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specific recommendations about steps to be taken to move each territory
closer to independence.
The Special Committee is also responsible for distributing information
about decolonization, both to the people of administering nations and
to those in Non-Self-Governing Territories. When the people in Non-
Self-Governing Territories learn about the United Nations, its Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, and Resolution 1514, they are more likely
to begin wanting self-government and work toward it themselves.
Non-Self-Governing Territories Today
The United Nations keeps a list of all Non-Self-Governing Territories. As of
2014, sixteen territories were on the list. Most of them are small islands in
the Pacific Ocean or the Caribbean.The United Nation’s goal is to have no
territories on the list at all, with all the current territories having become
self-governing.
Some people feel the list is
controversial
, because of which territories
are on the list and which ones are left off. For example, several areas not
on the list, such as Québec and Hawaii, have independence movements,
and some believe they should be included on the list for this reason.
CONTROVERSY IN THE AMERICAS
Two independence movements can be found right in North America—
in the Canadian province of Québec and in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Many
French Canadians living in Québec have for decades wanted to secede from
Canada. At first, they were motivated by economic considerations and later
by cultural and linguistic differences. Sometimes, the movement has turned
violent. In October, 1970, members of the the Front de Libération du Québec
(Quebec Liberation Front) kidnapped and murdered two government officials.
The secessionist movement in Hawaii was given a boost in 1993, when
Congress apologized for overthrowing the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893 and
turning it into a territory of the United States.