New York, March 13, 2018. In its capacity as Deputy Chair 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, better known as the C-24 or UN Committee on Decolonization; Cuba participates from March 12 to 19 in a visiting mission to New Caledonia.
New Caledonia is a Non-Self-Governing Territory under the administration of France. The decolonization process of New Caledonia is governed by the Nouméa Accord signed in 1998. The Accord is monitored by the signatory parties, which meet annually to evaluate its implementation. It set outs that a referendum on self-determination will be held on the island in this year.
The objective of the visiting mission to New Caledonia is to gather first-hand information on the implementation of the Nouméa Accord and to support New Caledonia in its preparation for the referendum to be held in 2018, in line with relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the Special Committee. .
The Mission is headed by Ambassador Humberto Rivero Rosario. Also participated representatives of Indonesia, Iraq and Papua New Guinea.
The UN Special Committee on Decolonization was established in 1961, as a subsidiary organ of the United Nations General Assembly. There are 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories under the Special Committee’s purview: American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), French Polynesia, Gibraltar, Guam, Montserrat, New Caledonia, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, Tokelau, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States Virgin Islands and Western Sahara.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations