Overview
On 4 February, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People held its first meeting of 2020 to elect its Bureau and adopt the Programme of Work. The Secretary-General, accompanied by the Chef de Cabinet and the Assistant Secretary-General for Department of Peacebuilding and Political Affairs (DPPA), presided over the election and delivered a statement.
All current members of the Bureau were re-elected by acclamation:
Chair:
H.E. Mr. Cheikh Niang, Permanent Representative of Senegal
Vice-Chair:
H.E. Ms. Adela Raz, Permanent Representative of Afghanistan
H.E. Ms. Ana Silvia Rodríguez Abascal, Chargé d’affaires of Cuba
H.E. Mr. Dian Triansyah Djani, Permanent Representative of Indonesia
H.E. Mr. Neville Melvin Gertze, Permanent Representative of Namibia
H.E. Mr. Jaime Castillo Hermida, Permanent Representative of Nicaragua
Rapporteur
H.E. Ms. Adela Raz, Permanent Representative of Afghanistan a.i.
(until another Committee member puts forward its candidature for the post)
The newly elected Chair (Senegal) and Vice-Chairs (Afghanistan, Indonesia, Namibia, Nicaragua), along with Bolivia, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Tunisia, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), delivered statements reaffirming their support for the Committee, the United Nations, multilateralism and the two-state solution of the question of Palestine. The Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine outlined the actions initiated by his Government to mobilise support for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, particularly the rights to self-determination without external interference and independence, and rejection of the unilateral US peace proposal.
- Statement by Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations (English)
- Statement by H.E. Mr. Cheikh Niang, Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (French)
- Statement by the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine
The Committee’s 2020 draft Programme of Work was adopted (link to the edited/translated version pending).
The Chair informed about upcoming Committee activities:
- Annual Briefing for Delegates at UNHQ on the mandate and work of the Committee and the Division, 14 February at 3.00 p.m. in conference room 5;
- International Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, under the theme “Southeast Asian Support for the Rights of the Palestinian People” on 28 and 29 February 2020;
- Delegation visit to India, on 2 and 3 March 2020;
- Forum on the Question of Palestine at UN Headquarters in New York on 2 April;
- Seminar on strategic communications on the question of Palestine (details to be confirmed).