Action by the Committee
The Committee will coordinate the observance of the International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People at the intergovernmental level, while engaging with the broader United Nations system and membership. It requests the Secretary-General to encourage all United Nations system entities to participate in observing the International Year by organizing specific activities or incorporating components related to the Year into planned activities and to appoint focal points who will coordinate activities through an inter-agency working group.
The Division for Palestinian Rights will support the Committee in the coordination of the International Year, ensuring that all related activities are reflected on the calendar of events to be established on the "Question of Palestine" website. The Division will coordinate with the relevant units of the Department of Public Information, in order to engage the media and raise global awareness, and prepare additional information and graphic materials. It will also coordinate with other relevant United Nations entities to ensure system-wide coherence and avoid duplication of efforts.
Governments will be encouraged by the Committee to organize new activities or link already planned activities at the national or regional level to the observance of the International Year; such activities may be steered by national committees, as appropriate. Intergovernmental organizations will be asked by the Committee to organize regional and international activities. Since there is no separate budgetary provision for the Year, activities will have to be undertaken within existing or extrabudgetary resources. A trust fund will be established to receive extrabudgetary funding.
Civil society organizations will be encouraged by the Committee to establish steering committees at the national and regional levels, as appropriate. Existing international, regional and local umbrella organizations will take the lead in mobilizing the public for specific events. Accredited organizations and observers to the Committee will initiate activities to mark the Year. The United Nations "Platform for Palestine" website , a recently launched online tool of the Committee, and the reactivated Working Group will be leveraged to catalyse and coordinate civil society efforts and hold events.
In pursuance of its mandate, the Committee will continue to keep the situation relating to the question of Palestine under review and to participate in relevant meetings of the General Assembly and the Security Council. The Committee will also continue to monitor the situation on the ground and draw the attention of the international community to critical developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, requiring international action.
The Committee, through its Bureau, will continue to participate in relevant intergovernmental and other conferences and meetings, as necessary. The Committee considers such participation to be an important aspect of its work to promote international support for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. The holding of high-level meetings by relevant intergovernmental organizations with the participation of the Committee within the framework of the International Year will be encouraged.
In cooperation with the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, the Committee will continue to maintain contacts with the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Government of the State of Palestine and other institutions, as well as Palestinian civil society. Following the practice of previous years, the Committee will continue to invite prominent personalities, United Nations system entities and civil society representatives to its meetings at United Nations Headquarters to further enrich the substantive content and improve the format of the Committee's deliberations. In this regard, the Committee will call the attention of the Secretariat to the need to ensure, within existing resources, the continued participation of eminent persons and international renowned experts in these meetings and conferences, to be invited on par with the members of the Committee, as mandated by General Assembly resolution 68/13.
The Bureau of the Committee will continue to hold consultations with Governments and intergovernmental organizations interested in its programme of work. These exchanges should help to promote understanding of the mandate and objectives of the Committee.