Global Issues: Decolonization

Nearly a third of the world's population, or 750 million people, resided in territories reliant on colonial powers when the United Nations was created in 1945. Less than 2 million people now reside in the 17 remaining non-self-governing territories. The UN gave birth to the wave of decolonization, which altered the face of the planet. This is the first major achievement of the global organization.

Many Territories became independent and joined the UN as a result of decolonization.

The UN Charter established the global trusteeship framework. The Charter affirms the right to self-determination and calls the responsibility of States for the territories they control "a sacred trust" in which the needs of the people who live there come first.

The Charter also created the Trusteeship Council as a main organ of the UN. It was to monitor the situation in 11 specific “Trust Territories” which were subject to separate agreements with administering States. These territories had been formally administered under mandates from the League of Nations, or separated from countries defeated in the Second World War, or voluntarily placed under the system by their administering Power. Eleven Territories were placed under this system.

The General Assembly approved its historic Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples in 1960 as the process of colonialism continued to accelerate. The Declaration asserted that colonialism should cease swiftly and unconditionally and upheld the right of every people to self-determination. A Special Committee on Decolonization was created to oversee its implementation two years later.

The International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (1990-2000) was declared by the Assembly in 1990 and came with a detailed action plan. A second international decade for the abolition of colonialism was declared in 2001 as a result. The Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples celebrated its 50th anniversary towards the end of the Second Decade. The General Assembly proclaimed the years 2011 to 2020 as the Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism at the same time. The Fourth International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, spanning 2021–2030, was established by General Assembly resolution 75/123, which was enacted in 2020.

Eighty former colonies have achieved independence since the United Nations was founded. All 11 Trust Territories that have attained independence or free association with a sovereign State are included in this. The Special Committee is striving to facilitate the decolonization of the other 17 areas while continuing to monitor the situation there.