Catalonia takes the vice-presidency of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization

Elisenda Paluzie, president of the pro-independence Catalan National Assembly (ANC), has been elected vice-president of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) during the General Assembly that took place last weekend in Washington DC. The ANC considers that “winning the vice-presidency of UNPO, an international organization for the right to self-determination with 44 members worldwide, is an important step for the Catalan pro-independence civil society organization to enhance its international role”.

UNPO’s General Assembly was held in Washington DC coinciding with the organization’s initiative to establish a permanent presence in the USA, which is expected to significantly strengthen its diplomatic influence at the United Nations. The ANC has been a member of UNPO since 2019, as part of its international strategy for disseminating the Catalan pro-independence message and denouncing the Spanish state’s rights abuses against the people of Catalonia. Paluzie’s appointment as vice-president of UNPO will allow Assemblea to have access to the UN’s headquarters.

Congratulations ⁦@epaluzie⁩ for becoming Vice-President of UNPO. We look forward to you bringing ⁦@assemblea⁩ experience of non-violent self-determination activism to an international level! pic.twitter.com/NDkTdxxi1n

— UNPO (@UNPOintl) March 28, 2022

These elections have meant a major renewal of the UNPO’s collegiate presidency. It has grown from 10 men and one woman to 6 women and 5 men. For the first time in the history of UNPO the president is a woman, and also for the first time she is African: Edna Adan Ismail, from Somaliland . The two vice presidents are also women, including Elisenda Paluzie. The collegiate presidency incorporates representations of peoples and nations from all continents (America, Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania).

UNPO is an international organization aimed at defending the right to self-determination of its members. Those members are indigenous peoples, minorities, unrecognized States and occupied territories that have joined together to promote their right to self-determination, while also defending their political, social and cultural rights and preserving their environments. UNPO was created in the late 1980s with representatives from Estonia, the Uyghur people and Tibet, among others, with the goal of replicating the Tibetan people’s message of nonviolence and interethnic tolerance in the face of oppression. Currently, it has 44 active members, from the Crimean Tatars to the Uyghurs, and from Taiwan to Catalonia.