Chief Minister to Address the UN Committee Of 24

On Sunday June 12, the Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia left Gibraltar for New York in order to attend the session of the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation, usually known as the Committee of 24.

The Chief Minister will be addressing the Committee on Monday June 13, which is a Bank Holiday in Gibraltar for the celebration of the Queen’s Birthday. He will take the opportunity to argue that the Committee must abide by its responsibilities and remove Gibraltar from the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. Mr Picardo will also say that the right to self-determination of the people of Gibraltar must be paramount.

This visit is in keeping with the commitment made by the Government to put across Gibraltar’s point of view to the Committee of 24 in June and to the Fourth Committee of the United Nations in October.

Both Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands are regular attendees at these sessions and always receive opposition to their statements from both Spain and Argentina respectively.

Whilst in New York, Mr Picardo and Dr Garcia will be meeting with politicians and business people before returning to Gibraltar on Tuesday, June 14. During their absence, the Minister for Health, the Environment, Energy and Climate Change, Dr John Cortes will be the Acting Chief Minister.