UN General Assembly
1978

65. As is well known, the quantum of assistance which a country receives is largely determined by its gross national product per capita. This results in a totally artificial and unrealistic evaluation of a country's wealth, with the absurd classification of certain countries with vast natural resources as poor and others with limited resources as wealthy. The application of this criterion to countries such as Barbados militates against the achievement of relative self-sufficiency, since, on the attainment of a certain level of development, vital assistance is withdrawn or inadequately distributed. 66. Barbados recognizes that the financial resources at the disposal of the United Nations agencies are not boundless, but my Government contends that they may be more efficaciously and rationally used if criteria such as the size of the country, its potential for development and the finite nature of the problems confronting small island developing countries are properly taken into account in determining the quantum of assistance a country receives. Let us concentrate on curing, and not merely on alleviating, problems.