29.	Mr. President, let me begin by expressing on behalf of my delegation our great pleasure at the honour that you have done us and Latin America by accepting the appointment to the most responsible post of President of this Assembly. As a distinguished diplomat, your acceptance of this appointment brings us particular pleasure. We take additional pride in the fact that an eminent Latin American has been chosen for this honourable position.
30.	Permit me to express the gratitude of my delegation to the President of the twenty-seventh session of the General Assembly, Mr. Stanislaw Trepczynski of Poland, for the able and efficient manner in which he guided the deliberations of that session.
31.	I should like to add the voice of Jamaica to those who have drawn attention to the cause of universality which has been significantly advanced by the admission of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, to membership in the United Nations. Mr. President, you will understand the reasons why for me and for my delegation and for the Government and people of Jamaica the entry of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas to the United Nations is a matter of particular pride and pleasure. Our two countries are not only neighbours, but a developing relationship over the years has brought us into a very close association. The Bahamas with its hundreds of islands, its exquisitely beautiful seas and beaches and its wonderful people, almost immediately on the emergence of the present political leadership, has joined us as an independent nation. I know that the Bahamian people and their Prime Minister, Mr. Lynden Pindling, along with their delegation to this Assembly, bring to this great Organization their independence of spirit and their determination to contribute to the good of mankind. In this endeavour, they will once more, as they have in so many other ways, join forces with those independent English-speaking countries of the Caribbean, which against the background of a common history and parallel influences have established a tradition of co-operation in many fields, and an undying faith in parliamentary democracy and a particularly strong interest in furthering the cause of developing countries through the United Nations system.
32.	It is because my country so strongly feels the importance of this occasion and because of our particular associations including, for me, strong personal ties with the Bahamas, I have been moved to reinforce the earlier statements of congratulations with farther expressions of pleasure.
»
33.	For my delegation, the degree of our pleasure is qualified to some extent on this occasion by the sad events which have overtaken two distinguished international figures who but a short time ago addressed the nations gathered here. We recall with pride and with sorrow Amilcar Cabral and Salvador Allende, two men who in their own very distinctive ways have sought to advance the interests of the people of their countries. It is not for us here to make judgement on the internal affairs of other countries. We accept the principle, in matters related to development and the fate of the third world, that "any man's death diminishes me", and so we feel that something has been lost in the death of those two men because they loved their people and their countries. We feel that in each case their death marks but a momentary pause in the irresistible movement of the forces for freedom in which they believed. The fight for freedom will continue as long as there continues to beat within the hearts of men the love of freedom and concern for their fellows.
34.	Much criticism has been aimed at this Organization but not for lack of appreciation of what it has achieved for millions in the fields of education, health improvement and labour conditions. Such criticism as we repeatedly hear arises more from the patent necessity for change that is so obvious in an instrument created 28 years ago in very different circumstances from those of the world of today. The changes in political and international affairs as well as in the domestic affairs of most of the nations have at times been spectacular and even dramatic. New ideas, new demands, new pressures and new expressions of national sovereignty, independence and international relations have emerged.
35.	The world is slowly developing a system of values based on the principles of the rights and duties of States. This new phenomenon has brought about the evolution of a complex of institutions and a system of consultations to meet the present realities. Some of this is not entirely new but over recent years we have seen a great deal of progress in those directions centred mainly around detente — detente which unfortunately takes place entirely outside of the ambit of the United Nations.
36.	The very fact that in this Organization we have heard from this podium repeated plaudits on the achievement of detente which itself was contrived outside this Organization, leads us to ask ourselves two questions, Do those who sing those praises lack faith in this Organization as the proper instrument for achieving detente? Can anyone claim that in bypassing the Organization, lustre has been added to its cause, or is it that the benefits of detente are not expected to extend far beyond their immediate concern? I must confess that in a small country which looks upon this Organization as the greatest repository of hope for the peoples of the world, serious doubts exist as to the achievement of this detente, both its method and its effect. There is an African proverb very well known by my friends the people of the United Republic of Tanzania and others, which says that when two great elephants fight it is the grass that suffers. The present period of detente makes us add the second phrase: even when the great elephants make love it is also the grass that suffers.
37.	We must acknowledge that this great Organization was conceived and created , in different times. As was pointed out by President Mobutu of Zaire in that address [2140th meeting] which spoke for all Africa and beyond, the same five permanent members of the Security Council exercise the same control today as they did at the time when they assumed their position as the reward for victory. Since then the Organization has been enriched by the valuable contribution of some of the best brains in regions outside of Europe, Asia and America. You yourself, Mr. President, and many others who have occupied that distinguished Chair derive from countries outside of the favoured five. In these modern days of science ,when all horizons are challenged, it would pay us well were we to examine some of the political systems, social characteristics and humanitarian developments that emanate outside of this small original group. It has been suggested that Japan be considered a candidate most fit for and worthy of joining the Big Five for a permanent seat on the Security Council. Without questioning for one moment either the suitability of Japan or the suggestion itself, let us look at this matter for a moment. The fact is that the continent of Africa, with its 360 million people and 41 independent sovereign States, and Latin America, with a population of over 250 million and 25 independent States, would seem to have a stronger case for consideration. Certainly we need to bring this element as well as other aspects of the Organization into line with present-day realities. Clearly, the establishment of rational criteria for change is superior to an ad hoc approach to the revision of the Charter.
38.	Today we see the quality of life on this planet in a fragile balance. We see the need, as recent events have shown, for international co-operation and collaboration in the fields of trade, monetary reform and population growth, in correcting environmental deterioration and in relation to the question of the earth's resources whether "and-based or sea-based. In this new relationship which must be forged, the technologically advanced countries must be prepared to accept and abide by a new code of ethics and international morality — a new code which will ensure a greater share and a more equitable and rational distribution of the fruits of progress in the interests of the peoples of the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
39.	The 1970s will be remembered as the decade in which the world came to recognize much more fully some of the realities of life as far as development is concerned.
40.	We have watched with disappointment approaching dismay the ever-widening gap between the developed and developing countries; the gloomy outcome of the First United Nations Development Decade and the hopeless prospects of the Second; the eroding effect of the resurgent inflationary pressures and the uncertainties centring on the international monetary system; and the increasing burden of debt borne by developing countries.
41.	We have seen the struggles of many developing countries in their attempts to wrestle with domestic, economic and social problems and needs and the forces within resisting change and the external forces adversely affecting them.
42.	We have seen how easily countries striving to improve their condition can be thwarted by natural disaster — by drought, flood, earthquake or hurricane.
43.	We have seen how the preoccupation of developed countries with their own problems diverts attention from the fate of the vast majority of the world's peoples.
44.	We have observed the way in which the global food supply is quickly affected by internal social and political forces in a few large countries and by changes in bilateral relationships and trade between them.
45.	We cannot avoid certain conclusions which emerge from all this: the heavy bias in favour of the better endowed, the wealthier, the more technologically advanced countries; the limited contribution of the conventional approaches to development in the making of any significant impact on the basic problems of poverty and towards the narrowing of the development gap; and the inevitable growth of economic power and influence as evidenced by the emergence and rise to virtually unchallengeable influence of the multinational corporations, representing, in institutional terms, a new political dimension in the economic affairs of the world and operating, so far, outside of the sphere of real control of Governments and international institutions.
46.	All of that points to the need for real and fundamental change in international economic relations between developing and developed countries and for the establishment of a much greater range of economic interplay between developing countries.
47.	The Secretary-General has proposed that at the twenty-eighth session of the General Assembly we examine seriously the relationship between the real issues facing the world and the institutional framework of the United Nations and the capability of that Organization to play a significant part in resolving those issues. As he stated in the introduction to his report on the work of the Organization, many of the present world-wide economic and social problems were scarcely foreseen at all when the United Nations system was created, and these, as he said, include the interrelated problems of development, trade, population, natural resources and environment. We agree with him that "institutions created in 1945 often no longer correspond to current needs" [A/9001/Add. 1, p. 3] and that the United Nations in respect of this and other issues "will not develop through ritual public statements of approval and support which are not backed by inner conviction, realism and whole-hearted participation" [ibid.].
48.	It is in that spirit and in the full realization that we continue to be in danger of falling far short of our real responsibilities that my delegation would like to address this session of the General Assembly.
49.	Under the auspices of the First Development Decade, the developed countries undertook to contribute 1 per cent of their gross national product toward the resources of the developing countries. That undertaking has not been fulfilled, but we must acknowledge that some countries have lived up to their promises.
50.	But we now know that even if the aid-target was fully achieved, and if the 6 per cent per annum growth rate of developing countries was accomplished, the development gap would continue to widen. The fact is that the per capita income of the developing countries of Africa and Asia is about $100 to $120. This is just about equal to the yearly increase in the per capita income of the developed countries.
51.	From that it can easily be seen that the masses of the third world cannot hope for even the beginning of the fulfilment of their aspirations in the Second United Nations Development Decade. It is thus clearly and mathematically illustrated that there is falsity behind the thinking that conventional aid can in any way bridge the problem of the dangerous imbalance between the poor nations and the rich.
52.	The other approach to aid suggested by the Soviet Union is that 10 per cent of the cutback on armaments expenditure should be used to assist the developing countries [A/L. 701/Rev. /]. But while this matter is being debated and examined, perhaps we should look at other possible approaches. For example, we suggest that if even the interest on foreign debts of developing countries was wiped out by the creditor nations, it would greatly reduce the very heavy pressure of this indebtedness.
53.	Let us stop fooling ourselves and fooling each other that aid as we have known it can ever by itself solve this problem. The answer is clear: trade, not aid, must be the main approach to the achievement of an equitable international economic system. The developed nations must pay us more for our primary commodities and give us greater access to their markets for the manufactured goods we produce. The illustrious President Nyerere of the United Republic of Tanzania has pointed to the fact that, whereas 8 or 10 bales of cotton could buy a tractor 20 years ago, today it would take some 25 bales of the same commodity to buy the engine of that tractor. This situation can also be illustrated in terms of sisal, bananas and so on. President Mobutu of Zaire has indicated that the price of rubber is less today than it was 20 years ago, and we are all aware of the increase in the price of tires over that period.
54.	If we are seriously considering the problem of elevating the living standards of the poor of the world, if we are seriously contemplating the danger on the borders and in the shanty-towns of all our countries where the human time-bombs of poverty are ticking away in the settled hopeless expectation of a futureless existence, then we must sit down at this very Assembly and work out a system which will relate the price of bananas, cotton, rubber and so on to the price of machines and tractors and trucks and automobiles so as to link the two sets of commodities in such a way that they will move up together automatically as the prices move up in the industrial countries. What we need is a formula which will serve as the basis for this new relationship and the construction of appropriate indices to measure and guide movements of :he basic elements.
55.	Is such a task beyond the ingenuity of this international institution? It is in fact a vital and urgent one. But will you admit that it is at present outside the desire of this Organization and its Members? My country proposes that the United Nations should make a clear commitment at this session of the Assembly that the Economic and Social Council, in collaboration with UNCTAD, should apply its collective mind to this problem now. My delegation will submit a draft resolution ir. the appropriate Commitee proposing that a task force should accordingly be set up to work out such a system and to consider all the monetary and other implications attendant on it. It is- surely not beyond the ingenuity or the desire of this international Organization, founded on such high hopes, to relate the effort of the worker in the sugar-cane fields with that of the labourer in the factory of a more temperate climate. The fact is that there is now no meaningful or equitable relationship whatever between the artificial prices manipulated by the few and the misery of the millions who produce these commodities in both the developed and the developing countries.
56.	A few days ago Secretary of State Kissinger called on the Latin American Governments to join with the United States in a "new dialogue". My country welcomes this invitation. We applauded his remark that "We do not believe that any institution or any treaty arrangement is beyond examination". Let me apply this new and hopeful approach in international policy to the existing state of affairs, for it is one of the most significant expressions of United States international policy in this decade. Placed within the framework of my own country's traditional and hallowed respect for the sanctity of contracts, it gives, in our view, expression to the need for, and understanding of, the principle that in the matter of treaties and agreements, review is an inevitable and natural and just process of history. It takes into account the reality of present and changing patterns of international relationships and the growing respect for the sovereignty of all nations.
57.	The application of this principle relates equally to the structure and form of the complex of international institutions that have been established over the last 28 years. As an example, the urgent need for the reform of the international monetary system is no longer in doubt. What is really in doubt is whether such reform, when it comes, will ever be really practical or effective. It is clear that here, as elsewhere, the developed countries have not been prepared to submit sufficiently to the jurisdiction of a fully elective international body. Let me hope that Mr. Kissinger's remarks when he proposed to us, his Latin American neighbours "a friendship based on equality and a respect for mutual dignity" will bear fruit. The Secretary of State was right when he said "... such a relationship is needed for all of us, and I believe it is needed also for the rest of the world". By the same token, reform in the case of the monetary system must include the achievement of more effective participation in decision-making by the developing countries, in particular, by ensuring the adequate representation of such countries in the appropriate bodies.
58.	Reform must also mean the more effective introduction of the concept of development into the international monetary system. The urgent requirement of the immediate post-war period was the establishment of a system of controls and a code of behaviour in the monetary field. Today we need to move on to a realistic pursuit of development in the widest sense of that term. Reform must include the association of the reserve assets, the special drawing rights, with a system allowing a greater flow of resources between developed and developing countries. We ask that further thought be given to proposals advanced by us and others at the recent joint annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Nairobi to evolve a hew type of loan bearing a lower interest rate from that institution.
59.	Reference has been made by several speakers to the recent meetings at Algiers of the non-aligned nations.31 was very proud of the contribution made by my own small country on that unique occasion. I was particularly pleased to see over 70 great nations, in many instances represented by their Heads of State, from Afghanistan to Zaire, concentrate so much energy and thought on economic and social matters. In these areas there seems to be no space for detente. This effect is not felt here, and it is precisely in these fields that the poor nations need most consideration and that the world needs a new understanding. The very reason that brought the non-aligned group into existence was that the world became aware of the total disaster that could overtake it unless sanity prevailed. It seems less ominous today than it was a decade or two ago, and a great deal of this is owing to the pioneers of the non-aligned movement; but the spread of terrorism, the grim hatreds behind the smiling and non-smiling faces in the ghettos of the world require a universal awareness of the need to fashion effective means of constructive action in the economic and social fields. Failure to do this will not merely mean for us a failure to grasp the opportunity of the moment, but will also cast all of us in the role of enjoying a frivolous flirtation with history.
60.	The United Nations was conceived by idealists. We make no apology for following the road of idealism, but it is an idealism that is limited only by the will of each of us to carry out specific commitments within our powers — great or small.
61.	As a small country, we make no apology for concentrating more on people than on property. We feel that nations, great or small, should pay no more importance to the balance of payments than they pay to the balance of human distress. Traditional mathematical representations such as gross national product are often meaningless in terms of either hunger or homelessness. We go further and say it is short-sighted to neglect social development, which is the essential purpose of economic development. This was made clear in a short passage of the Honourable Prime Minister of Jamaica's inaugural address to this Assembly a year ago:
"I am convinced that housing is going to have to become the great new area of world concern and effort. It seems to me that, in the absence of a home, much else that we seek to plan and to achieve is frustrated and overwhelmed by the sheer, brutal reality of shanty-town life. I believe that much of education is lost upon a child who returns from school to share one room with his brothers, sisters and parents. I believe that many of the hostilities and tensions which frustrate the economic process can be traced, a t least in part, to this problem. Therefore I wish to suggest that the international community should address its mind to the development of a world-wide plan for housing. I was pleased to see that the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment has taken note of this problem and called for support for the housing fund that was proposed at that Conference. I suggest that formulas be explored for ensuring that funds

for housing become a planned and standard addition wherever investment capital moves."
62.	Here at the United Nations and elsewhere, Jamaica has played a particularly active role in the field of the human environment, for we believe that through the environment programme there is a possibility of approaching more closely the heart of the matter of development. We have stressed the need to view the human being as central to the theme of the environment. We urge, therefore, that the ideas and priorities agreed upon at the first meeting of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme in Geneva in June of this year should be pursued, particularly those concerning human settlement, health and habitation.
63.	My country enters a plea for forgiveness in repeatedly returning to the idea that the central core of all our endeavour is the improvement in the quality of life of the individual human being. We have already seen how national statistics may have scant relevance to this central theme. We have also seen that in the determination of economic development it is no longer possible to neglect the social factor.
64.	Following Jamaica's initiative during the twenty- seventh session, the Assembly adopted resolutions dealing with the institutional and financial arrangements for housing and human settlements. We are aware of the considerations that have taken place on these resolutions of the Assembly. We note with regret, however, the illusion of action on these resolutions and will raise these issues in the appropriate forum.
65.	My Government continues to note with regret the low priority that has been accorded to this sector by the United Nations system. We are heartened that the World Bank has committed itself to allocating substantial funds for the housing and human settlements sector of its activities. It is our hope that the question of establishing new and realistic criteria for determining the rates of interest and the eligibility for soft loans in this sector will be given the urgency of treatment and attention that it deserves. It is our further hope that a new sense of international morality and financial commitment by the developed countries will emerge, and that action based on this recognition by the World Bank of the intimate relationship between economic development and such social problems as urbanization, unemployment, poverty and the condition of human settlements will not be frustrated. Let us remember that the greater the task, the greater the need that the effort be rooted in the deepest human convictions. It is time for us to introduce a new game-plan to reflect the high priority that was accorded to this sector in the International Development Strategy for the Second United Nations Development Decade [resolution 2626 (XXV)] and that was again reinforced in the number 1 priority of the Governing Council for environmental programmes. The scale of activities so far undertaken is not at all commensurate with the magnitude of the problem. The Jamaican delegation will at the appropriate time work with like-minded delegations in an effort to accelerate and give further impetus to the activities in this sector, and to ensure full participation by the developing countries in any new mechanism that is being up within the United Nations system.
66.	It is because my small country, Jamaica, has never faltered in its support for the United Nations as the greatest repository of hope for the peoples of the world that we cannot pass without noticing a very unfortunate phrase from a most distinguished source referring to "the increasingly assuming characteristic of a bloc of its own — the alignment of the non-aligned". If this is not a naive misunderstanding of the history and nature of that great and growing movement for the preservation of peace, it could only be a deliberate and calculated misrepresentation of the role of this great movement. We are not a bloc. By definition we are against blocs. We never have been a bloc and we persist in a solemn resistance to being lured into joining any bloc.
67.	As a small and poor nation, our strength lies less in the threat to exercise power against others than in the capacity to remain objective and frank both to our friends and to any who choose to describe themselves otherwise. It is in this tradition of frankness that my delegation refers with deep sadness to the unfortunate turn of events in the Middle East. We have always hoped, and still do hope, that in Security Council resolution 242 (1967) in its entirety lies the hope for a true and lasting peace in this area. As a consequence Jamaica calls for an immediate cease-fire and the commencement of negotiations in accordance with that resolution, which, we repeat, is the only hope for peace in the Middle East.
68.	We believe equally that unless we follow more the dictates of our collective conscience and less the escalation of rhetoric and hypocrisy, many more conflicts will erupt and continue, at the cost of countless innocent dead. A few days ago we witnessed in this very room the disgraceful exhibition of that small band who purport to represent the people of South Africa, shamelessly supported by a very slim minority of this Organization in a legalistic argument
^ as to their right to freedom of speech. The enunciation of that right sounds thin and hollow in the mouths of a racist regime whose best-known characteristic is their own denial of that right to the millions forming the majority in their own country. The shameless gang will continue this massive exhibition of hypocrisy as long as they obtain encouragement from the few remaining supporters in this Organization, who, by such support, cast grave doubts upon the moral posture of the Organization itself.
69.	It is in this setting, and at a time when bombs are raining death and blood is flowing like a red sea of its own, that I give this solemn warning. War is caused by breaches of faith, by desertion of principle and abandonment of a moral code.
70.	How can we absolve ourselves from blame — we who sit comfortably unconcerned while the brutal bandits of South Africa, who demand their freedom of speech here, refuse to reply to the demand of the International Court of Justice that they set Namibia free? It is this body which has by resolution after resolution, in accordance with the legal decision of that high Court, set up the instruments for the liberation and lawful government of the people of Namibia. Yet we lack the will to put them into effect. There are many areas of the world in dispute that come Before us In which there are, however weighted, two opinions to be decided. In the case of Namibia there is but a single clear, irrefutable example of injustice — that by South Africa. South Africa is illegally in charge of Namibia. There is no legal obstacle to United Nations action against it. It would have been indefensible if this were only a case of territorial aggression. It would be even more reprehensible if it were merely an extension of that wrong in that South Africa had annexed property and people in the manner of the classical colonialist. But it goes further: the conscience of the world is tortured by the dehumanizing practices that are forced upon the people of Namibia by this racist abomination which is supported here by those few friends who legalistically uphold the right to freedom of speech.
71.	The conscience of the world cries out, in the name of those dying today on the battlefield of wrong, that this Assembly should call upon the Security Council to act now.
72.	Our hope for peace demands that we ask the Security Council: first, to demand that South Africa surrender the administration of Namibia, or that force be exercised against it to enforce its obedience to the law; and secondly, to protect the United Nations Council for Namibia that has been established to administer Namibia and restore to its people God's gift of freedom.
73.	In the name of my small country, Jamaica, I ask you, each of you, Have you the will to demand this, that the United Nations summon up its collective will to take up its own Mandate?
74.	The precious young lives being sacrificed even as we speak in comfort here cry out this warning, If you do not maintain the force of law, your sons and daughters will die under the law of force.
75.	The painfulness of the truth is already evident in other parts of Africa. Jamaica and the rest of the free world salute the freedom fighters of South Africa, Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau. We welcome the brave liberators of Guinea-Bissau, our newest nation, which recalls the struggle for freedom in the United States of America, and elsewhere when men believe in "liberty or death". My country was the first in the new world to recognize Guinea-Bissau.
76.	My delegation believes that the main purpose of the United Nations is to preserve peace, not to stop war. We believe that much has been done by this great international body for which the world must be grateful. But the preservation of peace demands that we be constantly alert to maintain our principles and enforce our resolutions. There are areas today in Latin America which are not yet in a state of war but which are far from enjoying the atmosphere of peace. I refer in particular to the tiny Territory of Belize. Belize has been promised independence by the United Kingdom. But fear of accepting that freedom, which its people deserve, arises from fear of invasion the moment independence is granted. Let me pray that we shall take strong and timely measures, clear for all to see, to prevent the use of force from spreading the seeds of war and oppression in that otherwise peaceful area.
77.	My country, Jamaica, has never lost faith in the influence for good that exists here in the United Nations. The
hopes of mankind rest in our hands. Can we summon up the will to do that for which future generations will be grateful? Each moment of indecision, hesitancy or disobedience to the dictates of our conscience, every sacrifice of principle on the altar of expediency, each wasteful death in the ghetto or on the battlefield of wrong cries out to us. We can no longer afford the luxury of delay.


149.	The delegation of Senegal associates itself fully with the friendly words uttered by the many heads of delegations who have preceded us at this rostrum, and, although it is not necessary to stress the matter, wishes to present in its turn its sincere congratulations to Mr. Benites on his unanimous election to the office of President of the twenty-eighth session of the General Assembly.
150.	We wish to associate ourselves also with the tribute already paid to his eminent predecessor, Mr. Stanislaw Trepczyriski.
151.	Finally, we express to our Secretary-General, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, our profound gratitude for the activities he has carried out in so little time in the service of peace and justice throughout the world.
152.	I wish to take this memorable opportunity also to hail on behalf of the Government and people of Senegal the admission to membership in the United Nations of the German Democratic Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, an event which concretely expresses, over and above the reduction of tension throughout the world, the universalist mission conferred upon the Organization by the founders of the United Nations.
153.	In the short period which has elapsed since the last session of the General Assembly positive signs heralding an atmosphere of detente, which is the first essential step towards universal peace, have shown themselves in international life. This trend finds its clearest expression in the priority given by the great Powers to rapprochement and harmonization of their relations, whether this involves the strengthening of co-operation between the United States and the Soviet Union or a mutual accommodation between China and the United States, which is a prelude to the normalization of their relations, or the installation of a climate of detente in Europe, which takes the form in particular of the basic agreement between the two Germanys and the opening of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe.
154.	At first sight, all these events would tend to show, were this to be necessary, that in international life there seems to be taking form a trend towards new bilateral relations inspired by political realism, thus increasing the possibility for peaceful solutions to the controversial questions which have so far been postponed from year to year.
155.	But since the reduction of tensions and coexistence are not always synonymous with international peace and security, the positive trend which has partially taken place in international relations cannot completely allay our misgivings at the rapid and complex evolution of our world, which frequently exceeds its own understanding, in the face of the fierce competition which is taking place there and of which the third world all too frequently is the theatre when it is not the stake.
156.	Too many countries are interested in the United Nations only in so far as this Organization can serve their interests and fulfil their aspirations, instead of seeing in the Organization an active, vital and universal mechanism, making it possible to build a more just, more democratic and more human world.
157.	As it is, in the field of economic and trade relations the proletarian nations are unceremoniously relegated to the outer reaches of the world market and of the international division of labour. The situation for some of them is deteriorating from year to year as the result of various factors, among which the frequent occurrence of natural catastrophes of all types is one phenomenon.
