UN General Assembly
1990

﻿I congratulate you, Sir, on your election as President of this General Assembly at its forty-fifth session. I am confident that you, like your predecessor, will give us wise guidance in our efforts to achieve tangible results at this session. When the founders of this Organization net in San Francisco in 1945 they had a common vision: a vision of a peaceful world where peoples lived in tolerance as good neighbours, a world of equal rights of men and women, of nations large and small, a world of social progress and better standards of life in greater freedom - all based on a firm belief in the dignity and worth of the human person. This vision has only partly materialised. We have not yet been able to save our planet from the scourge of war. Fundamental human rights are still being violated in many countries, causing human suffering and heavy flows of refugees. Freedom and democracy remain elusive in too many nations. Hunger and poverty afflict millions of people.