In setting up an International Trusteeship System, the Charter established the Trusteeship Council as one of the main organs of the United Nations and assigned to it the task of supervising the administration of Trust Territories placed under the Trusteeship System. Major goals of the System were to promote the advancement of the inhabitants of the 11 original Trust Territories and their progressive development towards self-government or independence. The Trusteeship Council is made up of the five permanent members of the Security Council - China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The aims of the Trusteeship System have been fulfilled to such an extent that all Trust Territories have attained self-government or independence, either as separate States or by joining neighboring independent countries. Some of the most well-known States to reach their independence in recent years have been Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) in 1980, Belize in 1981 and Namibia (Formerly South West Africa) in 1990. In November 1994, the Security Council terminated the United Nations Trusteeship Agreement for the last of the original 11 Trustee Territories on its agenda - the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (Palau), administered by the United States. The Trusteeship Council, by amending its rules of procedure, will now meet as and where occasion may require.
Source: Basic Facts About the United Nations. Published by United Nations Department of Public Information. Copyright 1995 United Nations.
