A conference is being held by the United Nations Special Committee of 24 on decolonisation in New Caledonia, a French territory that is among the countries and territories on the UN list to be decolonised.<br /><br />The UN committee, responsible for studying the implementation of the declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples, is more generally called the "Special Committee of 24".<br /><br />It oversaw the independence of the former Indonesian province of East Timor (Timor Leste).<br /><br />The number of remaining countries and territories to be decolonised has, therefore, dropped from 17 to 16.<br /><br />They include, in the Pacific, Tokelau (New Zealand), Pitcairn (United Kingdom) and New Caledonia (France).<br /><br />The decolonisation process of New Caledonia is enshrined in the Noumea Accord, signed in 1998 between pro-independence and pro-France parties.<br /><br />With a special focus on the notion of "common destiny", it provides guidelines for a gradual transfer of powers from France to local authorities, a power-sharing government and a possible referendum on self-determination between 2014 and 2018.<br /><br />New Caledonia has been on the UN decolonisation list since 1986, after independence-related unrest in the mid-1980s.<br /><br />As part of a special series on the world's remaining colonies, Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett reports from the capital, Noumea, on New Caledonia's decolonisation process and its progress.<br /><br />[May, 18, 2010]
