UN General Assembly
1962

161. On the other hand, it is equally true that the eradication of hunger, disease, illiteracy and poverty cannot and must not wait upon disarmament, for those evils themselves contribute to international tension and are a threat to peace. As the Acting Secretary-General has repeatedly pointed out, the gap between the rich third and the two-thirds of mankind is much more serious and ultimately much more explosive than the division of the world on ideological grounds. This gap, instead of narrowing, is progressively becoming wider, for not only has the growth of the population in developing countries outstripped the rate of economic development, but according to authoritative estimates they lose twice as much on the swings of commodity price fluctuations as they gain on the roundabouts of aid. This condition is aggravated by restrictive and discriminatory regional economic groupings, of which the European Economic Community is the prime example, and by the present inadequate structure of international liquidity which uses national currencies as an international means of payment.