U.S. provides resources to Guam for self-determination process

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas

Press Release

Interior Approves $1.5 Million in FY 2016 Funds for Guam

For Self-Determination Educational Outreach, Climate Change Projects, Public Safety, Emergency and Facility Assessments, Natural and Cultural Resource Preservation, and Leadership Building for Non-Governmental Organizations

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 14, 2016) – Today the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas Esther Kia’aina approved $1.5 million in grant assistance for fiscal year 2016 to the Government of Guam and non-profit organizations from the Office of Insular Affairs’ (OIA) Technical Assistance Program and the Maintenance Assistance Program.

“This year’s funding reflects the priorities and issues of importance to the people of Guam including self-determination, public safety, climate change, natural and cultural resources, and capacity building for non-governmental organizations,” said Assistant Secretary Kia’aina.  “I am especially pleased with the leadership and collaborative working relationships among Governor Eddie Calvo, Guam Legislature Speaker Judith Won Pat, and Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo on the advancement of a community educational outreach plan in preparation for a 2018 plebiscite on self-determination.”

The various Technical Assistance Program grants, including one Maintenance Assistance Program grant awarded for 2016 are as follow:

Guam Self-Determination Community Education Outreach Program – $300,000 to the Commission on Decolonization to implement a comprehensive community educational outreach program in preparation for a planned 2018 plebiscite.

SEE ALSO:    Supporting self-determination

*****

Non-Self-Governing Territories

Figure:United Nations website 

TERRITORY	LISTING AS NSGT	ADMINISTERING POWER	LAND AREA (sq.km.)1	POPULATION1
AFRICA
Western Sahara	Since 1963	2	266,000	586,000
ATLANTIC AND CARIBBEAN
Anguilla	Since 1946	United Kingdom	96	15,700
Bermuda	Since 1946	United Kingdom	53.35	61,777
British Virgin Islands	Since 1946	United Kingdom	153	28,200
Cayman Islands	Since 1946	United Kingdom	264	55,691
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)3	Since 1946	United Kingdom	12,173	2,500
Montserrat	Since 1946	United Kingdom	103	5,000
Saint Helena	Since 1946	United Kingdom	310	5,777
Turks and Caicos Islands	Since 1946	United Kingdom	948.2	31,458
United States Virgin Islands	Since 1946	United States	352	107,343
EUROPE
Gibraltar	Since 1946	United Kingdom	5.8	32,700
PACIFIC
American Samoa	Since 1946	United States	200	55,170
French Polynesia	1946-1947    and since 2013	France	3,600	268,207
Guam	Since 1946	United States	540	159,358
New Caledonia	1946-1947     and since 1986	France	18,575	268,767
Pitcairn	Since 1946	United Kingdom	35.5	37
Tokelau	Since 1946	New Zealand	12.2	1,411

1. All data is from United Nations Secretariat 2015 Working Papers on NSGTs, and for Western Sahara, from UNdata (http://data.un.org), a database by the United Nations Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations.   

2. On 26 February 1976, Spain informed the Secretary-General that as of that date it had terminated its presence in the Territory of the Sahara and deemed it necessary to place on record that Spain considered itself thenceforth exempt from any responsibility of any international nature in connection with the administration of the Territory, in view of the cessation of its participation in the temporary administration established for the Territory. In 1990, the General Assembly reaffirmed that the question of Western Sahara was a question of decolonization which remained to be completed by the people of Western Sahara.

3. A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) (see ST/CS/SER.A/42).