UN General Assembly
1988

The common experience of developing countries since the General Assembly met a year ago has undoubtedly been the difficulty in dealing with the range of very grave economic problems that continue to affect them. The economic crisis, which is about a decade old in the developing world, is still with us. The gap between the haves and the have-nots continues to widen. For the vast majority of mankind the vision of a world of greater social justice and a better standard of living remains illusory. In sub-Saharan Africa in particular, the economic crisis has assumed alarming proportions. Despite the adoption of structural reform policies by most African countries, the subcontinent continues to suffer from the combined effects of, among other things, the sharp fall in the prices of commodities, the dramatic fluctuations in currency exchange rates and crippling debt obligations.