UN General Assembly
2000

and coordinated action of solidarity and today is building a strong Union together. It is clear that there was no idea of abandoning Europe to its own fate. But it was not only that. There is another instructive example, that of the remarkable Alliance for Progress. That laudable initiative helped Latin America to emerge from an economic and social morass and restored in the people an empowering confidence for the future. Today, we see the great Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR) and other important regional economic and trade groupings fostering economic growth, full employment and the generation of wealth for the benefit all in that vital part of the world. For me, that represents the true meaning of human brotherhood and “prosper thy neighbour”. Africa's key Western cooperating partners should not hold the view that those two examples are unique circumstances from the remote past or that they are far removed from the hardships and misery that Africa and its peoples are facing today. Only when pledges made by world leaders are translated into concrete programmes and substantial 10