158.	As you are aware, our region has been the victim of one of those natural catastrophes. Indeed, the cycle of drought which has prevailed for seven years in the Sudano-Sahelian region became aggravated last year and has reached catastrophic proportions, affecting, directly or indirectly, more than 20 million human beings in Upper Volta, Mali, Mauritania. Niger, Chad and Senegal.
159.	And yet, as early as August of 1972, the Senegal Government had brought to the attention of friendly States and international organizations the food shortage which was going to result from the drought. On 9 October the President of the Republic, His Excellency Mr. Leopold Sedar Senghor, called the attention of the World Bank to the deterioration of climatic conditions in the Sahelian zone.
160.	I might also point out that the struggle against the spreading desert in our regions through the rational use of surface and ground water has for years been the principal preoccupation of the States bordering on the Senegal River-Mali, Mauritania and Senegal-which are today regrouped in the Organization for the Development of the Senegal River, known as the OMVS.
161.	Faced with the devastating consequences of this scourge, African solidarity and international assistance have not failed. To brother States, friendly countries, the United Nations and other international organizations I convey the sincere thanks and profound gratitude of the Government and people of Senegal. One can regret in passing that some, in helping us, have thought it fitting to address unjust reproaches to us, as ii this natural calamity could be ascribed to the negligence of the Governments of the six countries involved.
162.	It remains for me to hope that the General Assembly will take into consideration item 101 of its agenda, entitled "Consideration of the economic and social situation in the Sudano-Sahelian region stricken by drought and measures to be taken for the benefit of that region", in particular, to seek ways to deal with a repetition of the dramatic consequences of such a catastrophe by providing-as it is invited to do by the Economic and Social Council in its resolution 1797 (LV)-for concrete measures equal to the scientific resources and technological capacity of industrial civilization.
163.	Within this scheme of things, the Senegal delegation firmly supports the proposal of the Secretary-General to provide funds under the regular United Nations budget for emergency operations. It goes without saying that such an initiative would constitute an important contribution to the implementation of resolution 2717 (XXV), by which the General Assembly recommended the adoption of measures designed to strengthen the capacity of various United Nations organs to contribute assistance and secure a rapid mobilization and effective co-ordination of international aid.
164.	At a time when man, by setting foot on the moon, has achieved one of mankind's long-cherished dreams, it seems to us that the great task confronting the international community now more than ever is the solution of the problems of economic, cultural, social and political development-in a word, the integral development of man.
165.	And yet, what do we observe today?
166.	The Committee on Review and Appraisal, charged with assessing the progress accomplished in the implementation of the International Development Strategy for the Second United Nations Development Decade, reveals that the experience of the last two years is particularly discouraging.
167.	The situation of developing countries, already precarious, has further deteriorated, of course, because numerous poor countries do not always do enough for the less-favoured classes, as will be seen from the reports of the World Bank, but especially because the rich countries do not implement the measures contemplated in the Strategy.
168.	Such a situation, in the present state of affairs, can only widen the huge gap between the rich and the poor countries, and this may bring about a feeling of profound frustration, the consequences of which, it may be presaged, will be serious for international peace and security.
169.	In order to ward off such a possibility, the United Nations will have to refrain from the magic of words and simple declarations of intent and resolutely bend its efforts towards more concrete co-operation and the search for just solutions to questions of natural resources, trade and development.
170.	It is only very recently that the developing countries have begun to intervene directly in international discussions on the law of the sea, whose evolution had formerly been subject to the criteria of only the industrialized countries.
171.	No precise international agreement having been concluded in order to fix the limits of national jurisdiction, to ensure the necessary protection of the resources of the sea and guarantee the preservation of fisheries, my Government, by a decree of 3 June 1971, has denounced the Geneva Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone,  as well as the Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living Resources of the Sea.
172.	At the same time, our country has opened a dialogue with other African States in order to co-ordinate the various interpretations with a view to presenting a common front at the different international conferences that are to take place soon and in which Senegal will participate, with the object of contributing positively to the new formulation of maritime law.
173.	The major lines of the African position as reaffirmed at the Algiers Conference fits in perfectly with the claims of my country concerning specifically the exclusive economic zone and the sea-bed.
174.	In the case of the exclusive economic zone, we claim an adjacent zone of essentially economic utility not stretching beyond 200 nautical miles. Within that zone the coastal State would exercise exclusive sovereignty over all the biological and mineral resources existing in the waters, the soil and the sub-soil, without prejudice to freedom of navigation, overflight, the laying of cables and pipelines, etc.
175.	Of course, land-locked and partially land-locked countries will be acknowledged to have rights concerning participation in the exploitation of the living resources of the zone on the basis of bilateral, regional or multilateral agreements.
176.	As for the sea-bed and ocean floor, as well as the sub-soil thereof, beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, that constitutes a zone proclaimed to be the "common heritage of mankind" by the famous Declaration of Principles Governing the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor, and the Subsoil Thereof, beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction.
111. We consider that the exploration and exploitation of that zone should be entrusted to an international agency administered in common by all States, or else to a specialized agency such as the World Bank.
178.	In this same context, the Senegal delegation approves, as of now, Economic and Social Council resolution 1762 (LIV) designed to create a revolving fund for research on the development of natural resources.
179.	It is quite natural that I should now come to the fundamental claims of the third world relating to trade and development, to which neither UNCTAD no* the General Assembly have managed to find just and acceptable solutions.
180.	These days, when a certain number of countries that have achieved industrial and technical over-development are seriously envisaging putting a brake on economic growth, four fifths of mankind continues to endure living conditions incompatible with the purposes and principles of the
United Nations Charter and with the present state of civilization and the norms of coexistence as established in recent years.
181.	I should therefore wish to recall that my country has for many years proclaimed the necessity of transforming the unfair economic structures of our day by a triple plan of action.
182.	First of all, there is the agonizing problem of commodities. As has already been stressed by President Leopold Sedar Senghor in his outstanding plea at the fifty-sixth session of the International Labour Organisation:
"Therefore, we believe that the most urgent question is to revise the relationships between us-between affluent countries and proletarian countries-by guaranteeing a fair remuneration for the products of the emerging countries through a more rational and, consequently, a more humane organisation of international trade . . .".11
183.	In this spirit the developing countries forcefully call for the regularization of production and the stabilization of prices at a remunerative level so as to increase export income considerably, taking into account the need to increase the financing of the development of countries and to offset the disastrous effects of the implacable continuous deterioration of terms of trade, euphemistically called "the law of supply and demand".
184.	In this connexion I am very pleased with the decision of the. European Community's commission concerning future relations of the Community with the Associated African States and the developing countries of the Commonwealth, contained in its memorandum of 4 April 1973, to guarantee to each associated country, as part of the Eurafrican Yaounde Association, export incomes in order to take into account any possible climatic catastrophes and the deterioration in the terms of trade.
185.	Hence, in the field of aid my Government continues to call upon the developed countries to attain the goal of 1 per cent of gross national product in the transfer of financial resources, of which 0.70 per cent would be from public resources for the benefit of developing countries. It goes without saying that within the framework of the over-all goal of 1 per cent of the gross national product, which unfortunately does not take into account reverse flows representing payment of interest and dividends, greater attention will have to be concentrated upon the priority goal of 0.70 per cent deriving essentially from public resources.
186.	Lastly, in the case of debt, the developing countries call for an improvement in financial conditions and the alleviation of debt servicing.
187.	In this respect it should be noted with satisfaction that there has been a decision by the UNCTAD Committee on Invisibles and Financing Related to Trade whereby a special group of governmental experts would be established

to examine problems of the debt of developing countries, amounting to $75,000 million for a group of 80 countries, and any possible measures to be prescribed internationally.
188.	In truth, these questions are so closely tied to the international monetary situation that if this serious problem is not resolved it will practically be illusory to attempt to accelerate exchanges and increase the net volume of aid provided to the communities that are not properly equipped in world competition.
189.	With that in view, Senegal, for its part, will provide its unqualified support for any proposal or formula submitted with a view to establishing some machinery for collective economic security which might form an over-all framework for solidarity between rich and proletarian nations.
190.	However, these events depend first and foremost upon the progress that is achieved towards general and complete disarmament. As of now, I am happy to proclaim from this rostrum that my delegation firmly adheres to the Soviet Union's proposal to reduce by 10 per cent, the military budgets of permanent members of the Security Council [A/9191 J. It would, moreover, be desirable for that proposal to apply likewise to the other States possessing a large economic and military potential. The resources thus liberated would finance the fund for special aid to development, establishment of which has so urgently been called for by the non-aligned countries. For it is with considerable misgiving mixed with powerlessness that we note that military expenditures annually amount to $200,000 million-in other words, more than the cumulative revenues of Africa, southern Asia and the Far East.
