UN General Assembly
1973

216. As Chancellor Willy Brandt of the Federal Republic of Germany said last week so eloquently: .. human distress is conflict. Where hunger prevails, there can be no peace in the long run. Where bitter poverty prevails, there can be no justice. Where a man's very existence is threatened for want of basic daily needs, it is not permissible to speak of security." J 217. The denial of human rights to others either on the basis of race or any other characteristic can contribute no more to humanity than deluding us into interpreting temporary armistices or the absence of bloody conflicts as peace. 218. The allocation of resources to military expenditures by the rich countries continues to increase, while in the rest of the world the basic daily needs of millions of people have no hope of being satisfied. 219. It is in the context of this reality that this Organization, whose principal function is the maintenance of international peace, should take concrete decisions to alleviate man's suffering as a pre-condition to a more permanent peace structure.