What is the UN Trusteeship

Background

The Trusteeship Council was formed by the UN Charter as one of the principal UN bodies, and it was given the responsibility of overseeing the management of Trust Territories put under the International Trusteeship System. The International Trusteeship System’s primary objectives were to support the development of Trust Territory citizens and their gradual transition to self-government or independence. The five permanent members of the Security Council—China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States—make up the Trusteeship Council. To the degree that all Trust Territories have achieved self-government or independence, either as separate States or by joining other nearby sovereign countries, the objectives of the Trusteeship System have been achieved.United Nations

International Trusteeship System

In 1945, the United Nations established the International Trusteeship System for the supervision of Trust Territories placed under it by individual States administering them. The basic objectives of the Charter included: to promote the political, economic, social and educational advancement of the inhabitants of the Trust Territories and their progressive development towards self-government and independence. In 1993, the last Trust Territory to do so was the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (Palau) under the administration of the United States. With no Territories left in its agenda, the Trusteeship Council suspended its operations on 1 November the same year.The United Nations and Decolonization

Some achievements of the UN Trusteeship Council

When the United Nations was founded in 1945, 750 million people lived in territories that were dependent on colonial powers. Chapter XII of the UN Charter established an international trusteeship system. The Trusteeship Council was instrumental in the decolonization and subsequent independence of 11 trust territories in Africa and the Pacific. Most of the Council’s active years are from before UN documents were issued in electronic format.Digitization Update – Trusteeship Council