{"id":159,"date":"2016-04-26T14:53:23","date_gmt":"2016-04-26T14:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?page_id=159"},"modified":"2026-08-16T09:23:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T13:23:33","slug":"committee","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/committee\/","title":{"rendered":"Committee"},"content":{"rendered":"

UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People<\/h1><\/div>
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Background<\/h2><\/span>
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In 1975, by its resolution 3376<\/a>, the UN General Assembly<\/a> established the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), and requested it to recommend a programme of implementation<\/a> to enable the Palestinian people to exercise their inalienable rights to self-determination without external interference, national independence and sovereignty; and to return to their homes and property from which they had been displaced. The Committee’s recommendations were endorsed by the General Assembly, to which the Committee reports <\/a>annually. The Assembly established the Division for Palestinian Rights<\/a> as its secretariat and, throughout the years, has gradually expanded the Committee\u2019s mandate.<\/p>\n

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UN Photo\/Ryan Brown<\/p><\/div>\n

The Committee welcomed the 1991 Madrid peace conference, as well as the 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent agreements reached by Israel and the PLO. The Committee has strongly supported the objective, affirmed in Security Council resolution 1397 (2002)<\/a>, of two States, Israel and Palestine, living side by side within secure and recognised borders. The Committee welcomed the Quartet’s Road Map<\/a>, as well as the Arab Peace Initiative, and called on the parties to implement them. The Committee strives to heighten international awareness of all aspects of the question of Palestine and promote international support for and assistance to the Palestinian people.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of each calendar year, the Committee elects its Bureau and adopts a Programme of Work<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Assisted by the Division for Palestinian Rights<\/a>, the Committee organizes international\u00a0meetings and conferences<\/a>, conducts an annual training programme at UN Headquarters and several other capacity-building activities, cooperates with\u00a0civil society organizations<\/a>\u00a0worldwide, maintains publications and an information programme, and holds each year on or around 29 November, a special meeting in observance of the\u00a0International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Committee reports to the General Assembly on the implementation of its mandate through its Annual Report<\/a>. On 30 November 2022, the General Assembly renewed the Committee\u2019s mandate – resolutions A\/RES\/77\/22<\/a>, as well as the mandate of the Special information programme (SIP) on the question of Palestine of the Department of Global Communications of the Secretariat – resolution A\/RES\/77\/24<\/a>. On 3 December 2024, the General Assembly adopted the resolution A\/RES\/79\/82<\/a> renewing the mandate of the Division of Palestinian Rights. The mandates of the Committee, the Division and the SIP of Department of Global Communications will be reviewed only as necessary.<\/p>\n

The Security Council, during its quarterly debate on the situation in the Middle East including the Palestinian question, invites the Chair of the Committee to state the committee\u2019s position. The statements delivered by the Chair of the Committee before the Security Council, the General Assembly, as well as other statements by the Committee to date are available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read more about the history of the Committee.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Mandate and Objectives of the Committee<\/h2>\n
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8 January 1985 – Zehdi Labib Terzi (second from left), Permanent Observer of the Palestine Liberation Organization, addressing Committee first 1985 Meeting. UN Photo<\/p><\/div>\n

The question of Palestine was first officially brought before the General Assembly in April 1947, upon a request by the United Kingdom following the termination of its League of Nations\u2019 Mandate over Palestine. The Assembly decided to partition Palestine into two States, one Arab and one Jewish, with a special international r\u00e9gime for Jerusalem (resolution 181 (II)<\/a> of 29 November 1947). Although the independence of the State of Israel was declared on 14 May 1948, the Arab State did not come into being as several wars were fought in the area and the Palestine problem continued to be discussed at the United Nations as part of the larger Middle East conflict or in its refugee or human rights aspects.<\/p>\n

It was only in 1974, as a result of the June 1967 war and the continuing military occupation by Israel of the remainder of Mandate Palestine, that the question of Palestine was reintroduced in the Assembly\u2019s agenda as a national question and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people were reaffirmed and specified in resolution 3236 (XXIX)<\/a> of 22 November 1974, as\u00a0the right to self-determination without external interference; the right to national independence and sovereignty; and the right of Palestinians to return to their homes and property, from which they had been displaced and uprooted.<\/p>\n

In its resolution 3376 (XXX)<\/a> of 10 November 1975, the General Assembly decided to establish the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and requested it to recommend to the Assembly a programme of implementation to enable the Palestinian people to exercise its rights.<\/p>\n

In its first report submitted to the Security Council in June 1976<\/a>, the Committee proposed a two-phase plan for the return of Palestinians to their homes and property; a timetable for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the occupied territories by 1 June 1977, with the provision, if necessary, of temporary peacekeeping forces to facilitate the process; an end to the establishment of settlements; recognition by Israel of the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention to the occupied territories pending withdrawal; and endorsement of the inherent right of Palestinians to self-determination, national independence and sovereignty in Palestine.<\/p>\n

The Committee’s recommendations were not adopted by the Security Council, due to the negative vote of a permanent member, and have not been implemented. They were, however, endorsed by an overwhelming majority in the General Assembly, to which the Committee reports annually. The Assembly reaffirmed that a just and lasting peace in the Middle East could not be established without the attainment of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. The Assembly also requested the Committee to keep the situation relating to the question of Palestine under review and to report and make suggestions to the General Assembly or the Security Council, as appropriate, and to promote the greatest possible dissemination of information on its recommendations.<\/p>\n

The mandates of the Committee, the Division and the Department of Global Communications were renewed on 30 November 2022 (A\/RES\/77\/22<\/a>), with amendment to review thereafter only as necessary.<\/p>\n<\/div>