One of the six committees of the United Nations General Assembly, the Special Political and Decolonization Committee, also known as SPECPOL or C4, was established in 1993. When the fourth committee got established, it was generally responsible for the matters of trusteeship and decolonization for the first time. Yet, when given independence to all of the UN trust territories due to the disassembly of the trusteeship system, there was a decrease in its workload. After that, the fourth committee, named Decolonization Committee at the time, was merged with the Special Political Committee and became SPECPOL we know today.

 

    These committees merged in 1990 when the UN established 1990-2000 as the "International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism." We can say that this was especially important considering that back in 1945; about 750 million people lived in colonized territories. Nowadays, with the work of the UN and the SPECPOL, this number has decreased to two million.

​

    SPECPOL regards the wide range of political matters compromising UN peacekeeping activities, peaceful uses of outer space, decolonization, the effects of atomic radiation, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, and the examination of special political missions.