268.	Mr. President, first of all I should like to offer you my warm congratulations on your election to the presidency of our Assembly. Nor can I forget your predecessor as
President, Mr. Lazar Mojsov, and the excellent work he did at the thirty-second session.
269.	Unlike other sessions, the thirty-third session of the General Assembly is not taking up any new items. It closes a period of intensive activity and at the same time prolongs it in trying to consolidate better the points of agreement that have been found here and' there as a result of the patient dialogue among the different interests in this world. In addition to the special sessions, we have had conferences in various places, each dealing with a specific topic: Geneva, New York, Vienna, Belgrade, Khartoum and Buenos Aires, to mention just a few, and those meetings clearly showed the long road that ideas must follow in order to evolve, ripen and gain acceptance.
270.	Without succumbing to euphoria or to gloom, we can say that the year has indeed been a full one, but what have we achieved?
271.	There can be no doubt that those meetings kindled sparks of hope, with regard to both the fundamental questions of the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples and the establishment of the new international economic order, and the questions of peace and security.
272.	No doubt, too, it would be difficult to ignore <or disregard the slow and laborious effort at understanding made by parties completely divided, both with regard to social life and with regard to political and economic interests. In some almost intractable cases, like it or not, there has been a reawakening of interest in the approach to solutions, although their fundamental political dimensions have not yet changed. This applies to the problems that trouble more than ever before southern Africa and the Middle East. •
273.	Moreover, when we take up the economic relations between rich and poor countries we become lost in abstractions in trying to understand the reluctance to change of certain great economic Powers when faced with the necessity for a fundamentally new approach in a deadlocked world which cannot flourish without the active participation of the peoples of the third world.
274.	A year of work, even of fruitful work, certainly does not mean a year of security. The Secretary-General recalls in his report on the work of the Organization:
"One of the main reasons for setting up the United Nations was to replace the struggle for spheres of influence with a more civilized and more representative system of world order in which the nations of the world governed their relations and tackled their common problems with the agreement and participation of all, the weak as well as the strong." [See A/3311, sect. II.]
275.	Thirty-three years later it is no longer a question of struggle: it is a question of wars of influence and the desire for acquisition. Fifty-two nations met at San Francisco in 1945 and laid the basis for a Charter that no one disputes but that is daily violated by all those who are moved by the spirit of domination and the bitter need to exploit, in their insatiable desire to enrich themselves. Today, 150 countries — what progress towards universality! — are participating in the thirty-third session of the General Assembly. The great majority of those countries have .come to seek co-operation, but above all security, individual security and collective security.
276.	This underlines the gravity of the deadlock in which we find ourselves and to resolve which we must persist in the collective struggle in order to see the ideals of equality, liberty and justice triumph.
277.	Security, which remains the major concern of the Government of Niger, will be the keynote of my statement this evening. The Assembly will easily understand my anxiety because, as an African, I can hardly remain silent in view of the vast conspiracy which is planned daily in the back rooms where the continent of Africa, that last stronghold of true innocence and genuine humanity, is being remodelled into ideological or economic units to reinforce a system or to ensure an increase of power. Hence the difficulties that are deliberately created to prevent regional groups from forging the necessary strength and solidarity for the development of their peoples; hence the abandonment of development programmes in order to pursue a more urgent need—security; hence the backwardness imposed on the peoples of Africa by their subordinate role as producers and suppliers of raw materials; hence the threats and intimidations that slow down the education effort needed to liberate the masses from the cultural and economic alienation to which they have always been subjected throughout the decades; hence the diabolical plan to destabilize by internal or external force; hence the fratricidal wars which are sparked off as if by magic; and hence the support given to racist South Africa to enable it to continue to trouble the rest of Africa.
278.	We know from experience that this phenomenon is not peculiar to Africa. It has long existed in Latin America and Asia, where it has succeeded in stifling whole generations. Since then it has taken more sophisticated forms but it keeps the same name: interventionism. In whatever disguise interventionism imposes on the Governments and institutions of our States major concerns that go beyond their capacity to control events and which have no relationship with the normal options and priorities of logical development. By thus thwarting all efforts, interventionism imposes its laws, which are designed to create an atmosphere of insecurity, an atmosphere of permanent destabilization, an atmosphere of despair.
279.	Many hoped that the African continent, which had just emerged from the black night of colonialism, after millions of its sons had known slavery, exile and dehumanization would finally, at the moment of its rebirth, know the joy of existence and of preparing its future in accordance with principles recognized by all charters.
280.	Quickly, alas, those charters were abandoned. The OAU, which very early revealed the determination of the continent to cope with events, after several successes is moving towards impotence and unfortunately tending to become bogged down in paralysing contradictions, nullifying its capacity to damp down even the tiniest flash-point. In this general disarray indifference takes root and the door is opened to interference and insecurity.
