UN General Assembly
1976

208. The continuing diversion of qualified manpower and of material and financial resources from peaceful economic and social purposes to an unproductive and wasteful arms race not only widens the current economic gap between developed and developing countries but also frustrates the purposes and objectives of the Second United Nations Development Decade, which envisaged a transfer of substantial resources from the developed countries to the developing countries as a consequence of reduced armament. The flow of financial resources to the developing countries amounted to only about $20 billion in 1975, in contrast to the expenditure on armaments, which has now reached $300 billion per annum. We believe that many of the development requirements of the developing countries could be met if a substantial part of the resources released by disarmament measures of the world's main military powers could be used to promote the economic development of developing countries.