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Organizational Meeting: CoNGO Working Group on Decolonization
18 April @ 1:15 PM - 2:45 PM UTC-5
Liberato Bautista, the President of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Status with the United Nations (CoNGO)
invites you to the
ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING OF A
CoNGO WORKING GROUP ON DECOLONIZATION
The Working Group on Decolonization will form part of the substantive committee called the NGO Committee to End Slavery, Colonialism, Racism, and All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance. The Committee and the Working Group will be organized according to the Rules of CoNGO concerning substantive committees.
NGOs in consultative (ECOSOC), associated (DGC), observer (other UN System entities), and other groups working on these concerns are invited to attend.
APRIL 18, 2024 | THURSDAY | 1:15 PM – 2:45 PM ET New York | HYBRID
Venue: Church Center for the United Nations | Suite 7C | 777 United Nations Plaza, New York, New York
ROOM SPACE IS LIMITED TO THE FIRST 20 PERSONS WHO SHOW UP AT THE VENUE.
Please be sure to RSVP FOR IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE.
Liberato Bautista at president@ngocongo.org
ZOOM LINK FOR ONLINE PARTICIPATION:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88641491381?pwd=sGZYXbUPcFgoZqSeoCllgwzHa8Ac0N.1
Meeting ID: 886 4149 1381
Passcode: 689336
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WORKING DRAFT
Purpose of the Working Group on Decolonization
The purpose of the Decolonization Working Group is to promote and facilitate the end of all forms of colonialism that are still present and active in the world today.
In 1946, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 1514 (XV), also known as the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. The Declaration stated that all peoples have the right to self-determination and that immediate steps should be taken to end colonialism unconditionally.
The General Assembly created a list of Non-Self-Governing Territories and a mechanism to assist colonial and occupied nations to choose their future form of governance freely. Of the hundred or so on the original list of NSGTs, roughly 80% have gained independence and membership in the United Nations. Today, 17 nations remain on the Non-Self-Governing Territories’ list, but dozens more peoples and nations are not on the list, working to exercise their right to self-determination.
In 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020 (A/RES/75/123), the United Nations General Assembly issued resolutions declaring each time “the decade for the eradication of colonialism.” Yet, no new state has emerged from the UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories since 1986. Tragically, the UN’s decolonization mechanisms have been virtually unproductive for forty years, leaving the only means to self-determination and independence: 1) violent armed conflict, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths, injuries, and destruction; and 2) the breakup of larger states (such as the Soviet Union).
In 2021, the UN Human Rights Council passed A/48/7, “The Negative Legacies of Colonialism on the Enjoyment of Human Rights,” calling on all United Nations agencies to renew their efforts to end all forms of colonialism.
The Decolonization Working Group’s primary activity will be to assist the United Nations in implementing its commitments as expressed by UNGA Resolution 1514 (XV), A/RES/75/123, and A/RES/48/7.