UN General Assembly
1989

In fact, without fanfare, without grand initiative, a new process of dialogue has already begun between the developed and the developing world. In the Cairns Group, diverse entries such as Canada and Thailand, Australia and Argentina have joined together on agricultural issues. international financial institutions, the debt crisis is being approached with a new spirit of realism and a sense of shared risk. Economic prescriptions are now plain, married with political and social considerations. This sensitivity is required if fledgling democracies and fragile societies are not to collapse over the wrenching effect of debt repayments. In the Commonwealth, a multiracial and global membership has allowed for increasing pressure against apartheid. In La Froncophonie, new programmes to preserve the French heritage and promote distance-learning are emerging, and human rights are now on the agenda for the first time. And within the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, there is a refreshing determination to put ideology aside and seek practical co-operation with the developed world. I attended the Summit Conference of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries in Belgrade as a guest. I did so in search of common ground on a variety of international Issues. 1 was pressed by the new spirit of moderation shown by many makers, as I was by the wise and deft chairmanship of Yugoslavia. I quote from their Final Declaration: