UN General Assembly
1978

41. The World Conference for Action Against Apartheid, held at Lagos in 1977, was a watershed in international action against apartheid. Its success resounded the world over. It instilled new hopes in the hearts of the oppressed. Yet barely one year later, at the World Conference to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination in Geneva, the international community failed to give the struggle greater dimensions. I must here express the dissatisfaction of my delegation at the outcome of the Geneva Conference. Indeed, its results seem a set-back to the accomplishment of the Lagos Conference. One would have thought that the Western countries which pulled out of the Geneva Conference, would have appreciated the scope and importance of the broader issues of racism and racial discrimination and their grave consequences throughout the world, in particular in southern Africa. Their action cannot but give Pretoria solace. It allows an impression to be created that Pretoria has strong supporters.