The Catalan National Assembly (ANC) is gaining a new international prominence. The president of the major pro-independence NGO, Elisenda Paluzie, has been chosen as a vice-presidential representative of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO). A delegation from the ANC, headed by Paluzie, attended the UNPO general assembly in Washington DC this weekend, where the organization held elections to renew its collegiate presidency. The Catalan organization has been a member of UNPO since 2019, within the framework of its international strategy to disseminate the Catalan independence movement around the world and denounces abuses carried out by the Spanish state.
In this context, the appointment of Paluzie as a vice president "will increase this capacity to new levels, allowing the Assembly to have access to UN headquarters," according to the ANC. In fact, the General Assembly of the organization has been held in the US capital because the UNPO is aiming to establish a permanent presence in the United States. With this decision, it is hoped to significantly strengthen its diplomatic influence at the United Nations, and allow these stateless nations and peoples to have greater international relevance. Thus, the ANC assures that, with this new role, it will increase its sphere of influence and be able to enhance its international work.
What is UNPO?
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples' Organization is an international movement and organization established to defend the right to self-determination of its members, who are indigenous peoples, minorities, unrecognized states and occupied territories. They have come together to promote their right to self-determination, while defending their political, social and cultural rights, and fighting to preserve the environment. UNPO was established in the late 1980s and is based on the message of non-violence and inter-ethnic tolerance. It currently has at least 45 active members, ranging from the Crimean Tatars to the peoples of Tibet, Kurdistan and Guam, among many others - "comprising over 300 million people lacking true representation in domestic or international forums", as it explains on its website. The new UNPO president is Edna Adan Ismail, representative of Somaliland, a highly respected activist in the campaign to abolish female genital mutilation, and president of the "Organization for Victims of Torture".
ANC ending its "Paluzie era"
This month, the ANC has begun its 10th annual general assembly, and with it, a series of procedures to plan the future of the organization, including the process to replace Elisenda Paluzie at the head of the organization, as her presidency has now reached the maximum number of terms allowed according to the organization's statutes: two, which is four years. Internal elections are scheduled for May 10th to 14th. At that time, not only Paluzie will have to be replaced, but also vice president David Fernàndez, who has held his position for only two years but was already part of the secretariat for the previous two, so his term also expires. However, although Paluzie will lose the title of ANC president, she will continue to hold the vice presidency of the UNPO and will remain as a representative of the Catalan assembly in the international organization.