191.	The atomic Powers are indefinitely strengthening their military arsenals, whereas others are engaging in nuclear tests in the atmosphere and underground, threatening our world with the spectre of an atomic war capable of engulfing our fragile planet.
192.	Does that mean that the Disarmament Decade might in turn prove to be only a snare because for 10 years now the United Nations has adopted only partial measures which are, as a matter of fact, limited to the field of "non-armament"? Well, no. Thus my delegation notes with satisfaction the recent agreement in Washington between the United States and the Soviet Union concerning the limitation of strategic arms.
193.	Moreover, my Government, which on numerous occasions has registered its disapproval of nuclear explosions, is particularly gratified at the adherence of the People's Republic of China to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (Treaty of Tlatelolco) prohibiting nuclear weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as France's decision to adhere to it in the near future. In a sector as crucial as this for the future of the whole of mankind, that is assuredly a historic development which I am sure will gradually spread.
194.	In that perspective, the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, which met in Helsinki, already constitutes an irreversible trend towards the transformation of the old continent into a zone of peace and thus towards the convening of a world disarmament conference, for which my Government yearns with all its heart.
195.	Will it, then, be possible to hope at last for an era of progress and peace in the world?
196.	For the moment, we have welcomed with gratification the Paris agreements which put an end to the horrible war in Viet-Nam. Therefore, my Government, after a clear-headed and objective analysis of the situation, has drawn the necessary conclusions from these agreements by recognizing the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Viet-Nam and, at the same time, placing both parties on a footing of equality so as to promote their progress towards unity.
197.	In the case of Cambodia, where peace depends solely on the return to legitimacy represented by the Royal Government of National Union, I remain convinced, in the light of the events that have taken place recently, that our Organization, in this respect basing itself upon the Algiers Conference, will at the present session raise the problem of the restoration to the regime of Prince Norodom Sihanouk of its legitimate rights.
198.	Similarly, in Korea the United Nations should establish conditions favourable for accelerating the independent and peaceful reunification of Korea, supplementing, by a radical revision of the role of the United Nations Commission for the Unification and Rehabilitation of Korea and by a decision to withdraw all foreign forces, the present negotiations between the Governments of Pyongyang and Seoul, with which Senegal maintains diplomatic relations.
199.	But it is more by favouring establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East that the United Nations will recover the prestige that has been seriously undermined by the despair of some and the bellicose arrogance of others-not to mention, of course, the actions of certain great Powers which seem quite reconciled to the aggravation of tensions in that already tense area.
200.	The more the Israeli Government accentuates its aggressiveness, as evidenced by the recent acts of reprisal and air piracy, the less its behaviour is likely to be understood by international public opinion.
201.	The Israeli leaders would make a very important contribution to the coming of peace to the eastern shores of the Mediterranean if they really agreed strictly and fully to apply the relevant provisions of Security Council resolution 242 (1967) and if they were to proclaim publicly their policy of non-annexation of occupied Arab territory.
202.	Such a conciliatory and unambiguous attitude would undoubtedly help the United Nations to give a new impetus to the efforts made with a view to the restoration of peace in that part of the world and would also contribute to the elimination of colonialism and apartheid in Africa.
203.	Great is our bitterness and profound our disappointment at seeing the collective will of the United Nations to put an end to colonialism and racial discrimination come up in Africa against a solid wall of arrogance, defiance and contempt.
204.	Portugal, a European country which would seem, after all. to be in a good position to avoid the errors of colonial conquest, refuses to comply with the obligations of the Charter and continues with impunity to trample underfoot the decisions of the principal organs of the United Nations.
205.	While millions of men have, over a period of 15 years, recovered their right to assume responsibility for their own destinies, Portugal continues to seek shelter-and how blindly-in the superstitions of the past and to follow a merciless policy of oppression of the populations of Guinea-Bissau, the Cape Verde Islands, Angola and Mozambique. This inhuman Portuguese policy is expressed most tragically, as will be seen from the report of Father Adrian Hastings [see A/9023[Rev. 1, chap. IX, para. 28], in the odious massacre of more than 400 men, women and children, ignominiously perpetrated on 16 December 1972 in the village of Wiriyamu in Mozambique.
206.	And yet we have very much present in our minds the particularly reasonable proposals of Amilcar Cabral, former Secretary-General of PAIGC - assassinated in a dastardly manner on 20 January 1973 - proposals which the General Assembly was to endorse last year by recognizing the liberation movements of territories under Portuguese administration as the authentic representatives of the peoples of that Territory and inviting Portugal to enter into negotiations shortly with these movements.
207.	In the face of the arrogance of the Portuguese Government vis-à-vis the injunctions of the international community, what is left for the United Nations if not to assume its responsibilities in order to have its decisions applied?
208.	For its part, the people of Guinea-Bissau has taken the historic decision to take its destiny into its own hands by proclaiming a few days ago the independence of its Territory.
209.	I should like, on behalf of the Government and people of Senegal, to hail warmly the accession to international sovereignty of the republican and democratic State of Guinea-Bissau and to express our best wishes for the happiness and prosperity of its people. And I wish to take this memorable occasion solemnly to invite the Members of the United Nations to recognize the new State without delay, to admit it to our Organization as soon as an application is made, and to ensure to it as of now their co-operation as well as their active solidarity in its struggle against Portuguese colonialism.
210.	But our Organization has another specific duty: that of aiding the populations in Southern Rhodesia and Namibia to achieve their independence on the basis of

equality of rights for all. Unfortunately, in spite of the rather significant efforts made by the majority of the Members of the United Nations, the minority regimes in power in this tormented region continue to base their retrograde policies on racial segregation and discrimination.
211.	In Southern Rhodesia eight years have elapsed since the rebellion-eight years of suffering and martyrdom for the Zimbabwe people-without any satisfactory results being recorded. On the contrary, the illegal and racist minority regime is growing stronger from year to year in spite of economic sanctions, or perhaps because of attempted negotiations conducted by the British Government.
212.	In fact, the report of the Security Council's Committee on sanctions  informs us that Rhodesian trade increased in 1971, the mandatory economic sanctions having largely been ignored by Members of the Organization-and first among these, certain permanent members of the Security Council.
213.	At the same time, tension is constantly growing in view of the acts of provocation of the Zimbabwe people by the Southern Rhodesian army. Thus, in January 1973 the Zambian Government was forced once again to come before the Security Council as a result of the unilateral decision of the illegal regime to close its common border with Zambia, thus imposing upon that country an economic blockade in retaliation for the support given by the Zambian authorities to the just cause of the Zimbabwe people.
214.	It is obvious. We note there, on the part of the rebellious Government, as was pointed out last year appropriately by the representative of Somalia, "the same disregard for the authority of the United Nations, the same withdrawal from responsibility on the part by those most able to take effective action, and the same drift towards support for the racist regimes. .. ."
215.	Concerning South Africa, my Government rejects out of hand the thesis according to which normal economic relations, as well as financial and cultural relations, with that country might bring about changes in the policy of South Africa, or at least the humanization of the abominable regime of apartheid, which is both an ideology and an iniquitous system of Government based solely upon complete contempt for non-white races. More serious still, the South African Government calmly pursues the integration of Namibia into its own territory, denying the populations concerned the right to self-determination and imposing upon them the sordid policy of separate development of races.
216.	That is why Senegal, in this respect complying with the resolutions of the Organization of African Unity, considers that an end must be put to contacts between the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the South African Government concerning Namibia, since these contacts are exploited by Pretoria in an effort to have the Organization endorse its retrograde policy of the dismemberment of Namibia.
217.	It is felicitous, in the view of my Government, that the Ovambos, the largest ethnic group, have resolutely rejected the policy of dismemberment of the Territory by refusing to take part in the elections organized on 1 August 1973 by the South African authorities.
218.	It may be possible for us, at a time when we are about to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to adopt effective and appropriate measures for the safeguarding of human dignity, and to bring our world into harmony with the necessities of the planetary age. From this point of view, the time has come to put a final end to the relegation of the United Nations to the diplomatic sidelines through a process of mutual accommodation and alleviation of tensions: on the contrary new vigour must be infused into the Organization and it must be enabled to take into its own hands the control of improvement in relations between States.
219.	The time has come to entrust to the United Nations the full requisite responsibility and all the necessary authority to increase its normative capacity and to build the basis of an equitable mechanism of international co-operation, as part of the democratization of international relations.
220.	This democratization postulates-and the non-aligned countries anticipated it in Georgetown  and have just proclaimed it in Algiers-that at the present stage no durable world-wide system can ignore the constructive and creative contribution of the small and medium-sized Powers to the solution of problems of world-wide interest.
221.	Finally, I wish to formulate the ardent hope that the present session will constitute a historic landmark on the difficult road towards strengthened tolerance between nations and the realization of the legitimate aspirations of peoples for freedom, economic justice and peace.


2.	 I am particularly delighted with the opportunity to address this Assembly. This is my first visit here in this capacity and already I feel that I am among friends. This is as it should be. For we are all united by our desire to translate into reality the philosophy behind the founding of this world body. It was the hope of the founding fathers that this Organization, representing peoples of different political, cultural, economic and social backgrounds, should be an effective instrument for harmonizing different views, reconciling competing interests and concerting such action as would give substance to mankind's aspirations for peace and plenty in justice and dignity. Ideals nobler than these for structuring a world order will definitely be difficult to find. To live up to such high expectations is the great challenge before all of us who are assembled here.
3.	Permit me, Mr. President, to convey to you my heartiest congratulations on your election as President of this twenty-eighth session of the General Assembly. It is a fitting tribute to your sterling qualities as a diplomat who has rendered distinguished services not only to your country, but also to the international community as a whole. Your election is also a well-deserved honour for your country,
Ecuador, with which my country enjoys warm relations, and which has shown consistent adherence to the principles and purposes of our Charter. I have no doubt that under your wise guidance this session of the General Assembly will achieve great success.
4.	My congratulations also go to the members of your Bureau and to the distinguished Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, who, since his assumption of office, has brought great dedication and sense of personal commitment to his heavy task. I wish him continued success and God's blessing. I wish also to place formally on record my appreciation of the excellent services rendered to this Organization and humanity by the past Secretaries-General, particularly the late Dag Hammarskjold and U Thant.
5.	Thirteen years ago my country was admitted as the ninety-ninth Member of this Organization. On that occasion, the then Prime Minister of Nigeria, the late Sir Abu-bakar Tafawa Balewa, expressed the belief of Nigeria in the United Nations as the only effective machinery for bringing about world peace and the progress of mankind generally. Today, I wish to reaffirm my country's faith in the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. We in Nigeria believe that if all Members States adhere strictly to the provisions of our Charter, as an earnest of their dedication to the ideals of our Organization, then we may yet accomplish that unique and bright promise for all mankind which the United Nations represents.
6.	I am a strong believer in the United Nations. I therefore find it rather disturbing that the image which some people tend to have of the United Nations is a misleading one of lack of dramatic success in dealing immediately with some of the major problems of peace and security, of human rights, and the degrading poverty of a large majority of the world's population. Proceeding from such a viewpoint, the conclusion is often heard that this Organization is hardly any more relevant to our times. I do not share such pessimism, and I venture to suggest that most Africans would not accept such a doleful assessment of the United Nations. We are all well aware of its shortcomings and its failings. These are, in some measure, a reflection of the world which produced and now operates the Organization. It is necessary to seek to improve its effectiveness, but we in Africa hope that the States Members of the United Nations will embark on such a process in a manner that would not do damage to this Organization which is so vital to the vast underprivileged, as yet developing, population of the third world.

7.	For millions of such peoples throughout the world, the United Nations provides an indispensable forum for bringing to world attention, some of the problems that plague the world, and for which, all too often, no other means of solution are apparent. The United Nations can and does bring to bear the moral weight of world opinion on many a controversial issue. That explains its great value to the smaller nations and to the dispossessed and downtrodden peoples of the world. For example, it is clear that without the moral pressure exerted on colonial Powers, principally by this Organization, the struggle for self-determination and independence would definitely have been more difficult for many of the nations that are today proud Members of the United Nations. Nor can we ignore the invaluable services rendered by the Organization and its specialized agencies in the vital areas of health, literacy campaigns, child welfare and the championship of progressive labour legislation on a world-wide basis.
8.	It cannot be over-emphasized that the primary purpose of the United Nations is "to save mankind from the scourge of war". Unfortunately, we have not always attained this lofty objective. There have been breaches of peace, such as in Korea, and Viet-Nam, with consequences no less dismal and harrowing for those affected. However, since 1945, there has been no global war such as mankind experienced to its horror during the first half of this century. It is to the credit of this Organization that, even when conflicts do occur between nations in recent times, peaceful intervention by the United Nations has succeeded in arresting them. In other areas of the world, the United Nations continues to play a key and vital role in providing physical stability and preventing a deterioration of unhappy and unstable political and social conditions. It is, therefore, not unjustified that we should look back on the 28 years of the existence of this Organization with some degree of satisfaction. The little measure of stability and hope that the world and its many peoples have been given these past 28 years has been worthy of the long hours spent in this hall as well as in the chambers of the Security Council and other organs of the United Nations.
9.	Of course, to acknowledge these areas of achievement of the United Nations should by no means lull us into a sense of complacency. As in every human organization, there are areas of United Nations activities that cry out for urgent attention and improvement. Among these is the imperative need to correct the structural and institutional deficiencies that hamstring some of its operations. When the Charter was framed, five nations were entrusted with the responsibility of "policing" the whole world. In the prevailing circumstances of those days such an arrangement might have been justifiable and acceptable. It is no longer so today. An urgent review of the decision-making processes in the United Nations system, taking into full account existing political realities, is long overdue. I need hardly say that one area of immediate concern is the increasing use of the veto in the Security Council in support of causes which seem to be in conflict with the noble objectives of the Charter. In this connexion, it must be emphasized that African nations, and indeed most nations of the world, have been distressed at the constant use of the veto to block meaningful initiatives in matters relating to fundamental human rights, freedom and human dignity in many areas of the world and, in particular, in parts of Africa still under foreign or minority regimes. It is our hope, therefore, that the nations which at present enjoy the privileges of veto power should use it responsibly in furtherance of world peace and the progress of mankind.
10.	The Secretary-General has, in the introduction to his latest report on the work of the Organization, invited us to participate in a "constructive debate" about the future of this Organization [A/9001/Add. 1, p.l]. It is my hope that in responding to this invitation all Member States would advance proposals that would ensure that the resolutions and decisions of the United Nations are implemented by all Member States.
11.	It is a matter for great relief that in the world today preoccupation with outmoded rivalries and enmities on the one hand, and ideological distrusts and suspicions on the other is now being progressively replaced by the spirit of accommodation. The admission of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic into the United Nations justifies the expectation that before long there will be genuine universality of representation in this Organization. I congratulate them, as well as the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, on their admission.
12.	While commending the important steps towards ending the legacies of the Second World War in Europe, we must state that steps towards normalization of the situation in that continent should be matched by the continuing search for peace, understanding and co-operation throughout the world. The search for peace and security must be in a global context and must involve the active participation of all countries. We welcome agreements between the superpowers inasmuch as these agreements lessen the fear and threat of nuclear warfare. However, we are compelled to call on the super-Powers to resist the temptation of limiting their negotiating spirit only to such issues as are of narrow interest to them and their people. We must insist that their negotiations and agreements which affect the fate of others should take account of the views of those concerned. For every nation and every country, great or small, rich or poor, has a stake in peace and security. It is therefore essential that each should participate, on the basis of sovereign equality, in resolving issues of concern to the whole world.
13.	A few months ago the Organization of African Unity [OA U\ celebrated its tenth anniversary. I had the great privilege of presiding over the ceremonies and the tenth session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the OAU. I should like to express the deep appreciation of OAU and all the people of Africa to the United Nations for the co-operation, inspiration and assistance that have continued to characterize the relations between our regional organization and this world body. We highly appreciate the constant interest of the United Nations as an institution, and the unfailing concern of the Secretary-General and the various agencies in developments in Africa and the progress of OAU. All this is in keeping with the spirit of Article 52, which encourages regional organizations "consistent with the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations".
14.	The Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights contributed significantly to the basis and the charter of OAU. Permit me, therefore, to make some observations about how our regional organization has been addressing itself to the many problems confronting our continent.
15.	The birth of OAU in 1963 was a great act of faith, and its response to the challenges of modern times has filled all Africans with joy and immense pride. After only 10 years we have overcome some of the earlier impediments and difficulties in our way. Independent countries from all parts of Africa, with a variety of historical, political, linguistic and social backgrounds, are now united in our organization, which has come to be recognized as the voice of our continent.
16.	Of course, when we reviewed the various activities of OAU at that meeting we acknowledged that we had not achieved all our objectives. Indeed, it would have been difficult to achieve every single one of our aims and objectives in a short decade, given the uncertainties and unforeseen contingencies of world events. However, we have succeeded in consolidating our national independence, and in settling among ourselves and without distracting attention from outside Africa, many such intra-African disputes that have arisen. We have launched many economic and social programmes for improving the quality of life of our peoples in a spirit of self-reliance.
17.	We have brought the meaning of African unity and co-operation much nearer to each African's heart. We have continued to uphold, as central to the problems of our continent, the spirit of self-sacrifice, of compromise, and of reconciliation. We have pledged to redouble our efforts with a view to eradicating all forms of colonialism and racism from our continent, and thus assume control of our continent's destiny. Above all, OAU has symbolized the collective effort of the Governments of Africa and their peoples to uphold for ever the dignity and stature of the African in this world.
18.	The problem posed by the continuation of colonialism, racism and apartheid is the most intractable problem that has confronted us on the continent. Not only do colonialism, racism and apartheid constitute an unbearable affront on human dignity in the areas where those evils exist; they represent a great threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of independent African States and to international peace and security. Thirteen years after the adoption of United Nations resolution 1514 (XV) on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples, more than 30 million Africans, spread over about one-sixth of our continent, continue to be denied their human rights, exploited and subjugated under minority, racist and colonial regimes. In defiance of world public opinion and in contemptuous disregard of the decisions of all international organizations of African unity, those regimes have fanatically frustrated and resisted all attempts at introducing constitutional changes designed to involve, in simple justice, the majority of the inhabitants of those lands in the processes that govern their destiny and their daily lives. Thus denied constantly of their basic and legitimate rights, and bereft of all hope of change by an impervious and inflexible ruling class, is it any wonder that the voice of despair is turning reasonable men who desire nothing but peace and progress to their frightful alternatives offered by constant frustration and loss of hope? Can we wonder then that the people are attracted, in such a situation, to the painful alternative of force and conflict? For our part in OAU we have no choice but to give whole-hearted support to the efforts of our unfortunate brothers to restore their legitimate right to self-determination and independence. In the words of the Solemn Declaration on General Policy adopted at our tenth anniversary session:
"... our support for the liberation struggle was adopted in response to the legitimate and profound aspirations of our peoples and should be viewed less as a circumstantial community of interests than as an awareness of the common destiny of all peoples of the African continent".
19.	At the same meeting, the African Heads of State and Government viewed with satisfaction the progress made in the decade since the establishment of OAU in the legitimate struggle of the peoples of Angola, Guinea-Bissau and the Cape Verde Islands, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, the Comoro Islands, the so-called French Somaliland, the so-called Spanish Sahara, the Seychelles Islands and the islands of Sao Tome and Principe. The struggle and the pressure will continue in Africa until the stain of this degradation of human dignity has been removed and until the African, everywhere on his continent, can raise his head proudly in independence and self-determination and thereby be able to contribute his quota to world progress.
20.	In this regard, Mr. President, let me commend to you and to members of this honourable Assembly the bold and momentous step taken by the long-oppressed people of Guinea-Bissau and their political party in declaring their country independent. We in Africa believe that the struggle for final consolidation of the independence of this new nation will be much assisted by the practical support and co-operation which all men of goodwill and all who subscribe to the principles of the Charter of this Organization will extend, promptly and without hesitation, to the efforts of the rightful owners and peoples of Guinea-Bissau.
21.	The declaration of independence by the people of Guinea-Bissau has received the overwhelming support of member States of OAU and of the friends of Africa. I should like, on behalf of Africa, to thank those friends for their prompt recognition accorded to that new State. It is our hope, therefore, that that new nation will shortly take its rightful position as a proud member of the international community.
22.	What of the special case of Namibia? The situation in Namibia continues to be a source of considerable embarrassment and concern to this Organization. I do not need to go over the various steps that have been taken by the United Nations and its competent organs to bring some rational solution to the situation created in Namibia by the intransigence of the racist regime of South Africa which still occupies that country illegally. The United Nations has endeavoured to carry out its fundamental responsibilities to the hapless people of Namibia by repeatedly providing opportunities for a progressive and peaceful transformation of the situation in the country. It was the hope of many people in different parts of the world that the South African Government would, in its own wider interests, take advantage of the opportunities offered by the United Nations to fulfil its woefully neglected obligations to the people of Namibia.
23.	But what have we found? The South African Government is intent upon defying the opinions of the world. Even after the International Court of Justice has expressed opinions which clearly indicated that the South African Government had no further moral or legal right to dominate Namibia, the South African Government continues to subject the people of that country to its Fascist social and political system.
24.	One is entitled to ask why it is that of all the Territories that were entrusted to the colonialist Powers under the Trusteeship System, only in Namibia, the Territory entrusted to South Africa, has this international trust been betrayed. All the Territories are today full Members of the United Nations or on their way to independence. We in Africa strongly believe that the United Nations and particularly the permanent members of the Security Council have a duty and responsibility to use all means at their disposal to compel South Africa to withdraw from Namibia and thereafter to assume control of the Territory and to administer it until it attains full independence.
25.	Side by side with the steady pressure and progress in the efforts of the liberation movements in various parts of Africa, we witness with dismay the support that continues to be rendered by some nations to two Member States of this Organization that have the dubious distinction in history of being the sole advocates of repression and colonialism and racism. Also, the illegal regime in Salisbury still continues because of the non-compliance by certain Member countries of this Organization with the unanimous decisions of the Organization and of mankind. Perhaps those who prefer to sell a few goods to such an illegal clique, or to buy such commodities as the racists of Salisbury wish to sell in order to maintain themselves in power, have made their own calculations and prefer their temporary material profit to their sense of honour and their position in history.
26.	While on this subject, perhaps I should emphasize again the sadness of Africa in the face of the stubborn and unreasonable intransigence of those white regimes that continue to constitute themselves as enemies of Africa and of the third world. Nobody in Africa wishes to adopt the path of armed struggle and conflict against those minority regimes for the love of it. Nobody has asked that people who normally live in Africa and wish to consider themselves as part of Africa should, by any manner or means, be made to feel unwelcome. Those who are born among us and live and join us both in spirit and co-operation are welcome to live in Africa. For they are Africans. It is for this reason that we made genuine efforts to assure the world of our desire for. racial harmony on conditions of mutual respect and fundamental human rights of all the inhabitants of the continent. Is that not a message of hope for the colonialist and racist regimes? The Lusaka Manifesto  which was presented to this Assembly three years ago by my dear friend and brother, President Ahmadou Ahidjo of the United Republic of Cameroon on behalf of Africa,  embodied Africa's effort to work out a peaceful solution to the colonial and racial problems of the continent — problems which are not of our own making. What was the response? The colonialist and racist regimes rejected out of hand our peace offer and rewarded us with intensification of repressive laws in the areas under their control, massacres of our people, inspired assassination of the authentic leaders of the African freedom movements, and attacks on independent African countries.
27.	Viewed, therefore, against the background of our efforts to initiate peaceful solutions, and the response we got, we are bewildered that several countries which claim to be friends of Africa continue to give such material and moral support to the colonialist and racist regimes, and to strengthen them in their oppression of our peoples. Permit me to appeal again on behalf of Africa to those who give support to our oppressors. It is time for all of us Members of the United Nations to join hands in an effective and total isolation of the colonial and racist regimes in southern Africa. It is time for us to tighten sanctions against the rebel clique in Salisbury. In addition, I appeal to the United Nations and the international community generally, to extend to the liberation movements and to the millions of Africans under severe oppression and exploitation, such material assistance as would ensure fulfilment to the African peoples of the promise held out by the Charter of the United Nations.
28.	Time is on the side of the African in the struggle against colonialism and apartheid. Victory is sure to be ours in the war against oppression and deprivation of individual liberty. But the United Nations and its Member countries can render the process less painful and can help to make the road shorter by taking necessary steps before it is too late. By so doing, they would be contributing to the increase of peace and progress, in place of unhappiness and pain and suffering in the world.
29.	During our tenth anniversary session, the African Heads of State and Government adopted another document of considerable importance. I refer to the African Declaration on Co-operation, Development and Economic Independence. In the 10 years since OAU was founded, we have observed that the promise of substantial economic development, leading to the path of economic independence, as contained in the charter of OAU, has not been marked by encouraging progress. On the contrary, the pattern has been one of continuing deterioration in the economic and social conditions of African and developing countries generally. The gap between us and the developed countries continues to grow even wider. Measures adopted during the last decade, we found, have been frustrated by other developments in the world at large, over which we have little say and no control. The terms of trade have constantly gone against us. World monetary arrangements have been made without consultations with us and without adequate consideration of our interests.
30.	Faced with this situation and firmly convinced that our economic destiny must be taken firmly in our own hands if noticeable improvement is to be achieved, African States solemnly proclaimed their determination to achieve the economic independence and development of the continent through the effective mobilization of Africa's own human and material resources. To this end, we decided to accelerate the implementation of the Africanization policy in each of our countries and to ensure effective and equitable African representation in international organizations.
31.	Bearing in mind the loss which Africa has suffered and continues to sustain through the foreign exploitation of its natural resources, we resolved to defend vigorously, continually and jointly, the sovereign rights of our countries to exercise full and effective control over our resources.
32.	We believe that the time has come for the rich in this Organization to ponder seriously on the danger of being surrounded by so many poor. In their own self interest, if not for the sake of humanity in general, the rich nations should at least give us an even chance of pulling ourselves up. It is no longer our intention to go cap in hand to the door of the rich. What we want and demand is the opportunity for our own people to be afforded a chance of acquiring those skills and those elements of technology without which no decent and progressive economic system can be structured and maintained in the modern world. We have learned that we cannot expect help, at least not of the order that would make a significant contribution to our own needs of development. But the older, more experienced and more technologically advanced countries can still do much to redeem the pledge they made to humanity and to this Organization by not putting impediments in our way, by making less selfish and lopsided marketing arrangements for our own produce and by facilitating our determination to utilize such resources as we have in the interest of our own peoples. I hope that this session of the General Assembly will approve a constructive idea which emerged from the Fourth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, held at Algiers from 5 to 9 September 1973, namely, that a special session of the General Assembly devoted to economic matters should be held in 1975, when we shall be half way through the Second United Nations Development Decade.
33.	I shall conclude my address by referring to the urgent and serious problem of the Middle East, an area with which Africa enjoys strong and deep ties.
34.	As if the situation whereby about 2 million hapless refugees have been dispossessed of their homelands and virtually condemned to live out their lives in tents was not bad enough, the conditions of "no war, no peace" compound the problem. Since June 1967 parts of the territories of States Members of our Organization have remained under foreign occupation by another State Member of the United Nations. When the Security Council adopted its famous resolution 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, it was widely accepted that the provisions of that resolution formed a balanced framework for an equitable and honourable solution to the crisis. It was the greatest hope for peace based on justice in that region. Not only has peace proved elusive; we are all witnesses to the unspeakable series of aggressions, heartless and mindless brutalities, harassments and massacres, not to speak of air piracies and hijackings, which dominate the news from the area. Needless to say, such conditions are a constant threat to world peace and security.
35.	OAU has, in session after session, expressed great concern at the situation. We did even more. As will be recalled, in 1971 a mission of four African Heads of State paid a visit to Egypt and Israel. It was a great honour and privilege for me to have been a member of that mission. Our objective was to see how best OAU, since one of its member nations was involved in the Middle East conflict, could contribute, even if in small measure, to the efforts of the United Nations and others towards a just and peaceful solution or, at any rate, the reduction of the tension of the explosive situation.
36.	During its tenth session, held in Addis Ababa-last May, OAU once again reviewed the seemingly intractable situation in the Middle East. It adopted a resolution and charged me, as its current Chairman, with the task of presenting its views to this Assembly.
37.	Permit me, therefore, to read out the resolution which was unanimously adopted by the Assembly of African Heads of State and Government:
"The OAU Assembly of Heads of State and Government, meeting in its Tenth Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 27 to 29 May 1973,
"Having heard the statement of His Excellency El Shafei, Vice-President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, on the situation in the Middle East in general, and in particular on that resulting from the continued occupation of part of the territory of Egypt since the Israeli aggression of 5 June 1967,
"Recalling all OAU resolutions adopted in this respect, and especially resolution AHG/Res.67 (IX) of the Rabat Summit Conference,
"Reaffirming resolution 2949 (XXVII) of the United Nations General Assembly, passed in December 1972,
"Aware of the danger emanating from the deterioration of the situation in the North-East of Africa as a result of the continued aggression perpetrated against the territory of Egypt and other Arab territories — a danger which threatens the security, territorial integrity and unity of our continent,
"Noting with deep concern that despite the numerous resolutions of the OAU and the United Nations calling upon it to withdraw from all occupied African and Arab territories, Israel not only persists in refusing to implement resolutions, but also continues to practise a policy with a view to creating in the said territories a state of fait accompli aimed at serving its expansionist designs,
"Deploring the systematic obstruction by Israel of all the efforts exerted to reach a peaceful solution to the problem at both the international and African levels,
"Recalling in this respect the negative attitude of Israel towards the mission of the ten African Heads of State mandated by the OAU to work for the implementation of Security Council resolution 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, which stipulated in particular withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the occupied territories, in conformity with the principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territories by force,
"Noting with satisfaction that the Arab Republic of Egypt has spared no effort to reach a just and durable solution of the problem, and that these efforts have been
characterized by the constructive co-operation of Egypt with international as well as African forums,
"Noting further that the intransigence of Israel and its systematic refusal to abide by the will of the international community constitutes a threat to the security of the continent,
"Fully aware that the massive military, economic and other aid as well as the political and moral support granted to Israel by certain Powers enable it to pursue its aggression and encourage it to commit acts of terrorism, especially the tragic act of shooting down the Libyan civilian aircraft, which resulted in the loss of innocent lives,
"1. Takes note of the statement of His Excellency H. El Shafei, Vice-President of the Arab Republic of Egypt;
"2. Strongly condemns the negative attitude of Israel, its acts of terrorism and its obstruction of all efforts aimed at a just and equitable solution of the problem in accordance with Security Council resolution 242 (1967) c* 22 November 1967;
"3. Calls once more for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Israeli forces from all occupied African and Arab territories;
"4. Declares that all changes effected by Israel in the occupied territories are null and void, and pledges not to recognize any changes leading to a fait accompli or likely to jeopardize the territorial integrity of the countries which are victims of the Israeli aggression;
"5. Recognizes that the respect of the inalienable rights of the people of Palestine is an essential element in any just and equitable solution, besides being an indispensable factor for the establishment of permanent peace in the region;
"6. Reaffirms in the name of African solidarity and by virtue of article II, paragraph 1 (c) of the OAU Charter its active and total support for the Arab Republic of Egypt in its legitimate struggle to recover entirely and by all means its territorial integrity;
"7. Draws the attention of Israel to the danger threatening the security and unity of the African continent as a result of its continued aggression and refusal to evacuate the territories of the States victims of that aggression and declares that the attitude of Israel might lead OAU member States to take, at the African level, individually or collectively, political and economic measures against it, in conformity with the principles contained in the OAU and United Nations Charters;
"8. Earnestly calls upon the big Powers supplying Israel with arms and military equipment of all kinds and granting it moral and political support that enables it to strengthen its military potential to refrain from doing so;
"9. Strongly supports the Egyptian initiative requesting the United Nations Secretary-General to report to the Security Council on the explosive situation prevailing in the Middle East, and expresses the hope that the Security Council shall take every appropriate measure to implement immediately the relevant resolutions adopted by the United Nations, so that a just and durable peace may be established in the region;
"10. Designates the Foreign Ministers of Nigeria, Chad, Tanzania, Guinea, Algeria, Kenya and the Sudan to be the spokesmen of the OAU on this matter at the Security Council of the United Nations on 4 and 5 June
1973;
"11. Entrusts the current Chairman of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government to present the views of the OAU on the matter at the next session of the General Assembly of the United Nations."
There is the unanimous voice of Africa on this issue.
38.	Since then, the six Foreign Ministers designated by the OAU Assembly of Heads of State and Government have participated in the Security Council meetings that were specifically convened at the instance of Egypt.  The debate that ensued, though extensive, produced no results that could bring peace nearer to that region. OAU cannot condone a situation whose final determination can be decided only by the force of arms. We regard it as an intolerable provocation that part of Egypt, a member State, should continue to remain under armed occupation in spite of the unanimous expressions of international opinion against the acquisition of territory by force of arms.
39.	Members of OAU desire peace in the Middle East —  peace based on equity; peace that does not insist on acquisition of other people's territory as a pre-condition; peace that acknowledges the right of all nations in the area to exist in security; peace that places a premium on respect for cultural diversity; peace that upholds the dignity of man and draws sustenance from the principles enunciated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Charter of the United Nations. For all the inhabitants of the area have every right to expect that they should no longer be distracted from the urgent tasks of economic reconstruction and social development. They have every right to live in peace and to continue to contribute, as they have done in the past and in history, to the mainstream of human civilization. That is the Middle East that the people of Africa envisage and fervently desire to see.
40.	This is my message. This is the solemn assignment entrusted to me by OAU.