Baku hosting international conference on combating neo-colonialism

The Baku Initiative Group (BIG) and the Bonaire Movement for Human Rights and Change have kicked off an international conference in Baku today, focusing on the situation on the island of Bonaire, which remains a colony of the Netherlands.

According to Report, the conference, titled "Bonaire’s Pathway from Baku through UN General Assembly to Self Determination", will bring together representatives of the Bonairean people who are fighting against colonialism and striving for freedom, as well as officials from Belize, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, St. Lucia, the United Kingdom, Mexico, the Netherlands, the UN, and other international and regional organizations, as well as human rights activists, NGO leaders, experts, and researchers on decolonization issues.

Notable participants include the Special Representative of the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Permanent Representative of Belize to the UN, the UNICEF Youth Envoy, the Youth Ambassador of the Caribbean Community, the Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent and other officials.

This event comes at a crucial time for the future of the Bonairean people, as several states plan to submit a draft resolution to the UN General Assembly in the coming weeks, seeking to re-include the island on the UN list of territories to be decolonized. One of the main goals of the current conference is to garner international support for this resolution.

Azerbaijan's hosting of such an important event serves as a clear example of the country's emergence as one of the world's leading centers in the fight against colonization.