UN General Assembly
1999

of the colonized to reclaim their lands, their souls, so that oppressed humanity could regain a voice, a say in its own political and economic destiny. It is the century in which we plumbed the depths of the oceans and soared into the infinities of space; when man first set foot on the moon, reached Mars and even deeper into the recesses of the unknown. In a wired-up world, the computer has today become what the fountain pen was in the early years of the twentieth century. The revolution of the digital has arrived. Humanity today is healthier, better fed and more sheltered than our forefathers were. But want and hunger, disease and deprivation are still widespread, including in developed societies. We have at our command more information than ever before, but are we that much wiser? Literacy has spread, but is mankind better educated? We are more connected globally, but are we as humankind? Have this linkage and interconnection reduced conflict and animosity? And thus, the tabulation of our assets and liabilities of this century flows.