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Declaration Regarding
Non-Self-Governing Territories
Members of the United Nations which have
or assume responsibilities for the administration of
territories whose peoples have not yet attained a full
measure of self-government recognize the principle that the
interests of the inhabitants of these territories are
paramount, and accept as a sacred trust the obligation to
promote to the utmost, within the system of international
peace and security established by the present Charter, the
well-being of the inhabitants of these territories, and, to
this end:
a. to ensure, with due respect for the
culture of the peoples concerned, their political,
economic, social, and educational advancement, their just
treatment, and their protection against abuses;
b. to develop self-government, to take
due account of the political aspirations of the peoples,
and to assist them in the progressive development of
their free political institutions, according to the
particular circumstances of each territory and its
peoples and their varying stages of advancement;
c. to further international peace and
security;
d. to promote constructive measures of
development, to encourage research, and to cooperate with
one another and, when and where appropriate, with
specialized international bodies with a view to the
practical achievement of the social, economic, and
scientific purposes set forth in this Article; and
e. to transmit regularly to the
Secretary-General for information purposes, subject to
such limitation as security and constitutional
considerations may require, statistical and other
information of a technical nature relating to economic,
social, and educational conditions in the territories for
which they are respectively responsible other than those
territories to which Chapter XII and XIII apply.
Members of the United Nations also agree
that their policy in respect of the territories to which this
Chapter applies, no less than in respect of their
metropolitan areas, must be based on the general principle of
good-neighborliness, due account being taken of the interests
and well-being of the rest of the world, in social, economic,
and commercial matters.
