UN General Assembly
1989

Experience shows that development is above all a national responsibility, that the peoples concerned should be closely involved in the process of development and that our countries will have to review their policies, improve their management methods and promote the necessary reforms in order to benefit as much as possible from their own resources. To achieve physical well-being and guarantee social justice for our peoples, victims over the centuries of economic and social domination and marginalization, many African countries have had to adopt development strategies of the past, or to perpetuate past economic policies which do not meet the conditions of countries emerging from decolonisation. On the other hand, perhaps we have not been able to find the median isms to stimulate and mobilize the creative energies of our populations for the process of development.