MANAGUA, 19 May — Opening the Caribbean Regional Seminar on Decolonization today, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recalled that, since the birth of the United Nations 70 years ago, more than 80 nations once under colonial rule, with some 750 million inhabitants, were now sovereign Member States.
Citing growing cooperation among all stakeholders concerned to eradicate colonialism across the globe, a senior United Nations political official this morning called for innovative, practical ways to address the issue of self-government, as the Special Committee on Decolonization opened its 2015 session.
The Special Committee on Decolonization today concluded its 2014 substantive session with the approval, without a vote, of three draft resolutions, including one calling on France, New Caledonia’s administering Power, to consider developing an education programme to inform the people in the Territory about the nature of self-determination and prepare them for a future decision on the matter.
The Special Committee on Decolonization approved today a draft resolution on the question of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), by which the General Assembly would reiterate that the way to end that “special and particular colonial situation” was through a peaceful and negotiated settlement of the sovereignty dispute between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom.
Acting without a vote, the Special Committee on Decolonization approved four draft resolutions today to accelerate efforts to create a world free of colonialism.
The Special Committee on Decolonization today called on the United States to again expedite a process that would allow the people of Puerto Rico to fully exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence, as well as take decisions, in a sovereign manner, to address their economic and social needs.
Resuming its session today, the Special Committee on Decolonization approved, without a vote, three draft resolutions on information relating to the Non-Self-Governing Territories that remained under its purview.
NADI, FIJI, 23 May — At the conclusion of its three-day discussion on ways in which to accelerate decolonization, participants in the 2014 Pacific Regional Seminar considered the event’s impact on the process and debated the way forward in promoting the goals of the Third International Decade.
NADI, FIJI, 22 May — The second day of the Pacific Regional Seminar saw participants discuss developments and challenges in accelerating the decolonization of Non-Self-Governing Territories, and generated significant debate on the need to accelerate action in Non-Self-Governing Territories of other regions.
NADI, FIJI, 21 May — United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today encouraged participants in the Pacific Regional Seminar to take into consideration recent developments in the region, such as the March 2014 visiting mission of the Special Committee on Decolonization to New Caledonia and other initiatives that made that body more visible and active.
