UN General Assembly
2011

headquarters of the African Liberation Committee in Dar-es-Salaam until colonialism, apartheid and minority rule had been dismantled. 5 11-50865 We gave sanctuary as well as moral and material support to almost all the liberation movements of Southern Africa. Here at the United Nations, Tanzania was afforded the rare honour of chairing the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization from 1972 to 1980. That was the critical phase in the decolonization of Africa and in the struggle against apartheid and minority rule. It is heart-warming indeed to see our efforts, sacrifices and contributions being rewarded so handsomely with the independence of all African countries and with apartheid having been dismantled in South Africa. Only Western Sahara remains outstanding. I hope the United Nations will expedite the process so that the Saharawi people can determine their future peacefully. We believed at independence, as we believe now and always will believe, that all human beings are born equal and deserve equal protection of their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, as outlined in what has come to be known as the