St Lucia Prime Minister Philip J Pierre, will this Wednesday 11th May, formally open a United Nations Seminar on Decolonization, which is to be held at the Sandals Grande Hotel until 13th May 2022.
With 17 non-self-governing territories remaining worldwide, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has said that decolonization is a process that has to be guided by the aspirations and needs of the communities living in the territories.
With a less aggressive tone but with the same determination, Argentine foreign minister Susana Malcorra (and hopeful UN Secretary General), argued that the principle of self-determination is not absolute and does not apply to the disputed Falkland/Malvinas Islands, since the principle of territorial integrity of States prevails, and the inhabitants of the Malvinas are not recognized as a people.
A Falkland Islands lawmaker addressing the United Nations Special Decolonization Committee, C24, in New York said that the political future of the Islands is not about the UK or Argentina, but rather the people of the Falklands, and We are the only people who can say what we want for our future.
On Sunday Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia leave the Rock for New York in order to attend the session of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization, usually known as the Committee of 24.
According to the UN charter the full measure of self-government of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories must be the result of the freely expressed will and desire of those peoples, said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in his message to the opening of the Pacific Regional Seminar on Decolonization, currently taking place in Managua, Nicaragua.
Addressing the United Nations Decolonization Committee (C24) on Thursday, Falkland Islands representative MLA Mike Summers reminded the C24 not only of its current duty, but also of its inability in the past to fulfill its obligations to the Non Self Governing Territories (NSGT) it should be assisting to reach a post-colonial status acceptable to the people who live there.
For the first time in many years, the UN decolonization unit held several meetings with each of the four administering powers: United Kingdom, France, New Zealand and the United States, as well as various other “stakeholders”, in order to identify next steps in the decolonization process.
Falkland Islands elected lawmaker Mike Summers will attend next week the Caribbean Regional Seminar of the Special Committee on Decolonization which is to be held in Quito, Ecuador in anticipation of the main C24 annual meeting in New York.
The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation — also known as the Special Committee of 24 — is to hold its Pacific Regional Seminar in Guayaquil, Ecuador, from 28 to 30 May. Its agenda is to review progress in the United Nations decolonisation process.