UN General Assembly
1948

The reconstruction of the war-devastated areas and the economic development of underdeveloped areas were inter-dependent problems which had been the subject of special attention by the Economic and Social Council and its functional and regional commissions. That international action had been supplemented by the efforts of groups of States with a common desire for rehabilitation and advancement, but the results obtained in both cases had not been sufficiently satisfactory as a result of the influence of political factors. The solution of economic problems could only be achieved by co-operation. The idea of exclusion of systems and opposition of interests had to be set aside in order to make possible the discovery of paths leading to collaboration and understanding. The signal success achieved by the Economic Commission for Europe proved the possibility of such co-operation.