The delegation of the European Union to the UN backed, on Thursday 3 September, the objective of a fairer and more accurate cartographic representation of Africa, during the United Nations General Assembly’s review of the “Correct the Map” resolution. Tabled with the support of Togo, the initiative aims to provide a better account of the relative size of continental land masses, as some commonly used map projections give a distorted representation of their surface area.
In its explanation of vote, the EU and its Member States nevertheless sought to strictly limit the scope of the resolution to scientific, educational and awareness-raising objectives.
“We underscore that the resolution neither addresses nor affects questions relating to sovereignty, territorial status, delimitation, or the internationally recognized borders of States, in Europe, Africa, nor any part of the world. Nor should any element of its implementation or any cartographic representation produced pursuant to it”, a European diplomat told the General Assembly, also making clear that the Union’s support did not amount to endorsement of any particular map projection or platform.
The diplomat stressed that the representation of international borders and the status of territories within the United Nations system remained governed by the official references established by the UN.
In addition, the diplomat asked for the European considerations expressed to be entered in the official record of the meeting, while welcoming the mediation work carried out by Togo during the negotiations. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)