C-24 visiting missions
Since 1965, the Special Committee on Decolonization (C-24) has dispatched a total of 38 visiting and special missions to 23 Non-Self-Governing Territories and participated in 2 visiting missions by the Trusteeship Council. For more details, see the table below.
The very first mission of the C-24 was that to the Cook Islands as mandated by General Assembly resolution 2005 (XIX) of 18 February 1965 by which the General Assembly authorized the Secretary-General to appoint a United Nations representative who would “supervise the elections” to be held in the Cook Islands in April 1965, to “observe the proceedings concerning the Constitution in the newly elected Legislative Assembly and report” to the C-24 and the General Assembly. The United Nations Representative for the Supervision of Elections in the Cook Islands, one-person mission supported by a total of 5 United Nations observers and staff, visited the Cook Islands from 8 April to 21 May 1965.
The most recent visiting mission of the C-24 was to Montserrat (and Antigua and Barbuda) from 17 to 20 December 2019 with the objective to gather first-hand information on the situation in the Territory, focusing on its political, economic, social and environmental development and challenges to achieve sustainable development, particularly the impacts of the volcanic eruptions since 1995. The 2019 visiting mission to Montserrat was composed of representatives of Grenada (Chair), Antigua and Barbuda, Indonesia, and Sierra Leone.
In 2018, the General Assembly, by its resolution 73/123, reaffirmed that the United Nations visiting missions to the Non-Self-Governing Territories, where applicable, were an effective means of ascertaining the situation of the peoples of the Territories, in accordance with relevant United Nations resolutions on specific Territories, and therefore requested the C-24 to undertake at least one visiting mission a year.
Table: Chronological list of visiting missions to Non-Self-Governing and Trust Territories
(Search help: e.g., Type in "1972", then all the visiting missions dispatched in 1972 will appear.)
|
|
Year
|
Territory
|
Administering Power
|
Mission (report document)
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1965 | Cook Islands | New Zealand | United Nations Representative for the Supervision of Elections in the Cook Islands (A/5962) |
|
2 |
1966 |
Equatorial Guinea |
Spain |
Sub-Committee on Equatorial Guinea (Fernando Poo and Rio Muni) (A/6300/Rev.1, chapter IX, annex) |
|
3 |
1967 |
Aden |
United Kingdom |
United Nations special mission on Aden (A/6700 (Part II), chapter VI, annex III) |
|
4 |
1968 |
Equatorial Guinea |
Spain |
United Nations mission for the supervision of the Referendum and the Elections in Equatorial Guinea (oral report at the 642nd meeting on 9 October 1968 as reproduced in A/7200/Rev.1, chapter IX, annexes V and VI) |
|
5 |
1971 |
New Guinea |
Australia |
[Trusteeship Council] Visiting mission to the Trust Territory of New Guinea (T/1728) |
|
6 |
1972 |
Papua New Guinea |
Australia |
[Trusteeship Council] United Nations visiting mission to observe the elections to the Papua New Guinea House of Assembly in 1972 (T/1732 (transmitted to the C-24 as A/AC.109/407)) |
|
7 |
1972 |
Guinea (Bissau) |
Portugal |
Special mission established by the Special Committee at its 840th meeting on 14 March 1972 (A/8723/Rev.1, vol. III, chapter X, annex I) |
|
8 |
1972 |
Niue |
New Zealand |
Visiting mission to Niue, 1972 (A/8723/Rev.1, vol. IV, chapter XVI, annex I) |
|
9 |
1974 |
Niue |
New Zealand |
Special mission to observe the act of self-determination in Niue (A/9623/Rev.1, vol. V, chapter XXII, annex I) |
|
10 |
1974 |
Cocos (Keeling) Islands |
Australia |
Visiting mission (A/9623/Rev.1, vol. IV, chapter XX, annex) |
|
11 |
1974 |
Gilbert and Ellice Islands |
United Kingdom |
