MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Kofi Annan appeals to G 24.

Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General has called on the administering Powers of listed colonies and the UN Committee of 24 to work together in the search for “innovative and practical ways to reinvigorate the decolonisation process and enable us to close this unfinished chapter in history.”

Mr. Annan declared himself ready to provide any necessary support and assistance in this undertaking, noting that the work of the C24 is based on the principles of the United Nations Charter and General Assembly resolutions 1514 and 1541, containing the Declaration on Decolonisation.

"As these documents establish, Non-Self-Governing Territories can exercise a full measure of self-government through one of three options: free association, integration with another State, or independence. It is essential that the choice be the result of the freely expressed wishes of the territorial peoples," he said.

"I trust that at this session you will continue to seek appropriate arrangements for the remaining 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories," said the UN Chief.

Mr Annan also emphasised the importance of productive cooperation between the Special Committee and the administering Powers.

"We should recall that, at the inception of the United Nations, the administering Powers undertook the obligation under the Charter to bring the Territories under their administration to an appropriate level of self-government. Since its creation, the Special Committee's main goal has been to assist and expedite this process," he said.

"Since that time, many of the 16 remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories have made considerable progress towards self-government by developing their constitutional, political, and economic systems.

In recent years, the Special Committee has endeavoured to engage the administering Powers in a transparent and creative dialogue on the future of the Territories - each of which has a unique set of circumstances and characteristics. It has sought to establish case-by-case programmes of work, with the full participation of the peoples of the Territories, so as to promote their political, economic and social development and to determine the status of each Territory in the context of decolonisation."