281.	While the insecurity of African States stems in part from the vicissitudes of political options and negative choices with regard to economic flows and the importation of products which the culture of the continent cannot assimilate, it also arises out of the existence of the cancer of South Africa, with apartheid and its henchmen. What man of justice would not feel troubled by the martyrdom of Steven Biko, by all those defenceless men, rejected by the laws of their own country as mere cattle placed in a strait-jacket of non-dignity, non-humanity and nonexistence? Apartheid and its henchmen, not content with crushing the black man in his own country simply because he is black, are sowing destabilization and war in neighbouring countries simply because their inhabitants are black, thus creating a climate of insecurity and anger throughout the continent.
282.	Africa, subjected to the stubborn will of a band of pariahs, has no choice. A cancer is a cancer. It must be cut out, but no one can disregard the consequences of an operation of that kind. The many companies which feed the bonfires in that camp of hell are, we are told, slowly beginning to understand that they cannot play with human life with impunity. There is a time for everything. Perhaps we may express the hope of seeing the Western Powers persevere in the effort they have begun in Namibia and Zimbabwe? Perhaps we may merely express the hope of seeing them finally assume their historical responsibilities in the face of the scourge of apartheid and its henchmen—and I am referring to the Vorsters, the Ian Smiths, the Pik Bothas and the other Bob Denards.
283.	The security of the continent requires that, just as it requires that the umbilical cord that links Pretoria to Tel Aviv be cut. That connexion is another two-way mirror created by the nature of things to perpetuate insecurity in the Middle East and Africa. That is a cancer, like any other.
284.	In addition to the structures of insecurity and the blocking of development in Africa, Africa has to face the demons of ideology which flatter men's minds with sweet-sounding arguments conceived for a kind of intellectual guerrilla warfare. How many men of good faith and goodwill have those sirens enticed to themselves? But Africa, built in an age-old mould, made of patience and attentive tolerance, has always succeeded in regrouping and rejecting thinking which is nothing more than a basely mercenary intention thinly veiled with a few philosophical ideas. Imperialism remains imperialism, in whatever disguise. It costs the same price, the price of the freedom to exist.
285.	How can we make clear the dedication of our countries to liberty and our profound desire to be ourselves, the deep meaning that we give to our solidarity? It is no longer possible to live in a closed community, within a wall. Change, whatever its nature, is always enriching and none of our States rejects it—quite the contrary -but change should in no way be an occasion for flagrant interference, alienation and destruction.
286.	Many of those who discover Africa or think, they know it well enough to have praiseworthy feelings of friendship, for it hope to see their own image every time they look deep into Africa's eyes. The simple reality is that
Africa is what it is and can be nothing else. It can contract certain childhood illnesses following independence and be cured of them; that is the natural order of things, even if it is inconsistent with a certain logic.
287.	To respect our cultures, our customs, our ways of living and our concept of the present and future is to give us our chance of development. It is a necessary condition of the security of the continent which we dream of achieving in the best interests of our peoples.
288.	In this connexion, we know that the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe produced the Final Act, signed at Helsinki on 1 August 1975, which has the merit of providing, inter alia, for a code of peaceful and friendly relations among European States, as well as for the establishment of measures of confidence in the conduct of their relations.
289.	But the Final Act of Helsinki will have no value unless its ethic and scope are extended to other, non- European States; in other words, if its signatories, as well as their allies, complete their historic action by prohibiting any intervention or military interference in Africa in particular, whatever the reason or justification. It is against that background that my country will encourage any initiative for the convening of a conference on peace and security in Africa which would give our nations the tranquillity that neither ancient nor modern history has yet succeeded in giving them completely.
290.	Security problems are great and worrying. We followed attentively the work of the tenth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament, a session to which we brought our inmost convictions. The balance of terror which maintains the world under a permanent threat of destruction creates a situation which is both unjust and inadmissible. The stake hardly justified the persistence required to gather together such a quantity of deadly weapons. Whatever the desires of one side or the other, we believe it was impossible to resolve the problems of disarmament and international security during that special session. The background may have changed, but nothing essential changed. We must hope that the super-Powers and those which hope to be super-Powers will be wise enough to respect each other and recognize the uselessness of accumulating weapons whether sophisticated or not. What is the good of having weapons that can destroy the world 10 or 100 times over when the world can die only once?
291.	Mankind can expect a lot from the nuclear field and disarmament as a whole; it has a right to. So much wealth and intelligence could do much better in the service of development programmes.
292.	But although that elementary truth is often repeated no one thinks of applying it. There is no satisfaction to be gained from the special session on disarmament so long as the notion of development has not superseded that of the strategy of destruction.
293.	I referred to security and development. These concepts, which closely affect the life of all the nations which we represent here, are practically indefinable historically. Their basic content deserves greater study.
