UN General Assembly
1989

It is not easy to understand appeals for detente and for the strengthening of international security when some industrialized countries are becoming richer and richer by exploiting developing countries, among others, and the developing countries are becoming poorer every day. Nowadays, when the question of human rights has become a subject for concern and a burning issue to the extent that it has become politicised in the extreme, even in cases which involve individuals, can one really put any faith in the concern expressed when a blind eye is turned to the fate of the millions of people in various parts of the world under threat of famine? The demands of the developing countries - which are frequently referred to as the "poor men's club" although they represent an overwhelming majority of United Nations Member States - for equality to be established in international economic relations are legitimate, should be heard out and proper answer made to them.