Chapter XI of the Charter (Declaration regarding Non-Self-Governing

Territories) sets out the obligations of administering Powers for the

Non-Self-Governing Territories. Those States recognize that the

interests of the inhabitants of the Territories are paramount, and

accept as a sacred trust the obligation to promote to the utmost their

well-being. Under Article 73e of the Charter, they transmit to the

Secretary-General information on economic, social and educational

conditions in the Territories for which they are responsible.

To accelerate the process of decolonization, the General Assembly in

1960 adopted the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to

Colonial Countries and Peoples (Declaration on decolonization) which

proclaims that the subjection of people to alien subjugation,

domination and exploitation constitutes a denial of fundamental human

rights. It affirms that all peoples have the right to self-determination.

The Declaration calls for immediate steps to be taken to transfer all

powers to peoples in Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territories or all

other Territories that have not yet attained independence, in

accordance with their freely expressed will and desire.

In 1961, the General Assembly established the Special Committee on the

Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the

Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (Special

Committee on Decolonization) as the main United Nations body concerned

with the progress of all people under colonial rule towards

self-determination and independence.

The Committee:

* studies information submitted under Article 73e,

* regularly examines the application of the Declaration and makes

recommendations to facilitate its implementation,

* dispatches missions to Territories to obtain first-hand

information,

* calls the attention of the Security Council to colonial

situations it deems a threat to international peace and

security,

* receives communications and hears individuals or representatives

of organizations and Governments,

* makes recommendations on dissemination of information on

decolonization with a view to mobilizing public opinion in

support of the cause,

* reviews foreign economic and other interests operating in

Territories, and military activities and arrangements which may

be impeding the process towards complete decolonization,

* examines the assistance provided to the people of the

Territories by specialized agencies and other organizations of

the United Nations system, and

* examines the items on its agenda in plenary meetings or assigns

them to one of the two sub-committees - the Sub-Committee on

Small Territories and the Sub-Committee on Petitions,

Information and Assistance.

The work of the Special Committee is reviewed by the General Assembly

at its plenary meetings and through its Fourth Committee. The Fourth

Committee's recommendations serve as a basis for Assembly decisions on

decolonization.

The Special Committee consists of 25 Member States: Afghanistan,

Bulgaria, Chile, China, Congo, Cote d'lvoire, Cuba, Czechoslovakia,

Ethiopia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq,

Mali, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, Sweden, Syrian Arab Republic,

Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, USSR, United Republic of Tanzania,

Venezuela and Yugoslavia.

It currently follows the application of the Declaration to 17 Non-

Self-Governing Territories - American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, the

British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, East Timor, the Falkland

Islands (Malvinas), Gibraltar, Guam, Montserrat, New Caledonia,

Pitcairn, St. Helena, Tokelau, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the

United States Virgin Islands and Western Sahara - as well as the Trust

Territory of the Pacific Islands. The Committee annually reviews the

list of Territories to which the Declaration is applicable.

The Special Committee has consistently reiterated the view that

factors such as territorial size, geographical location, size of

population and limited natural resources should not prevent the

peoples of the remaining Territories from exercising their right to

self-determination, as it is ultimately for those peoples themselves

to determine freely their future political status in accordance with

the relevant provisions of the United Nations Charter and the

Declaration, as well as other relevant United Nations resolutions. In

this connection, the Committee has also reaffirmed the importance of

fostering an awareness among the peoples of those Territories of all

the possibilities open to them in the exercise of their right to self-

determination.

Reiterating that it is the administering Powers' responsibility to

create conditions in the Territories to enable their peoples to

exercise freely that right, the Committee has called on those Powers,

taking into account the peoples' expressed wishes, to expedite the

decolonization process. It has noted efforts made towards training and

placing citizens of the Territories in public service positions and

other sectors of society where contributions to development could be

made, with a view to running an independent country.

The Committee has also reaffirmed the importance it attaches to the

co-operation of the administering Powers. In that connection, it has

called upon those Powers to participate or continue to participate in

the work of the Committee and to invite United Nations visiting

missions to the Territories under their administration.

The Special Committee held two regional seminars in 1990, one in the

Pacific and the other in the Caribbean region, in observance of the

thirtieth anniversary of the Declaration. The primary objectives of

the two events were to provide the Special Committee with the

opportunity to discuss the specific problems of the remaining depen-

dent Territories, most of them small island Territories, their special

needs and the challenges posed by their geographical locations and

other specific conditions and to draw up plans for the rapid

decolonization of those Territories, bearing in mind the provisions of

the General Assembly resolution calling for a complete decolonization

by the year 2000.