Abbreviation | SPECPOL, C4 |
---|---|
Legal status | Active |
Headquarters | New York, United States |
Head | Chair Mohamed Al Hassan |
Parent organization | United Nations General Assembly |
Website | www.un.org/en/ga/fourth |
Politicsportal |
The United Nations General Assembly Fourth Committee (also known as the Special Political and Decolonization Committee or SPECPOL or C4) is one of six main committees of the United Nations General Assembly. It deals with a diverse set of political issues, including UN peacekeeping and peaceful uses of outer space. However, the issues of decolonization and the Middle East take up most of its time. [1]
When it was first created, the Fourth Committee was solely responsible for trusteeship- and decolonization-related matters. However, after independence was granted to all the United Nations trust territories on its agenda, the committee's workload decreased. Consequently, the Fourth Committee was merged with the Special Political Committee, which had been created as a seventh main committee to deal with certain political issues. [2] [3]
The Fourth Committee deals with: items, the effects of atomic radiation, questions relating to information, a comprehensive review of the question of peacekeeping operations, review of special political missions, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, the report of the Special Committee on Israeli Practices and international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space. [1] [4]
The Fourth Committee meets every year from late September to mid-November, but also convenes briefly in the spring to adopt any resolutions and decisions relating to peacekeeping passed by the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations. All 193 member states of the UN can attend its meetings.
Unlike most other United Nations bodies, there is no general debate at the beginning of the committee's work. The committee also allows for petitioners, i.e. civil society representatives and other stakeholders, to address it on decolonization issues. Finally, the committee usually adopts about 30-35 draft resolutions and several draft decisions annually, usually by consensus. [1]
The following bodies report through the Fourth Committee to the General Assembly: [1]
In its 78th Session, the committee will focus on: [5]
The following make up the bureau of the Fourth Committee for the 78th Session of the General Assembly: [6]
Name | Country | Position |
---|---|---|
Mathu Joyini | South Africa | Chair |
Sara Rendtorff-Smith | Denmark | Vice-chair |
Patryk Jakub Woszczek | Poland | Vice-chair |
Joaquín Alberto Pérez Ayestarán | Venezuela | Vice-chair |
Mariska Dwianti Dhanutirto | Indonesia | Rapporteur |
The United Nations (UN) is a diplomatic and political international organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and serve as a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations. It is the world's largest international organization. The UN is headquartered in New York City, in international territory with certain privileges extraterritorial to the United States, and the UN has other offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna, and The Hague, where the International Court of Justice is headquartered at the Peace Palace.
The United Nations General Assembly is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its 78th session, its powers, composition, functions, and procedures are set out in Chapter IV of the United Nations Charter.
The United Nations Trusteeship Council is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, established to help ensure that trust territories were administered in the best interests of their inhabitants and of international peace and security.
A United Nations General Assembly resolution is a decision or declaration voted on by all member states of the United Nations in the General Assembly.
The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 is a resolution adopted near the end of the 1947–1949 Palestine war. The Resolution defines principles for reaching a final settlement and returning Palestine refugees to their homes. Article 11 of the resolution resolves that
refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.
Emilio Arenales Catalán was the foreign minister of Guatemala from 1966 to 1969 and the president of the United Nations Twenty-Third General Assembly from 1968 to 1969. He was born and died in Guatemala City.
Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter defines a non-self-governing territory (NSGT) as a territory "whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government". In practice, an NSGT is a territory deemed by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to be "non-self-governing". Chapter XI of the UN Charter also includes a "Declaration on Non-Self-Governing Territories" that the interests of the occupants of dependent territories are paramount and requires member states of the United Nations in control of such territories to submit annual information reports concerning the development of those territories. Since 1946, the UNGA has maintained a list of non-self governing territories under member states' control. Since its inception, dozens of territories have been removed from the list, typically when they attained independence or internal self-government, while other territories have been added as new administering countries joined the United Nations or the General Assembly reassessed the status of certain territories.
The United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine (UNCCP) or Palestine Conciliation Commission (PCC) was created by UN-resolution 194 of December 11, 1948, with the aim of mediating in the Arab–Israeli conflict. The Commission consisted of France, Turkey and the United States, and its official headquarters was set up in Jerusalem on January 24, 1949. The commission met separately with Israeli and Arab governments from February 12–25, 1949, with Muhammad Nimr al-Hawari of the General Refugee Congress (GRC) and a Palestinian refugee delegation on March 21 in Beirut, and on April 7 in Tel Aviv with Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion. It then proposed the Lausanne Conference of 1949.
The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) is a United Nations committee whose main task is to review and foster international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space, as well as to consider legal issues arising from the exploration of outer space.
The Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, also known as the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514, was a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly during its fifteenth session, that affirmed independence for countries and peoples under colonial rule.
The United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nations (UN) with responsibility for monitoring and assessing global political developments and advising and assisting the UN Secretary General and his envoys in the peaceful prevention and resolution of conflict around the world. The department manages field-based political missions in Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East, and has been increasing its professional capacities in conflict mediation and preventive diplomacy. DPPA also oversees UN electoral assistance to Member States of the organization. Established in 1992, the department's responsibilities also include providing secretariat support to the UN Security Council and two standing committees created by the General Assembly concerning the Rights of the Palestinian People and Decolonization. DPPA is based at the UN Headquarters in New York City.
Issues relating to the State of Palestine and aspects of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict occupy continuous debates, resolutions, and resources at the United Nations. Since its founding in 1948, the United Nations Security Council, as of January 2010, has adopted 79 resolutions directly related to the Arab–Israeli conflict.
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1541 of 15 December 1960, titled "Principles which should guide members in determining whether or not an obligation exists to transmit the information called for under Article 73e of the Charter" was a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly during its fifteenth session with annexes of 12 principles, that affirmed that to ensure decolonisation, complete compliance with the principle of self-determination is required.
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1654 of 27 November 1961, titled "The situation with regard to the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples" was a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly during its sixteenth session. It reaffirmed the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples in Resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960.
The United Nations Special Committee on the Situation with Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, or the Special Committee on Decolonization (C-24), is a committee of the United Nations General Assembly that was established in 1961 and is exclusively devoted to the issue of decolonization.
Malaysia became the 82nd member of the United Nations on 17 September 1957. Malaysia has held a rotational non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for four terms, and has participated in over 30 United Nations peacekeeping missions since October 1960.
United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-10/20 is a resolution of the Tenth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly criticizing the Israeli response to the 2018 Gaza border protests. The resolution was sponsored by Algeria, Turkey and the State of Palestine passed with 120 voting in favour, 8 against, and 45 abstentions.