UN General Assembly
1993

The universality of human rights, which everyone must henceforth respect, requires the democratization of international economic relations. It would be unrealistic to circumscribe the exercise of democracy within national boundaries, when there are also flagrant injustices in international economic relations that constitute grave violations of human dignity. A victim of such injustices, Africa, more than any other developing region, has the characteristics of a continent adrift. It is toiling under an intolerable debt burden in a situation exacerbated by an overall trend towards disinvestment, a decline in official development assistance and a steady deterioration in the terms of trade as a result of the continuing fall in commodity prices. In these circumstances, is it acceptable that net financial flows should continue from the impoverished African countries to the rich countries? As we have already pointed out, this situation cannot be considered in economic terms alone. It is an ethical problem involving the conscience of our Northern partners and of international financial institutions. Need we recall that despite the seriousness of the