UN General Assembly
2000

them to flee by the thousands into exile, or whether it entails looking for lasting solutions to the problems of underdevelopment, the unbearable debt burden, the AIDS pandemic, malaria or natural and environmental disasters, we must, whatever the cost continually go back to our sources and history. I therefore make a solemn appeal to the conscience of the peoples of the United Nations to prevent hegemony and domination from being the hallmark of our Organization during the third millennium. That would be a betrayal of this history, and make our collective memory a selective memory. As the Assembly is aware, despite the progress made during the second millennium, there still remain questions and concerns among developing countries, particularly those in Africa. Their questions and concerns are not caused solely by the acceleration and unprecedented worsening of their continued impoverishment. Unfortunately, they also stem from the fact that today, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, international relations continue to be based essentially on force. That sad fact is made worse