Saint John (Dominica), 28 August 2021 (SPS) - The 2021 Caribbean Regional Seminar on Decolonization concluded Friday with speakers highlighting the challenges and opportunities facing the world’s 17 remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories going into the fourth International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2021-2030).
Members of the Special Committee stressed that the elimination of colonialism remained one of the priorities of the United Nations in the fourth International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism and reiterated the role of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples as the main means of promoting the decolonization process.
Members of the Special Committee noted that the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, enshrined in General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960, would not be completed as long as there were territories that had not yet exercised their inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with the relevant resolutions concerning all territories on the Special Committee's agenda.
In this context, a set of recommendations were adopted on the territories that were considered, including the territory of Western Sahara, where the mandate of the Special Committee on the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara was recalled, and all General Assembly resolutions on the question of Western Sahara were reaffirmed.
The members of the Special Committee also took into account General Assembly Resolution 1803 (XVII) on the sovereignty of peoples over their natural wealth and resources in accordance with the Charter and relevant United Nations resolutions on decolonization.
The seminar was attended by the Representative of the Polisario Front at the United Nations, Dr Sidi-Mohamed Omar, who addressed the members of the Committee and the delegates of Member States to update them on the latest developments related to the issue of Western Sahara, especially after the violation of the 1991 ceasefire by the Moroccan occupation state and its aggression on liberated Sahrawi territories on 13 November 2020. (SPS)
062