5 Functions of the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations

In this Government tutorial, you’ll have an outline of the major functions of the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations.

But before coming to the functions of the Trusteeship Council of the UN, I want us to take a quick look at the membership (or compostion) and status of the Trusteeship Council.

Membership and Status

The Trusteeship Council is one of the six main organs of the United Nations. Membership is made up of the following:

• member countries of the United Nations that are administering trust territories,
• permanent members of the Security Council which are not administering trust territories and
• as many other members as may be necessary to secure equality in numbers between administering and non-administering members. ( These are elected by the General Assembly for a three-year term)

Voting: Each member has one vote and decisions of the Council are made by a simple majority.

Current Status of the Trusteeship Council

The Trusteeship Council suspended its operations on November 1, 1994. That was one month after the independence of Palau, the last remaining United Nations trust territory.

Apparently, the main reason for the suspension of the normal operations of the Trusteeship Council is that all the trust territories have gained independence. For that matter, there is no more serious business left for the council to occupy itself with.

By a resolution adopted on May 25, 1994, the Trusteeship Council amended its rules of procedure to drop the obligation to meet annually and agreed to meet as occasion required – by its own decision or by the decision of its President, or at the request of a majority of its members or the General Assembly or the Security Council.

Functions and Powers of the Trusteeship Council

Below are the key functions of the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations (UN)

1. Supervision of Trust Territories

The main function of the Trusteeship Council of the UN is to supervise the administration of the trust territories.

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It is therefore expected to ensure that the governments entrusted with the administration of the trust territories take appropriate measures to promote the political, economic, social and educational advancement of the inhabitants of the territories

2. Monitoring

It receives reports from the administering authorities concerning conditions in such trust territories. E.g. British Mandated Togoland and Namibia before independence. This enables it to monitor the progress being made in the affected territories.

3. Promotion of Welfare of Trust Territories

The Trusteeship Council receives petitions from the inhabitants of trust territories about their wishes. It also undertakes periodic visits to the territories to study conditions there. This is to enable it to obtain first hand information in order to issues the necessary recommendations.

4. Facilitation of Independence Process

Among the functions of the Trusteeship Council is the role it plays in making sure that a trust territory attains independence status as early as possible. It is mandated to take the necessary measures to prepare the trust territories for independence.

5. Supervision of Elections

It supervises elections in a trust territory to decide its future political status. For example, Trusteeship Council of the UN supervised the plebiscites held in British Mandated Togoland and French Mandated Togoland in 1956. As a result, British Togoland became part of Ghana, while French Togoland became an independent state in 1960.