I. Introduction: Most parts of Africa and Asia were not free in 1945 when the United Nations was set up. For the UN ending colonial rule became essential for achieving world peace and progress.

II. Two types of colonial territories:

(i) Freeing millions of people from foreign colonial rule is an historic achievement of the UN. The UNS anti-colonial treaty covered two categories of dependent population. They were the trust territories for which the UN was directly responsible.

(ii) Then these were several territories administered by western colonial powers like Britain, France, etc. 'Trusted' territories were placed under the responsibility of the UN until the people of the territories concerned would be able to determine their future status freely.

III. End of colonialism in Trustee Countries Cameroon, Nauru,New Guinea, the pacific islands,Rwanda-Urundi, Somaliland,Tanganyika, Togoland were among them. By 1994 all trust territories became free with the help provided by the UN.Seven have become independent and four chose to merge with the neighbouring countries.

IV. Freedom of 60 Countries: The UN interest in the liberation for subject people extended beyond trust territories. This campaign against colonialism was the adoption of the Declaration of Decolonisation by the General Assembly in 1960 demanding immediate independence of all colonial territories and populations. Since that time, 60 territories have become free under the sustained pressure built in the UN.

V. Recent achievement of freedom by these countries and right to self determination: Namibia,Eritrea,East Timor are among the recent examples of successful fight against colonialism.There are now only very few like western Sahara waiting to exercise their free choice. There is some confusion that the fight against colonialism blesses the right of some disgruntled people to separate from their newly formed independent state.Right to "self-determination" applies to people under foreign colonial rule only.