covering the international tracing instrument.

The easy availability of firearms multiplied the probability of death or grave violations of human rights in communities around the world and, as in warding off a disease, in preventing armed violence these communities must build up resistance and reduce their exposure to the vector of injury — the gun, delegates were told today, as the Fourth Biennial Meeting on combating the illicit small arms and light weapons trade reached the halfway mark of its week-long session.