The UN trusteeship, 1950–1960: ten years to independence

In short

For ten years the south of Somalia was held in trust. The United Nations placed it under Italian administration, with one condition written into international law: at the end of ten years it would be independent.

That fixed date set the south apart from almost every other colony in Africa. The Somalis used the decade to build their own parties, councils, schools and government.

How did it begin?

After the Second World War the four great powers could not agree on the future of Italy's old colony (see the Somali Youth League for the 1948 Four Power Commission). The question passed to the UN.

On 21 November 1949 the General Assembly decided the territory "shall be an independent and sovereign State". Its independence would come at the end of ten years, under UN trusteeship with Italy as administrator (UN General Assembly resolution 289 (IV)). Italy took over the administration on 1 April 1950 (UN document A/1550, 25 November 1950, para. 7).

What did the agreement say?

The Trusteeship Council approved the agreement on 27 January 1950. The General Assembly approved it on 2 December 1950, by 44 votes to 6 (Foreign Relations of the United States, 1950, vol. V, editorial note). Its text, as drafted by the Trusteeship Council, survives in the UN record (UN document T/449, 1950).

• A fixed end. Article 23: the agreement "shall cease to be in force ten years after" its approval, "at the conclusion of which the Territory shall become an independent sovereign State".
• A plan to hand over. Article 24: Italy had to give the UN a plan for transferring "all the functions of government" at least 18 months before the end.
• Duties. Article 3 bound Italy to build "free political institutions", give Somalis a "progressively increasing participation" in government, and "protect the inhabitants against the loss of their lands".
• A watchdog. An Advisory Council of Colombia, Egypt and the Philippines sat in Mogadishu to advise and report (Article 2).

The Declaration of Constitutional Principles

Attached to the agreement, and part of it, was a short bill of rights. Its first article reads (T/449, Declaration, art. 1):

"The sovereignty of the Territory is vested in its people and shall be exercised on their behalf… by the Administering Authority."

Article 8 promised "full equality before the law without distinction as to race, sex, language, political opinion or religion". Article 7 required courts to apply "Islamic law and local customary law" where fitting, and to bring Somalis step by step into the judiciary (same source).

The SYL at the United Nations

In September 1950 the Somali Youth League asked to speak to the UN's Fourth Committee about the draft agreement. The committee voted by 20 votes to 11 to let it take part (A/1550, paras. 3–4).

The Conferenza della Somalia, a group of parties that had favoured Italy's return, was also heard (same source, para. 5). Both Somali voices were in the room when the agreement was settled.

The hard years, 1950–1953

The start was rough. The Library of Congress records that the Italian administration jailed some SYL members and dismissed others from the civil service (Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study). The League answered with protests, civil disobedience and appeals to the UN Advisory Council.

The council stepped in to mediate. After about three years, new development plans "provided a channel for the energies of Somali nationalists" (same source).

Building a state, 1950–1960

The Library of Congress lists what was built in the decade (Library of Congress):

• The Territorial Council, 1950. Thirty-five members advised on every law, and came to be led by the parties. It acted "as a nascent parliament".
• The Mogadishu municipal council, 1950. Forty-eight members ran planning and services, and budgets from 1956.
• Schools. Enrolment doubled between 1952 and 1957. By 1957 about 2,000 Somalis were in secondary, technical or university study, some on scholarships in China, Egypt and Italy.
• Trade. Exports trebled between 1954 and 1960.

The first Somali government, 1956

In 1956 the south held its first territory-wide elections, for a 70-seat Legislative Assembly. The SYL won 43 of the 60 Somali seats and the HDM party won 13 (Library of Congress).

Abdullahi Iise became the first prime minister, leading five ministers, all Somali. The Library of Congress calls the four years that followed "the most stable in modern Somali politics" (same source). Women gained the vote in 1958, and Somalis took over posts from district commissioner to provincial governor.

The date brought forward

The agreement fixed independence for 2 December 1960. On 5 December 1959, with Italy's agreement, the General Assembly advanced it to 1 July 1960 (UN General Assembly resolution 1418 (XIV); HC Deb 7 December 1959).

The north became independent on 26 June 1960. On 1 July 1960 the two joined as the Somali Republic, under the 1960 Constitution.

Sources differ

• The start date. Some accounts give 1950, others 2 December 1950. Italy began administering on 1 April 1950, before the General Assembly approved the agreement in December.
• Who wanted federalism. The Library of Congress says the HDM wanted a federal state and the SYL a unitary one (Library of Congress). The 1960 Constitution chose a unitary state.

What it moved forward

The trusteeship wrote down, in international law, that Somali sovereignty belonged to the Somali people and that independence had a date. Somalis held the world to that promise. In ten years they built an assembly, a government and a civil service, and arrived early.

Read the primary sources yourself

• UN General Assembly resolution 289 (IV), 21 November 1949: text.
• Draft Trusteeship Agreement and Declaration of Constitutional Principles, UN document T/449, 1950: PDF.
• Report of the Fourth Committee on the Trusteeship Agreement, UN document A/1550, 25 November 1950: PDF.
• UN General Assembly resolution 1418 (XIV), 5 December 1959: record.