Question of New Caledonia A/RES/71/119 Taking note of the statement by the representative of the administering Power, Acknowledging the successful conduct by New Caledonia of municipal and provincial elections in May 2014, Taking note of the information presented to the Pacific and the Caribbean regional seminars on the implementation of the Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, held in Nadi, Fiji, from 21 to 23 May 2014, and in Managua from 19 to 21 May 2015, on the situation in the Territory, including on the issues related to the 2014 elections, Taking note also of the recommendations adopted by the Pacific regional seminar held in Managua from 31 May to 2 June 2016, which are annexed to the report of the Special Committee, 6 Aware of the challenges encountered in the 2014 provincial electoral process, particularly with regard to the work of the special administrative committees in updating the special electoral roll, the non-existence of the supplementary electoral roll from 1998 and the unavailability of the 1998 general electoral roll prior to 2014, and their potential impact on the referendum on self-determination, Cognizant of the invitation from the administering Power to the Electoral Assistance Division of the Department of Political Affairs of the Secretariat to dispatch an electoral expert observer mission to New Caledonia in May 2016 to observe the work of the special administrative commissions and the advisory committee of experts for the establishment and revision of the special electoral list, including, in particular, for the self-determination referendum in New Caledonia in 2018, consistent with the Nouméa Accord, Recognizing the need for the Special Committee to ensure that the appropriate bodies of the United Nations actively pursue a public awareness campaign aimed at assisting the people of the Territory in gaining a better understand ing of the options for self-determination, 1. Reaffirms its approval of the chapter of the report of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peo ples for 2016 relating to New Caledonia; 1 2. Reiterates its endorsement of the report, observations, conclusions and recommendations of the United Nations visiting mission to New Caledonia conducted in 2014; 5 3. Expresses its appreciation to the administering Power and the Government of New Caledonia for the close cooperation and assistance extended to the visiting mission; 4. Reaffirms that it is ultimately for the people of New Caledonia to determine freely and fairly their future political status in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples 4 and the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly, and in that connection calls upon the administering Power, in cooperation with the territorial Government and appropriate bodies of the United Nations system, to develop political education programmes for _______________ 6 Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventy-first Session, Supplement No. 23 (A/71/23). 3/6