MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina chairs UN General Assembly Decolonization Com.

Ambassador Jorge Argüello

Argentina was chosen last week to the chair of the United Nations General Assembly Special Political and Decolonization Committee which is concerned with disarmament, peace keeping operations as well as decolonization.

The year long post falls on Jorge Argüello Argentina's ambassador before United Nations and belongs to one of the main committees from the 63rd General Assembly which begins next September and will be presided by Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann a former Foreign Affairs minister from Nicaragua. According to a release from the Argentine Foreign Affairs ministry the (fourth) committee "is particularly important for Argentina since besides having competence on Peace Keeping Operations and issues relative to the Middle East and Palestine, it also addresses all those issues relative to the decolonization process impelled by United Nations". The UN General Assembly has six main committees which according to the official web site relate to: First Committee (Disarmament and International Security Committee) is concerned with disarmament and related international security questions; Second Committee (Economic and Financial Committee) is concerned with economic questions; Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee) deals with social and humanitarian issues; Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization Committee) deals with a variety of political subjects not dealt with by the First Committee, as well as with decolonization; Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary Committee) deals with the administration and budget of the United Nations; and Sixth Committee (Legal Committee) deals with international legal matters. Following his election, Mr. d'Escoto said the United Nations still had a lot to achieve in the world, but, to be more effective, it must be what its name implied -- an organization of nations united, not nations dispersed, or even worse, subjugated. "Our nations must be united in the struggle to democratize the United Nations, united in their determination to preserve the world […] for the sake of present and future generations from the scourge of war among Member States and acts of aggression such as those occurring in Iraq and Afghanistan." .