MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands’ new generation will attend the C24 meeting in New York

Andrew Pollard is the Senior Agriculture Advisor of the Falklands Natural Resources Department

Two young Islanders will accompany Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly Members to a special session of the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation (C24) this month in New York.

The Falklands is to have a special full day session before the Committee in New York on June 14 and MLA Mike Summers and MLA Roger Edwards will form the Falkland Islands delegation accompanied by Andrew Pollard and Krysteen Ormond.

According to press reports from Buenos Aires, President Cristina Fernandez will be heading this year’s delegation to the C24 meeting to defend Argentina’s sovereignty claim over the Falklands and other South Atlantic Islands.

MLA Summers said that Andrew and Krysteen will be representing a new generation of Islanders and will have a chance to face the political realities challenging the Falklands.
“I am delighted that Andrew and Krysteen will be accompanying us to C24 this year. I feel it is very important to introduce the next generation of Falkland Islanders to the political realities of our situation at an early stage” indicated MLA Summers.

Andrew Pollard a fully qualified agronomist and Senior Agriculture Advisor said he is “passionate about the Falklands” and is looking forward to the challenges faced by the Islands.

“I am very honoured to be able to represent the Falkland Islands at the C24. There is a great need to increase the global awareness of the Falkland Islands. Whilst I am not a politician, I am a Falkland Islander who is passionate about my country and understands the social, economic and political strengths and challenges that we all currently face”.

Krysteen Ormond currently overseas is a young Falkland Islander who graduated from the University of Nottingham with a BA Joint Honors, Hispanic Studies and Russian & East European Civilizations.

MLA Roger Edwards who will join the rest of the party in New York, this week attended the C24 Pacific Regional Seminar in Ecuador’s capital Quito, which basically reviewed progress in the United Nations decolonization process particularly in the Pacific region.

MLA Edwards had a chance to address the seminar and described Argentina’s aggressive attempts to obstruct the Falklands’ economy and asked the Committee to recognise its own obligations under the UN Charter and, “respect our right to self determination”.

Having addressed the Committee on the Islands history and progress since 1982, MLA Edwards said “the UN did not enshrine peoples’ universal rights into its Charter, only for member states to then negotiate those away.”

He said Argentina appeared to have no desire to negotiate or respect the UN Charter, adding: “Argentina has included the full transfer of sovereignty in its own Constitution as the only acceptable outcome, ignoring our rights and the principles of the United Nations Charter.”

In conclusion MLA Edwards said it was within the committee’s power to develop innovative approaches and new dynamics to achieve that goal and reminded the Special Committee of the plea by the Secretary General of the United Nations on February 23 this year, “to make tangible progress in assisting those territories to achieve self-determination.”

“Mr Chairman, every year we put forward arguments in support of our human rights, in order that this Committee will one day recognise its own obligations under the UN Charter and respect our right of self-determination. Hopefully this year, the Special Committee will recognise that the people of the Falklands will always be here, and as has been proven right across the globe many times before ‘self-determination’ is the only solution that will lead to a permanent, peaceful solution,” he emphasized.

It should be mentioned that the C24 declined an offer from the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly to host the seminar in the Falkland Islands this year. Likewise Ambassador Diego Morejón-Pazmiño, Chair of C24 also declined a personal invitation from the Falklands’ government to visit the Islands.

A former C24 chair Ambassador Donatus Keith St. Aimee from Saint Lucia (2010) did tour Argentina, including Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego on an invitation from the government of President Cristina Fernandez.

In his message to the Pacific seminar UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the gathering in Quito was intended to assess current realities and prospects, and explore how the Special Committee can advance the objectives of the United Nations in the area of decolonization.

“Sixteen Non-Self-Governing Territories remain to be decolonized. Dialogue among the Special Committee, the elected representatives of the Territories and the administering Powers is essential for progress”, said Ban Ki-moon.
“I invite the Special Committee to promote genuine communication at all levels, formal and informal, in which interlocutors are genuinely listened to and heard, on a case-by-case-basis. This seminar provides an opportunity towards that end”.