Forty-ninth session
Agenda items 82 and 18
RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The General Assembly,
Having considered the item entitled "Activities of foreign
economic and other interests which impede the implementation of
the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries
and Peoples in Territories under colonial domination",
Having examined the chapter of the report of the Special
Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of
the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries
and Peoples relating to the item, 1/
Recalling its resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960,
containing the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to
Colonial Countries and Peoples, as well as all its other resolutions
on this subject, including, in particular, resolution 46/181 of
19 December 1991, endorsing the plan of action for the International
Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, 2/
Reaffirming the solemn obligation of the administering
Powers under the Charter of the United Nations to promote the
political, economic, social and educational advancement of the
inhabitants of the Territories under their administration and
to protect the human and natural resources of those Territories
against abuses,
Reaffirming also that any economic or other activity that
constitutes an obstacle to the implementation of the Declaration
on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples
and obstructs efforts aimed at the elimination of colonialism
is a direct violation of the rights of the inhabitants and of
the principles of the Charter and all relevant resolutions of
the United Nations,
Reaffirming further that the natural resources are the
heritage of the indigenous populations of the colonial and Non-Self-Governing
Territories,
Concerned about the activities of those foreign economic,
financial and other interests that exploit the natural and human
resources of the Non-Self-Governing Territories to the detriment
of the interests of the inhabitants of those Territories and deprive
them of their right to control the wealth of their countries,
Bearing in mind the relevant provisions of the final documents
of the successive Conferences of Heads of State or Government
of Non-Aligned Countries and of the resolutions adopted by the
Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization
of African Unity, the South Pacific Forum and the Caribbean Community,
1. Reaffirms the inalienable right of the peoples of colonial
and Non-Self-Governing Territories to self-determination and independence
and to the enjoyment of the natural resources of their Territories,
as well as their right to dispose of those resources in their
best interests;
2. Reiterates that any administering Power that deprives
the colonial peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories of the
exercise of their legitimate rights over their natural resources,
or subordinates the rights and interests of those peoples to foreign
economic and financial interests, violates the solemn obligations
it has assumed under the Charter of the United Nations;
3. Reaffirms its concern over the activities of those foreign
economic, financial and other interests which continue to exploit
the natural resources that are the heritage of the indigenous
populations of the colonial and Non-Self-Governing Territories
in the Caribbean, the Pacific and other regions, as well as their
human resources, to the detriment of their interests, thus depriving
them of their right to control the resources of their Territories
and impeding the realization by those peoples of their legitimate
aspirations for self-determination and independence;
4. Condemns those activities of foreign economic and other
interests in the colonial and Non-Self-Governing Territories which
are impeding the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting
of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, contained in
its resolution 1514 (XV), and the efforts to eliminate colonialism;
5. Calls once again upon all Governments that have not
yet done so to take, in accordance with the relevant provisions
of its resolution 2621 (XXV) of 12 October 1970, legislative,
administrative or other measures in respect of their nationals
and the bodies corporate under their jurisdiction that own and
operate enterprises in colonial and Non-Self-Governing Territories
that are detrimental to the interests of the inhabitants of those
Territories, in order to put an end to such enterprises and to
prevent new investments that run counter to the interests of the
inhabitants of those Territories;
6. Reiterates that the exploitation and plundering of the
marine and other natural resources of colonial and Non-Self-Governing
Territories by foreign economic interests, in violation of the
relevant resolutions of the United Nations, is a threat to the
integrity and prosperity of those Territories;
7. Invites all Governments and organizations of the United
Nations system to take all possible measures to ensure that the
permanent sovereignty of the peoples of colonial and Non-Self-Governing
Territories over their natural resources is fully respected and
safeguarded;
8. Urges the administering Powers concerned to take effective
measures to safeguard and guarantee the inalienable right of the
peoples of the colonial and Non-Self-Governing Territories to
their natural resources and to establish and maintain control
over the future development of those resources, and requests the
administering Powers to take all necessary steps to protect the
property rights of the peoples of those Territories;
9. Calls upon the administering Powers concerned to ensure
that no discriminatory and unjust wage systems or working conditions
prevail in the Territories under their administration and to apply
in each Territory a uniform system of wages to all the inhabitants
without any discrimination;
10. Requests the Secretary-General to continue, through
all means at his disposal, to inform world public opinion of those
activities of foreign economic and other interests which impede
the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence
to Colonial Countries and Peoples;
11. Appeals to the mass media, trade unions and non-governmental
organizations, as well as individuals, to continue their efforts
for the full implementation of the Declaration on the Granting
of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples;
12. Decides to continue to monitor closely the situation
in the colonial and Non-Self-Governing Territories so as to ensure
that all economic activities in those Territories are aimed at
strengthening and diversifying their economies in the interest
of the indigenous peoples and at promoting the economic and financial
viability of those Territories, in order to facilitate and accelerate
the exercise by the peoples of those Territories of their right
to self-determination and independence;
13. Requests the Special Committee on the Situation with
regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting
of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples to continue
to examine this question and to report thereon to the General
Assembly at its fiftieth session.
83rd plenary meeting
9 December 1994
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1/ A/49/23 (Part III), chap. IV.
2/ See A/46/634/Rev.1.