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UN Special Committee on Decolonisation on visiting mission to VI from today
Formally known as the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, the Special Committee is a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly devoted to decolonisation and tasked with overseeing implementation of the Declaration.
Why are they here?
In order to fulfill that mandate, and in accordance with relevant United Nations resolutions on specific Non-Self-Governing Territories, the Special Committee undertakes visiting missions to ascertain the situation on the ground.
According to the United Nations, in a press release on August 22, 2024, the visiting mission’s objective is to gather first-hand information on the situation in the Virgin Islands, focusing on the political developments, including the constitutional review process.
In addition, the visiting mission will take stock of the economic, social and environmental situation of the Territory and make recommendations to further the decolonisation process of the Virgin Islands.
UN Mission’s Report to be made public
The mission’s findings will be presented to the Special Committee in the form of a report that will be made available to the public.
The visiting mission to the Virgin Islands will be led by the Chair of the Committee (Saint Lucia) and other members of the Special Committee, including Antigua and Barbuda, Iraq, and Papua New Guinea. The Virgin Islands has been on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories under the administering Power of the United Kingdom since 1946.
As of today, 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories remain under the Special Committee’s purview: American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands (Malvinas)[1], French Polynesia, Gibraltar, Guam, Montserrat, New Caledonia, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, Tokelau, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States Virgin Islands and Western Sahara.
Visiting Mission timely - Premier Wheatley
In March 2024, Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Hon Natalio D. Wheatley (R7), in announcing the planned visit, said the Visiting Mission will be timely as the people of the country consider its constitutional future. “The C-24’s approval of the Visiting Mission is a testament to our consistent engagement with the UN and lobbying efforts in New York and elsewhere,” he added.
The Premier thanked regional countries for their robust support of VI's efforts and thanked the Chair of the C-24, Her Excellency Ms Menissa Rambally, for pursuing the Visiting Mission at the VI's request.
He also expressed gratitude to the United Kingdom (UK) for agreeing to the Visiting Mission and expressed special appreciation to UK Deputy Representative to the UN His Excellency Ambassador James Kariuki who was particularly helpful in this regard along with VI’s UN Representative Mr E. Benito Wheatley who was instrumental in the process and has maintained our consistent engagement with the C-24 and wider UN.
The Visiting Mission also comes at a time when the United Kingdom is being accused of trying to cripple the legislative system of the Virgin Islands through policies coming out of the controversial Commission of Inquiry (CoI) led by a lone Commissioner, a UK national appointed by the UK. Additionally, the VI has been threatened with direct rule if it fails to implement the recommendations of the CoI in a swift manner.
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15 Responses to “UN Special Committee on Decolonisation on visiting mission to VI from today”
Carry on smartly. Perception is not reality....
We need to fix our shameful government that is filled with people who think it is good governance to distribute an annual budget of well over a third of a billion dollars, giving 1.6 million to fixing roads.
The COI was about preparing us for Independence. Hahahahahahaha
“ The Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence of Colonial Countries and Peoples (C-24) conducts its work and submits its report to the General Assembly through the Fourth Committee annually.” However, the UK apparently stop reporting to C-24 several years ago. The UK it seems has no formal, direct cooperation with the C-24. The BIG question is why?
Is the UK ‘s decision to stop reporting to the C-24 projecting or trying to project that all is going well in guiding the VI towards a full measure of self-governance? Does the UK feel because of its global status as a world power, ie, permanent member of UN Security Council, # 6 largest economy in the world, leader of the Commonwealth of Nations, having had the largest Empire in history( British Empire), etc, that it should not have to lower itself to report the C-24?