UN General Assembly
1999

and rules of the United Nations Charter. Angola is convinced that these States will be able to successfully take up their responsibilities, thereby contributing to the strengthening of our Organization and the stability and development of the South Pacific region and the world as a whole. For half a century, the Organization has carried out activities to promote the ideals contained in its Charter. With the end of the cold war we thought that large-scale fratricidal wars would be things of the past; that the world would no longer experience tension and insecurity; that by now we would be in a position to welcome a narrowing of the gap between the rich and poor countries; that a significant part of humanity would be free from the danger of dying of poverty and misery. However, these things have not happened. The world is hostage to itself. There is a plethora of new armed conflicts as a result of hatred and racial, ethnic and religious intolerance; of the denial of people’s right to self-determination; and even of