UN General Assembly
1987

Over the years this Organization has emerged as the authentic voice of humanity's collective conscience. There is now, however, a dire need to strengthen our moral capacity and reinforce our political will to enable the United Nations to tackle more effectively its many complex problems, to which, in some cases, normal political approaches may not be applicable or even feasible. It cannot be denied that there is a moral and ethical dimension to the struggle against ignorance, disease and poverty, against such social ills as drug abuse, prostitution, slavery, child labour and torture/ and that there is such a dimension to programmes such as those which provide for the immunization of children, better housing and Medicare for the people, a greater role for women In development, food security for all and the protection of the environment. The same humanitarian spirit as recently mobilized and co-ordinated international assistance to Ethiopia, Sudan and Mexico, among others, should now be cultivated and fully extended to other areas of need in the world.