UN General Assembly
1953

54. Finally, I should like to say a few words on the problems in the economic sphere, which are of particular interest to the still under-developed countries. These are problems which in themselves are neither novel nor a product of the post world-war era. But they do assume a new context in the light of world tensions, from which they are unfortunately too often found inseparable. Moreover, apart from humanitarian considerations, an element of urgency has been injected into the need for the under-developed areas to raise their living standards. For these countries are now going through an economic, as well as a political and social, awakening. No longer are the peoples of the underdeveloped countries satisfied to exist on a bare subsistence level. They demand a snare in the things of the world and the growing abundance wrought by technical progress. This means the opportunity to make a livelihood compatible with the dignity of the human person, to eliminate the heavy toll of human suffering visited by disease and famine, and to reap the fruits of adequate education and a knowledge of technical skills for the benefit of succeeding generations. It should be borne in mind that these demands are by no means mere idle dreams. They represent real problems whose satisfactory solution weighs heavily on the governments of the under-developed countries, and they should be of common concern to all nations.