Konferenca ugotavlja, da obstaja danes samo še 20 ČDO, ki so izjemno razpršena otoška ozemlja, s skupaj približno 900.000 prebivalci. Poleg tega pa večina ČDO močno zaostaja v strukturnem smislu zaradi izjemno neugodnih geografskih in gospodarskih razmer.
The Conference notes that there are today only 20 OCTs and that they are extremely scattered island territories with a total population of approximately 900 000. Moreover, most OCTs lag far behind in structural terms, a fact linked to their particularly severe geographical and economic handicaps.