Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee)
Summary record of the 11th meeting
Held at Headquarters, New York, on Friday, 18 October 2013, at 10 a.m.
Chair: Mr. García González …………………………………………. (El Salvador)
Contents
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37. Ms. Sánchez-Rodríguez (Cuba) said that, while thanking the Secretary-General for his report, her delegation regretted the report’s failure to mention the communications support provided by the Department for the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on nuclear disarmament; in Cuba’s view, the exposure of the general public to the discussions on that topic in multilateral bodies, through the information provided by the United Nations, could make an important contribution to nuclear disarmament. The Department should do more in that regard, and also intensify its efforts regarding the questions of Palestine and decolonization, in accordance with the pertinent resolutions of the General Assembly.
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48. Mr. Selim (Egypt) …
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49. His delegation invited the Department to continue to implement its programme on Palestine, in order to raise awareness of the suffering of the Palestinian people under occupation and the human rights violations to which they were subjected. His delegation was grateful to the Department for its efforts to improve its working relationship with the Member States, and expressed the hope that the Department would continue to improve awareness and understanding throughout the world and promote the role of the United Nations in the service of humanity.
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57. Mr. Mbalati (South Africa) …
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… He particularly encouraged the Department to work with the Government of Angola to establish a centre in Luanda to serve the lusophone countries of Africa, and praised the Department’s work in raising international awareness of the plight of the Palestinian refugees and the situation in the Middle East.
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60. Mr. dos Santos (Brazil) …
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62. His delegation extended its thanks and appreciation to the Portuguese Unit of United Nations Radio for its work in Portuguese-speaking countries, despite limited human and financial resources, and reiterated its appreciation for the Department’s fostering of innovative grass-roots initiatives for peace in the Middle East in connection with the special information programme on the question of Palestine.
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64. Mr. Khazaee (Islamic Republic of Iran) …
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68. The humanitarian and economic situation of the Palestinian people had seriously deteriorated, and his delegation wished to underscore the Department’s responsibility to raise international awareness regarding the question of Palestine, with a view to shedding more light on the negative impact of the illegitimate occupation of that Territory.
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The meeting rose at 12.20 p.m.
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Corrected records will be reissued electronically on the Official Document System of the United Nations (http://documents.un.org/).
Document Type: Summary record
Document Sources: General Assembly Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization)
Subject: Agenda Item, Palestine question, Public information
Publication Date: 18/10/2013