UN General Assembly
1960

80. In a continent where colonial war has raged for years, where racial segregation — despite United Nations condemnation of it — is made into a principle of government, and where dearly repurchased political freedoms are faced with the harsh facts of economic domination and social dependence, the experience of the Congo serves as a test. Africa is today the last bastion of colonialism. Many, in their insatiable greed, cast envious eyes on the great resources of Africa’s soil and sub-soil. It was therefore easy to foresee that the process of decolonizing the African countries would encounter difficulties, whose number and gravity would be proportionate to that greed and envy. For this reason, among others, the United Nations experiment in the Congo is invested with special value. It is in fact the first time that a young State, faced with a tragic situation jeopardizing its independence, has appealed to the moral conscience of the United Nations and has received, from the Organization, such speedy and effective assistance in the civil and military spheres.