The Minister for Health, Care, Business will be leaving to New York this weekend to attend the United Nations on Monday where she will deliver an address to the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation (C-24) on behalf of His Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar. 

A statement from the Government follows below:

The Deputy Chief Minister is in post-COVID recovery and unable to travel to New York at this time. 

The UN session is expected to start on Monday at 3:30pm Gibraltar time, which is 9.30am in New York. Ms Arias-Vasquez will defend the right of the people of Gibraltar to self-determination and will be the first Gibraltarian woman to deliver such an address on behalf of HMGoG. 

The Minister for Health, Care and Business, the Hon Gemma Arias-Vasquez, said: “I am absolutely delighted to be attending the United Nations on Monday, at the request of the Chief Minister, to deliver such an important address on behalf of the Government of Gibraltar and indeed all Gibraltarians. I am also particularly proud to be the first woman to do so. This will be my first time speaking at the United Nations, but I will ensure that Gibraltar’s views and our right to self determination is put across loud and clear.” 

The Chief Minister, the Hon Fabian Picardo KC, said: “I am very grateful to Minister Arias-Vasquez for agreeing to attend the UN on Monday at short notice. Not only will this be the first time a female HMGoG Minister attends the United Nations to deliver this address, but it is also a significant moment for Gibraltar. Minister Arias-Vasquez’s speech will underscore our commitment to self determination and focus on the rights of the people of Gibraltar and put across our arguments for removal from the UN List of Non-Self-Governing Territories.”