UNIS/SC/1180
31 January 2000

 

Security Council Refers Tuvalu's Application for UN Membership
To Committee on Admission of New Members


NEW YORK, 28 January (UN Headquarters) -- The Security Council this afternoon decided to refer the application of Tuvalu to the Committee on the Admission of New Members for examination and report. That action was taken under the provisions of rule 59 of the Council's provisional rules of procedure.

As the Council met to consider the question of admission of new Members to the United Nations, it took up Tuvalu = s application for admission, which contains a letter to the Secretary-General from the Prime Minister of that country, dated 16 November 1999.

Tuvalu consists of nine islands -- Nurakita, Nukulaelae, Funafuti, Nukufetau, Vaitupu, Nui, Niutao, Nanumanga, Nanumea --scattered over 1,060,000 square kilometres in the western Pacific, between Micronesia and Melanesia. Tuvalu is the smallest of the least developed countries, both in population and in land area. It covers approximately 24 square kilometres and has an estimated population of 10,500.

At the conclusion of the meeting, President of the Council Richard Holbrooke (United States) proposed that the Committee on Admission of New Members meet today at 3:30 p.m. to consider the application of Tuvalu.

The meeting, which started at 12:22 p.m., was adjourned at 12:25 p.m.

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