NEW YORK--The United Nations Economic and Social Council voted on Tuesday, July 21, to adopt a resolution calling for continued support to Non-Self-Governing Territories through UN agencies and affiliated international institutions.
The resolution was adopted with 31 votes in favour, one against and 17 abstentions. France and the Kingdom of the Netherlands were among the countries that abstained.
The vote took place during the opening day of ECOSOC’s July 2026 Management Segment, which was scheduled for July 21 and 22 at United Nations headquarters in New York. The UN Web TV schedule confirms that the Council’s 39th and 40th plenary meetings were held on Tuesday as part of that segment.
The resolution concerns the implementation of the 1960 Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples by specialized UN agencies and international institutions.
ECOSOC considers the issue annually, usually during its July management meetings. The resolution traditionally asks UN bodies to review conditions in Non-Self-Governing Territories and provide economic, social and technical assistance to support their development and self-determination.
The measure is commonly titled “Support to Non-Self-Governing Territories by the specialized agencies and international institutions associated with the United Nations.”
The 1960 declaration states that colonial peoples have a right to self-determination and calls for steps to transfer governing authority to the people of territories that have not attained full self-government.
Tuesday’s vote does not itself grant independence to a territory or require an administering country to change a territory’s constitutional status. It instead addresses the responsibility of UN agencies and international institutions to assist territories still recognized by the United Nations as Non-Self-Governing.
The United Nations currently recognizes 17 such territories. St. Maarten and French St. Martin are not included on that list.
However, the abstentions by France and the Netherlands may attract attention in St. Martin because the island remains divided between jurisdictions connected to both countries. The southern side is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, while the northern side is an overseas collectivity of France.
The vote therefore does not directly determine St. Martin’s constitutional status or place the island on the UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
Any claim that the resolution formally applied to St. Martin would be inaccurate. Its local significance is political, particularly for organizations that argue that the people on both sides of the island should be directly consulted on decolonization, sovereignty and their constitutional future.
The 2026 vote represents a noticeable increase in support compared with the previous year. In 2025, the equivalent ECOSOC resolution was adopted with 22 votes in favour, none against and 21 abstentions. In 2024, it received 21 votes in favour, none against and 22 abstentions.
The detailed official voting record, including the complete country-by-country list and the final resolution number, had not yet been posted on the UN’s decolonization records page when checked following Tuesday’s meeting. The UN normally publishes that information with the meeting summary and formal record.
The available UN schedule confirms that the ECOSOC Management Segment was held on July 21. The reported 31-1-17 result should be described as the outcome of Tuesday’s vote pending publication of the complete official roll-call record.
