Sixth Committee (Legal) — 69th session
Observer status for the Pacific Community in the General Assembly (Agenda item 172)
- Item proposed by Fiji (A/69/143)
Summary of work
Background (source: A/69/150)
By the letter dated 25 March 2014 (A/69/143), the Permanent Representative of Fiji to the United Nations requested the inclusion of this item in the provisional agenda of the sixty-ninth session.
Consideration at the sixty-ninth session
The Sixth Committee considered the item at its 10th and 18th meetings, on 14 and 23 October and 2014 (see A/C.6/69/SR.10 and 18).
Statements were made by the representatives of the United States of America, the Russian Federation and Cuba. The representative of Fiji also spoke.
Some delegations expressed their support for the granting of observer status to the Pacific Community in the General Assembly. The Pacific Community’s leadership on a variety of issues in the region was also highlighted. Some other delegations stressed that they were able to support the request for observer status because the organization had satisfied the established criteria in this regard.
Action taken by the Sixth Committee
At the 10th meeting, on 14 October 2014, the representative of Fiji , on behalf of Australia, Fiji , France, Kiribati, Micronesia (Federated States of), New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu introduced a draft resolution entitled “Observer status for the Pacific Community in the General Assembly” (A/C.6/69/L.3). Subsequently, Cuba, Ireland, the Netherlands and Palau joined in sponsoring the draft resolution.
At its 18th meeting, on 23 October 2014, the Committee adopted draft resolution A/C.6/69/L.3 without a vote.
Under this draft resolution, the General Assembly would decide to invite the Pacific Community to participate in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly in the capacity of observer; and would request the Secretary-General to take the necessary action to implement the resolution.
Subsequent action taken by the General Assembly
