UN General Assembly
1979

290. Like the Secretary-General of the United Nations, my Government continues to place its faith in the inexhaustible spiritual resources of the human race. Although in absolute terms mankind has not made satisfactory progress in areas vital for international harmony—such as respect for human dignity, improved living conditions for developing peoples, and a fair exchange of raw materials and finished products— the relative achievements of this decade, particularly of recent years, in some measure do offset that grave imbalance. They at least hold out a hope that, by mobilizing the goodwill of peoples and Governments to overcome the obstacles to mankind's aspirations, we may yet restore man's confidence in his destiny. 291. In his report to the present session of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General asserts that although the cause of human rights has suffered substantial setbacks during the year, this has been accompanied by the growth of a powerful and stimulating awareness conducive to their observance and from which positive results may be expected,