MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Kofi Annan: decolonization “is incomplete”

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has restated his commitment to decolonization in territories regarded by the organisation as non-self governing, including the Falkland Islands.

The Falklands are one of 16 territories which the UN's special committee on decolonisation, also known as C24, met last week to discuss at a conference in Papua New Guinea last week. It coincided with the UN's Week of Solidarity with the People's of Non Self Governing Territories.

In a message sent to the conference, Mr Annan said: "In this Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories, I am very pleased to convey my greetings to all who have gathered in Madang, Papua New Guinea, for the Pacific Regional Seminar on decolonization.

It is with a great sense of accomplishment that the United Nations can look back at what has been achieved in the field of decolonization since the early years of the Organization. However, with 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories remaining on the United Nations list, the job is incomplete. It is therefore the duty of the United Nations and the international community to bring the process of decolonization to a successful conclusion.

Cooperation is essential for there to be progress in discharging the mandate of the Special Committee on Decolonization. This annual seminar, which this year focuses on the Pacific-based territories, is an opportunity for the Committee, the people living in the territories and the administering Powers to listen to one another, and to the views of experts, and to examine the progress made in upholding the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and in the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. I hope this year's seminar will also help all concerned to prepare for the future, by devising strategies to support the political, economic and social advancement of the Non-Self-Governing Territories in their quest for self-determination".

Falklands' elected Councillors will be participating the coming month in the annual New York meeting of the C 24.