United Nations visiting mission to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, 1974 (A/9623/Rev.1, vol. V, chapter XXI, annex I) |
|
12 |
1975 |
Cape Verde |
Portugal |
Visiting mission to Cape Verde (A/AC.109/L.1002) |
|
13 |
1975 |
Montserrat |
United Kingdom |
United Nations visiting mission to Montserrat (A/10023/Rev.1, vol. IV, chapter XXVIII, annex) |
|
14 |
1975 |
Spanish Sahara |
Spain |
United Nations visiting mission to Spanish Sahara, 1975 (A/10023/Rev.1, vol. III, chapter XIII, annex) |
|
15 |
1976 |
British Virgin Islands |
United Kingdom |
United Nations visiting mission to the British Virgin Islands, 1976 (A/31/23/Rev.1, vol. IV, chapter XXVIII, annex) |
|
16 |
1976 |
Tokelau Islands |
New Zealand |
United Nations visiting mission to the Tokelau Islands, 1976 (A/31/23/Rev.1, vol. III, chapter XVII, annex) |
|
17 |
1977 |
French Somaliland |
France |
United Nations mission to observe the Referendum and Elections in French Somaliland (Djibouti) (A/32/107; A/32/107/Corr.1; A/32/107/Add.1) |
|
18 |
1977 |
Cayman Islands |
United Kingdom |
United Nations visiting mission to the Cayman Islands, 1977 (A/32/23/Rev.1, vol. IV, chapter XXVI, annex) |
|
19 |
1977 |
United States Virgin Islands |
United States |
Visiting mission (A/32/23/Rev.1, vol. IV, chapter XXVII, annex) |
|
20 |
1979 |
Guam |
United States |
Visiting mission (A/34/23/Rev.1, vol. IV, chapter XXVII, annex) |
|
21 |
1979 |
New Hebrides |
Anglo-French Condominium |
United Nations mission to observe the elections in the New Hebrides (A/34/852) |
|
22 |
1980 |
Turk and Caicos Islands |
United Kingdom |
Visiting mission (A/AC.109/636, A/AC.109/636/Add.1; A/AC.109/636/Add.2, A/AC.109/636/Add.3; A/AC.109/636/Add.2/Corr.1 |
|
23 |
1980 |
Cocos (Keeling) Islands |
Australia |
Visiting mission (A/AC.109/635) |
|
24 |
1980 |
Turk and Caicos Islands |
United Kingdom |
Visiting mission to observe the general elections in the Turks and Caicos Islands (A/AC.109/664 and A/AC/109/664/Add.1) |
|
25 |
1981 |
Tokelau |
New Zealand |
United Nations visiting mission to Tokelau (A/AC.109/680) |
|
26 |
1981 |
American Samoa |
United States |
Visiting mission (A/AC.109/679; A/AC.109/679/Add.1) |
|
27 |
1982 |
Montserrat |
United Kingdom |
Visiting mission (A/AC.109/722) |
|
28 |
1984 |
Anguilla |
United Kingdom |
Visiting mission (A/AC.109/799) |
|
29 |
1984 |
Cocos (Keeling) Islands |
Australia |
Visiting mission to observe an act of self-determination (A/39/494) |
|
30 |
1986 |
Tokelau |
New Zealand |
United Nations visiting mission to Tokelau, 1986 (A/AC.109/877 and A/AC.109/877/Add.1) |
|
31 |
1989 |
Namibia |
South Africa |
Visiting mission of the Special Committee to observe the independence elections in Namibia, 29 October to 17 November 1989 (A/44/23, chapter VIII, annex) |
|
32 |
1994 |
Tokelau |
New Zealand |
United Nations visiting mission to Tokelau, 1994 (A/AC.109/2009) |
|
33 |
2002 |
Tokelau |
New Zealand |
United Nations mission to Tokelau, 2002 (A/AC.109/2002/31) |
|
34 |
2005 |
Bermuda |
United Kingdom |
United Nations special mission to Bermuda, 2005 (A/AC.109/2005/19) |
|
35 |
2006 |
Tokelau |
New Zealand |
United Nations mission to observe a referendum on self-determination of Tokelau, February 2006 (A/AC.109/2006/20) |
|
36 |
2006 |
Turk and Caicos Islands |
United Kingdom |
United Nations special mission to the Turks and Caicos Islands, 2006 (A/AC.109/2006/19) |
|
37 |
2007 |
Tokelau |
New Zealand |
United Nations mission to observe the October 2007 referendum on self-determination of Tokelau (A/AC.109/2007/19) |
|
38 |
2014 |
New Caledonia |
France |
United Nations mission to New Caledonia, 2014 (A/AC.109/2014/20/Rev.1) |
|
39 |
2018 |
New Caledonia |
France |
United Nations visiting mission to New Caledonia, 12-16 and 19 March 2018 (A/AC.109/2018/20) |
| 40 | 2019 | Montserrat | United Kingdom |
United Nations visiting mission to Montserrat, 17-20 December 2019 (A/AC.109/2020/20) |