UN General Assembly
1979

23. According to reliable sources, the military spending of third-world States in Africa, Asia and Latin America has doubled during this decade, with those States now spending on arms three times what they receive in official development aid for their economies. As peaceful nuclear technology spreads, so does the capability of producing nuclear weapons, and yet, so far, no effective world-wide proliferation control exists. 24. Over the past few decades some important treaties and agreements have been concluded, such as the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons the Declaration on the sea-bed and the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction. However, the efforts made hitherto in the cause of disarmament within the United Nations framework have on the whole been insufficient, hesitant and rather half-hearted. The holding last year of the tenth special session of the General Assembly, the first devoted exclusively to disarmament, was an encouraging sign, though its main objective was not to conclude specific treaties.