The United Nations General Assembly Fourth Committee (also known as the Special Political and Decolonization Committee or SPECPOL or C4 ) is one of six main committees of the United Nations General Assembly . It deals with a diverse set of political issues, including UN peacekeeping and peaceful uses of outer space . However, the issues of decolonization and the Middle East take up most of its time.
6-687: When it was first created, the Fourth Committee was solely responsible for trusteeship- and decolonization-related matters. However, after independence was granted to all the United Nations trust territories on its agenda, the committee's workload decreased. Consequently, the Fourth Committee was merged with the Special Political Committee, which had been created as a seventh main committee to deal with certain political issues. The Fourth Committee deals with: items,
12-422: A trust territory was South West Africa , at South Africa 's insistence. South Africa's apartheid regime refused to commit to preparing the territory for independence and majority rule , as required by the trust territory guidelines, among other objections. South-West Africa eventually gained independence in 1990 as Namibia . All trust territories have either attained self-government or independence . The last
18-592: The committee usually adopts about 30-35 draft resolutions and several draft decisions annually, usually by consensus. The following bodies report through the Fourth Committee to the General Assembly: In its 78th Session, the committee will focus on: The following make up the bureau of the Fourth Committee for the 78th Session of the General Assembly : United Nations trust territories The United Nations trust territories were
24-609: The effects of atomic radiation, questions relating to information, a comprehensive review of the question of peacekeeping operations, review of special political missions, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, the report of the Special Committee on Israeli Practices and international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space. The Fourth Committee meets every year from late September to mid-November, but also convenes briefly in
30-571: The spring to adopt any resolutions and decisions relating to peacekeeping passed by the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations . All 193 member states of the UN can attend its meetings. Unlike most other United Nations bodies, there is no general debate at the beginning of the committee's work. The committee also allows for petitioners, i.e. civil society representatives and other stakeholders, to address it on decolonization issues. Finally,
36-623: The successors of the remaining League of Nations mandates , and came into being when the League of Nations ceased to exist in 1946. All the trust territories were administered through the United Nations Trusteeship Council and authorized to a single country. The concept is distinct from a territory temporarily and directly governed by the United Nations . The one League of Nations mandate not succeeded by
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