UN General Assembly
1980

47. Most recently we have had the Independent Commission on International Development Issues, popularly referred to as the Brandt Commission. Eleven years before Brandt, we had Pearson. It is chastening to recall some of the words of the Commission on International Development headed by the late Lester Pearson: "International development is a great challenge of our age. Our response to it will show whether we understand the implications of interdependence or whether we prefer to delude ourselves that the poverty and deprivation of the great majority of mankind can be ignored without tragic consequences for all." 48. The Brandt Commission is no less cogent in stressing interdependence; no less concerned with the moral imperative of development; and no less bold and imaginative in the action plan proposed, both for the present and for the future. Sadly, what gives cause for despair is the reaction of the world community to those significant reports. Rather than stimulate negotiation, the Brandt Commission report is in danger of being placed on a shelf, along with similar reports of the past.