COLLECTION OF EssAYs RECUEIL D' ARTICLES - Naciones Unidas

paragraph that:
"All peoples have the right to self-determination; by
virtue of that right they freely determine their political
status and freely pursue their economic, social and
cultural development."
Ghana took a very active part in the preparation of t
Declaration. As one might expect, the legal advisers of Ghana were c
hand to offer their advice, although their input was largely invisib
because they worked behind the scenes. The delegation of the Sovi
Union placed a draft resolution entitled "Granting of Independence 1
All Colonial Peoples and Territories" before the General Assembly.
similar resolution, entitled "Africa: A United Nations Programme fi
Independence", was tabled by the United States. The African Groul
however, felt that it would be in the interests of Africa if we coud
ourselves work out the text of a resolution, clear it with our friends fro)
the East and then present it to the General Assembly. If we allowed ti
Russians to put their own resolution to the vote, the United States mig]
oppose it. We immediately set to work, Ghana being a member of tt
"Committee of Six" which prepared the first draft. The final Declaratic
was passed without a negative vote and with only nine abstention
including the United Kingdom, the United States and Portugal.
This was a resounding victory for the African cause. For tl
first time in the history of the United Nations something concrete ar
lasting had been done on the matter of the granting of independence 1
non-self-governing territories and trust territories. Alex Quaison-Sacke
the country's Permanent Representative at the time, recalls that:
"In the Declaration the main operative paragraph said
that immediate steps should be taken to hand over all
power to the peoples in the non-self-governing
territories, trust territories and all other territories
which have not gained independence. Why was the
word "immediate" used and not a target date? This
was a Ghanaian formula. We put forward the date of
1962; the other countries put forward 1965; others
1961; and as there was no agreement Ghana put
forward the idea that immediate steps should be taken
to hand over power. In the Declaration we also said
that the inadequacy of economic and educational
preparedness should not be used as a pretext to