14 December 2021
On Dec 14, 1960, the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples was adopted by the UN General Assembly.
Its implementation has released around 750 million people from colonial yoke. At the time this was one-third of the world’s population. It also drastically changed the political map of the world and resulted in the establishment of over 80 new states in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Declaration has changed the world’s legal order forever. It gave a powerful impulse to the colonial territories’ movement for independence and stated the necessity of putting a speedy end to colonialism, thus becoming a true milestone in the decolonization process.
We are particularly proud of the fact that it was our country, the Soviet Union, that came up with the initiative of developing this Declaration and, together with other states, ensured its adoption, despite fierce resistance of colonial powers which insisted that the “colonies were not yet ready for independence”.
However, the USSR went far beyond initializing the development of the Declaration – building relations with African states was an important part of Soviet foreign policy. Our country actively supported newly established, young African states both diplomatically and on economic level.
The USSR provided economic and technical support to help African countries create multifaceted economies. USSR concluded agreements on technical and economical support with 37 countries on African continent. Their implementation entailed the creation of some 600 new various industrial objects.
Embassy of Russian Federation in South Africa
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