Explainer - Non-Self-Governing Territories

• More than 60 years after the UN launched its formal decolonisation drive, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged renewed commitment to completing the unfinished business of ending colonial rule.

• Opening the 2026 session of the Special Committee on Decolonisation (known as the C-24), Guterres stressed that decolonisation has been a core objective of the UN “since its earliest days”.

What are Non-Self-Governing Territories?

• The Non-Self-Governing Territories are defined as “territories whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government”. 

• The Special Committee on Decolonisation (C-24) was established by the General Assembly in 1961 to monitor progress towards granting independence to territories that have not yet attained “a full measure of self-government”, as defined under Chapter XI of the UN Charter. 

• The C-24 annually reviews the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories to which the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples is applicable.

• Currently, the C-24 consists of 29 members. The officers of the C-24 are called the bureau which consists of the Chair, Vice-Chairs and Rapporteur. 

• Its mandate stems from the landmark 1960 Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.

• Since 1945, more than 80 former colonies comprising some 750 million people have gained independence. 

• The process by which the peoples of these territories exercised their right to self-determination to decide the future status of their homeland is known as decolonisation.

• However, 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories remain on the UN list, home to nearly two million people.

• They range from Western Sahara in Africa to small island territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.

• Many of the remaining territories are small islands facing intensifying climate threats.

• Rising sea levels, coastal erosion and more frequent extreme weather events are damaging homes and infrastructure, undermining tourism and fisheries, and straining already limited public resources.

List of Non-Self-Governing Territories

1) Western Sahara (Region - Africa)

2) Anguilla (Region - Atlantic and Caribbean)

3) Bermuda (Region - Atlantic and Caribbean)

4) British Virgin Islands (Region - Atlantic and Caribbean)

5) Cayman Islands (Region - Atlantic and Caribbean)

6) Falkland Islands (Malvinas) (Region - Atlantic and Caribbean)

7) Montserrat (Region - Atlantic and Caribbean)

8) Saint Helena (Region - Atlantic and Caribbean)

9) Turks and Caicos Islands (Region - Atlantic and Caribbean)

10) United States Virgin Islands (Region - Atlantic and Caribbean)

11) Gibraltar (Region - Europe)

12) American Samoa (Region - Pacific)

13) French Polynesia (Region - Pacific)

14) Guam (Region - Pacific)

15) New Caledonia (Region - Pacific)

16) Pitcairn (Region - Pacific)

17) Tokelau (Region - Pacific).