United Nations General Assembly

05/06/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/06/2022 10:33

Special Committee on Decolonization to Hold Pacific Regional Seminar in Castries, Saint Lucia, 11-13 May

The Special Committee on Decolonization will hold the 2022 Pacific Regional Seminar in Castries, Saint Lucia, from 11 to 13 May 2022 within the framework of the Fourth International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2021-2030).

Held under the auspices of the Special Committee, the theme for the 2022 Seminar is "Advancement of the Non-Self-Governing Territories through the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and beyond".

The Guidelines and rules of procedure can be accessed on the United Nations and Decolonization website: www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/c24/regional-seminars

There are seventeen Non-Self-Governing Territories (NSGTs) under the purview of the Special Committee: American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands (Malvinas)*, French Polynesia, Gibraltar, Guam, Montserrat, New Caledonia, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, Tokelau, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States Virgin Islands and Western Sahara. The administering Powers are France, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The Special Committee - formally the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (also known as the Special Committee of 24 or "C-24") - will consider the Seminar's conclusions and recommendations at its June substantive session and subsequently transmit them to the General Assembly.

Keisha Aniya McGuire (Grenada), Chair of the Special Committee, will preside over the Seminar.

Seminar participants invited will include a Special Committee delegation comprising the Bureau and members of regional groups, United Nations Member States, including administering Powers, as well as representatives of the Territories, civil society, non-governmental organizations and experts.

The 29 members of the Special Committee are: Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Chile, China, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Grenada, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Mali, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Russian Federation, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Syria, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania and Venezuela.

The 2022 annual Secretariat working papers on each NSGT are available on the United Nations and Decolonization website: www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/documents/workingpapers.

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* A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas).