UN General Assembly
1973

101. Zaire, which went through indescribable chaos to become an organized and well-governed country, after its unfortunate experience finally recognized its true friends. The Zairean experience is based on a political philosophy that we call authenticity. This is an awareness on the part of the people of Zaire that they should return to their beginnings and search for the values of their ancestors in order to appreciate the values which contribute to the country's harmonious and natural development. It is the refusal of the people of Zaire blindly to espouse imported ideologies. It is the affirmation of the worth of the Zairean, or of any man, as he is and where he is, with the mental and social structures that are his own. A return to authenticity is not narrow nationalism, a blind return to the past. On the contrary, it is a useful instrument for peace among nations, a condition for existence among peoples, a platform on which co-operation among States can be built. For authenticity not only implies a profound knowledge of one's own culture, but also a respect for the cultural heritage of others.