Decolonization in the Caribbean #2: Statement from UN Secretary General
Each regional seminar for the Committee of 24 begins with a reading of a statement by the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. The Secretary General himself would probably never attend the seminar itself, as he is a busy person with many things to do, and in the UN hierarchy decolonization issues are a very low priority. This year the statement was read by Rie Kadota, who is the officer-in-charge for the UN Decolonization Unit. The statement from the secretary general, like the press release, both of which I've attached below, don't change much from year to year, at least not recently. Part of this is because decolonization is one issue where the UN can claim a great historical victory, but over the past few decades, has not been able to accomplish much. There are 17 non-self-governing territories that remain officially considered to be colonies in need of decolonization. They are a diverse group in political, economic, cultural terms, however most tend to be small island