The Palestine flag was raised today at the United Nations headquarters in the presence of the President of the State of Palestine Mr Mahmoud Abbas, Secretary General of the United Nations Mr Ban Ki-moon, and President of the General Assembly Mr Mogens Lykketoft.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Dunya Maumoon participated in the ceremony on behalf of the Republic of Maldives. The Maldives welcomed the historic moment as a milestone in the quest for the realisation of the right to self-determination by the Palestinian people. The Maldives remains steadfast in its support to the Palestinian people and their efforts to establish a Palestinian State within the 1967 borders, and with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The General Assembly voted to raise the flags of non-member observe States at the United Nations, on 10 September 2015. The Maldives was one of the co-sponsors of the resolution. The State of Palestine was admitted to the United Nations as a non-member Observer State on 29 November 2012.
