UNITED NATIONS, CMC – St. Lucia has been appointed chair of the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization (C-24).
A statement from the Permanent Mission of St. Lucia to the United Nations said that the island’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Menissa Rambally, was elected during elections last Thursday.
The Committee, which consists of 29 members, also elected Cuba, Indonesia, and Sierra Leone as its three Vice-Chairs and the Syrian Arab Republic as its Rapporteur.
Following her election, the St. Lucian diplomat acknowledged the vital work of her predecessor, Ambassador Keisha McGuire of Grenada, “who led the Committee skilfully through the difficult period at the height of the global pandemic.
“The C-24 will remain true to its mandate entrusted by the General Assembly and (will) fulfill that mandate by the UN Charter and relevant General Assembly resolutions. The C-24 will address the needs and situation of each Territory on its agenda, on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the Territory’s particular circumstances,” she added.
Currently, 17 mostly island, non-self-governing territories are formally recognized by the UN General Assembly. The substantive work of the UN on the self-determination of these territories is conducted by the Special Committee on Decolonization, which was instrumental in Saint Lucia’s progression to independence.
Ambassador Rambally is scheduled to lead a United Nations Delegation to the UN Pacific Regional Seminar in Bali, Indonesia, in May to review the progress achieved in implementing the Plan of Action for Eradication of Colonialism with specific emphasis on the Pacific territories.
“St. Lucia was the host of the highly successful regional seminar in 2022 that focused attention on the Caribbean territories,” the statement noted.
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