(BROOKLYN, New York): The Special Committee on the situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (Committee of 24) opened its 2019 session 21 February.
The committee also elected, by consensus, Ambassador Keisha McGuire, Grenada’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations as its new chair. Speaking at the outset of the meeting, Ambassador McGuire thanked Secretary-General António Guterres, for opening the 2019 session of the Committee and for his unequivocal support for its work.
Speaking in her capacity as Chair of the Special Committee, Ambassador McGuire opined that the work of the committee has extraordinary significance for peoples all over the world, and is of great importance to Grenada, having travelled along the path of Decolonization.
As part of the Special Committee’s unfailing commitment to the cause of decolonization, Ambassador McGuire recalled its mandate to continue to seek suitable means for the effective and complete implementation of resolution 1514 (XV), as well as other relevant resolutions, on a case-by-case basis.
To fulfill such a feat, it is essential to continue and to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with the administering Powers, the Non-Self-Governing Territories and all relevant stakeholders. “We are at a critical juncture,” she said, reminding members that there are less than 2 years until the end of the 3rd International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism. Grenada is chairing the Special Committee for the first time since joining in December 1992.
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