Special Committee on Decolonization

Current members of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization

  Members in 2009

  Observers in 2009

The Special Committee on Decolonization (also known as the U.N. Special Committee of the 24 on Decolonization, the Committee of 24, or simply, the Decolonization Committee) was created in 1961 by the General Assembly of the United Nations with the purpose of monitoring implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples and to make recommendations on its application.^[1] The committee is also a successor to the former Committee on Information from Non-Self-Governing Territories, with which it was merged in 1963. The full official name of the Special Committee is the Special Committee on the Situation with Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.

Hoping to speed the progress of decolonization, the General Assembly had adopted in 1960 the Resolution 1514, also known as the "Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples" or simply "Declaration on Decolonization". It stated that all people have a right to self-determination and proclaimed that colonialism should be brought to a speedy and unconditional end.^[2]

Subsequently, in 1990, the General Assembly proclaimed 1990-2000 as the International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism and adopted a concrete Plan of Action to further its principles and relevant International Law on that matter. In 2001, the United Nations proceeded to proclaim the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism.^[3]

In 1945, the year the United Nations was established, 750 million people - almost a third of the world's population - lived in Territories that were non-self-governing, dependent on colonial Powers. Today, fewer than 2 million people live in such Territories. ^[4]

Membership

The 17-member Special Committee was expanded to 24 members in 1962, and the size of its membership has varied since.^[5]

As of June 2010^[update], the members are as follows:^[6]

•  Antigua and Barbuda
•  Bolivia
•  Chile
•  China
•  Congo
•  Côte d'Ivoire
•  Cuba
•  Dominica
•  Ecuador
•  Ethiopia
•  Fiji
•  Grenada
•  India
•  Indonesia
•  Iran
•  Iraq
•  Mali
•  Nicaragua
•  Papua New Guinea
•  Russia
•  Saint Kitts and Nevis
•  Saint Lucia
•  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
•  Sierra Leone
•  Syrian Arab Republic
•  Timor-Leste
•  Tunisia
•  Tanzania
•  Venezuela

The Special Committee also has 14 observers.

Officers and bureau members

The Chair of the Special Committee for 2011 is Francisco Carrion-Mena of Ecuador. Carrion-Mena was elected on February 24, 2011 in an unusual secret-ballot vote of the committee, receiving 15 votes; Donatus Keith St. Aimee (St. Lucia), who was Chair in 2010, received 10 votes. The two Vice Chairs are Pedro Nunez Mosquera of Cuba and Rupert S. Davies of Sierra Leone; the Rapporteur is Bashar Ja'afari of Syria. The Bureau of the Committee comprises these four officers. ^[7]

See also

• UN list of non-self-governing territories
• Dependent territories

References

1. ^ the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation - Official Website
2. ^ History of U.N. Decolonisation Committee - Official U.N. Website
3. ^ Historical Documents of the U.N. Decolonisation Committee - Official U.N. Website and Document Archive
4. ^ http://www.un.org/Depts/dpi/decolonization/history.htm
5. ^ United Nations
6. ^ http://www.un.org/Depts/dpi/decolonization/special_committee_members.htm
7. ^ http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2011/gacol3215.doc.htm; http://www.un.org/Depts/dpi/decolonization/special_committee_bureau.htm

External links

• United Nations official homepage
• Decolonization Committee homepage United Nations