(BASED ON PRESS RELEASE)— NEW YORK— The United Nations’ Special Committee of 24 on decolonization announced late last week, during its first sitting for this year, that it will hold its next regional seminar in New Caledonia, a French territory that is among the countries and territories on the UN list to be de colonized.

The regional seminar was expected to take place some time “mid-May” 2010, the UN said in a release.

This followed an invitation delivered in person, in October 2009, by New Caledonia’s local government President, Philippe Gomès, as he was addressing the Committee for the first time in years.

Reacting to the announcement for the visit to New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea’s representative has also suggested that before or after the planned seminar in the Pacific, a United Nations delegation should also visit New Caledonia.

Lynn Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, to the Special Committee of 24 on decolonization, conveying a message from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said after this “Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism” which ended in 2010, the UN, in order to “fulfil its obligations in supporting the legitimate aspirations of the peoples of these territories”, needed to embark on a “pragmatic and realistic approach – taking into account the specific circumstances of each”, but also an approach that engages the administering powers.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the United Nations decolonization body to continue its work with the administering Governments and the people of the remaining non-self-governing territories.

The UN’s special committee tasked to study the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples is more generally called the “Special Committee of 24”, and was marked by the accession to independence by former Indonesian province of East Timor (Timor Leste).

The number of remaining countries and territories to be de colonized has therefore dropped from seventeen to sixteen.

This includes, in the Pacific, Tokelau (New Zealand), Pitcairn (United Kingdom) and new Caledonia (France).

Over the past years, Tokelauans have twice been consulted, under the UN process, about a possible self-determination. But twice also, the necessary majority of votes to support the notion of independence was not reached.

Although it is still named the “Committee of 26”, the UN group now comprises 28 members, representing Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Chile, China, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Grenada, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Mali, Papua New Guinea, Russian Federation, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Syria, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania and Venezuela.

American Samoa remains on the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, as does: Gibraltar, New Caledonia, Western Sahara, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Guam, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States Virgin Islands, Tokelau and the Falkland Islands (Malvinas).

During testimony before a Congressional committee— on Feb. 24, 2010— Gov. Togiola Tulafono outlined American Samoa’s “political status concerns” which he hopes Congress will consider carefully.

One of Togiola’s concerns was the U.N. listing of American Samoa as one of only sixteen colonies remaining in the world.

The American Samoa governor noted that he is convinced that the Territory would agree that at “this stage of our relationship some formalization of our relationship is necessary as a matter of basic fairness and to meet our international obligations.”

NEW CALEDONIA GOVERNMENT MORE INVOLVED TODAY

In October 2009, for the first time in years, the local government of New Caledonia travelled to New York to speak before the United Nations decolonization body and at the same time present a brief of the decolonization situation of this French Pacific territory.

The decolonization process of New Caledonia is enshrined in the autonomy Nouméa Accord, signed in 1998 between pro-independence and pro-France parties.

With a special focus on the notion of “common destiny”, it provides guidelines for a gradual transfer of powers from metropolitan France to local authorities, a power-sharing government and a possible referendum on self-determination between 2014 and 2018.

New Caledonia has been on the UN decolonization list since 1986, after the grave civil, independence-related unrest of the mid-1980s.

New Caledonia’s President Philippe Gomès, who led the delegation to the UN meeting in New York, stressed this was the first time New Caledonia’s government was represented at the UN decolonization meeting.

In past years, only the pro-independence FLNKS (Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front) took part in the UN meetings.

The pro-independence FLNKS was also represented at the meeting and also presented its views on the French Pacific territory’s decolonization process and its progress.

“I told the UN this decolonization process was aimed at bringing people together and without excluding anyone”, Gomès told reporters.

INTENT TO GO FURTHER WITHIN PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM, SET UP OWN DIPLOMATIC NETWORK

Gomès also recalled that on the regional front and following a process described as “regional integration”, New Caledonia has now become an “associate member” of the Pacific Islands Forum, but that it now intended to go further and initiate moves to request a full membership in the regional political organization.

“Besides the voice of France, we also need to make our own voice heard in the region”, he told the UN.

“That is why my government has engaged the necessary steps so that New Caledonia becomes a full member of certain regional organizations, such as the Pacific Islands Forum and the Melanesian Spearhead Group (at which FLNKS sits), he announced.

“Finally, as the Nouméa Accord allows, the government has decided to set up New Caledonian representations in the Pacific island countries ... With this view in mind, my government, in consultation with (France), will organize a specific training in order to prepare New Caledonians to take charge of their international relations.”

(Source: Oceania Flash/newspad)