294.	Security, we are told, is without price. It often justifies the adoption of the most excessive positions in defence calculations. It pays little heed to the existence of others to whom all kinds of intentions, even the most unlikely, are attributed. In order to establish confidence on the national territory it does not hesitate to make any sacrifice on behalf of the national right to exist. Security conditions everything within the nation-State, confers value on heritage and on interests. It is said that it is better to over-prepare than to be surprised by an enemy. That concept of security is the same everywhere. We can only regret the excesses to which it leads and the withering away of confidence that results in the relations among neighbours which should become closer.
295.	Unfortunately that phenomenon is extending to Africa, where certain States are accumulating weapons on a scale quite out of proportion to their internal security requirements.
296.	For young countries such as ours, it is obvious that security and development are two words that go together in theory but are separated in fact. There is no development without security. That is required by the notion of the nation-State. As for economic development, if it is translated in terms of investment programmes and efforts to improve the standard of living it turns its back on security. The two are difficult to reconcile in one budget, particularly when it is a tight budget.
297.	This concern, I was going to say this balance which it is very difficult to establish, is not, unfortunately, the only handicap on certain developing countries, particularly those of the Sahelian region, of which my country is a part. Climate fluctuates and often causes catastrophes in an economy that has no cushion against such shocks. Economies based mainly on agriculture and animal husbandry survive with difficulty the destruction caused by an uncertain climate, particularly when this is spread over a long period.
298.	As the President of the Supreme Military Council, Head of State, Lieutenant-Colonel Seyni Kountche, addressing the nation on 15 April last, said:
"We are always on the alert, always listening to the needs of villages which have difficult food situations, a water problem, a problem with medicines or a school
problem	We are continually absorbed, continually
attentive and continually impatient for the reconstitution of our herds and for the realization of our projects which are delayed ...
"And you know that in that area our determination has not flinched. You know that the food problem, which is one of our first concerns, is still paramount among our objectives and guides our choices.... Because self- sufficiency in food production is essential for us, it must be achieved if Niger is to control its growth and begin to move towards development at last."
299.	It is indeed very disturbing that in this era of abundance and waste, this era of advanced technology in which man is reaching out to the conquest of space, millions of other men on earth are daily facing hunger, and sometimes 'succumbing to hunger. This sad reality is perhaps the most serious and shameful of the anachronisms that exist today, a challenge to the whole of mankind.
300.	It is agreed, then, that the problem of food on a world level is no longer one of technology; it is a political question which the whole of the international community and particularly the richest of its members must attack with swift radical measures in order to forestall the risks of a generalized catastrophe whose victims, it is calculated, would be some two-thirds of the world population.
301.	We hardly need point out that these millions of human beings over whom the threats looms so close are mainly members of developing countries, and most particularly of African countries-for Africa is still behind other regions in the development of the production and distribution of food. It does not even produce enough either to compensate for the chronic deficits it suffers year in and year out, or to meet the needs of a growing population, whose rate of growth is the highest in the world. This is an unjust situation for Africa, particularly as this continent has sufficient potential to increase its food production to the point of self-sufficiency and-to maintain it there.
302.	It has often been said and repeated that overpopulation and the demographic explosion of the third world will be at the root of the world food crisis; that being so, it is considered that the solution of the crisis would be to slow down or, indeed, to halt population growth. This is obviously a Manichaean vision of third-world problems, of African problems, for Africa remains one of the most under-populated areas of the globe.
303.	Reports from FAO, the World Bank or other specialized sources on questions of economic and social development show that there are enormous possibilities for growth in the agricultural sector, if accompanied by the requisite transfer of technology adapted to African structures.
304.	Thus, these reports also indicate that, by bearing in mind available scientific and technological factors for increasing agricultural production, on the one hand, and all factors which could objectively limit world food production, on the other, we could achieve a world agricultural production capable of feeding 76 billion human beings, that is, a population some 15 to 18 times greater than the present population of the world.
305.	However serious and precise- this study may be, its conclusions remain and will long remain vain hopes, as long as the political will for their implementation is not present.
306.	It is to this that my delegation—a delegation from a land-locked developing country in the Sahelian region whose constant efforts to mobilize its forces are well known today—once again draws the attention of the delegations here, representatives of States or international organizations, so that our Assembly, individually or collectively, may assume its historical responsibility in the face of the challenge posed today by the world food problem.
307.	My delegation, like many others, believes that, within the framework of efforts for the establishment of the new international economic order, it is necessary to give particular attention to the urgent solution of the food problem.
308.	That, in our view, is one of the many, but fundamental, aspects of the security which our nations have a right to claim. This is an elementary need which must first be satisfied, together with the other primary needs of health and education.
309.	It is with this in mind that my country has supported and continues to support the setting up of the International Fund for Agricultural Development and, in general, the activities of the FAO and other agencies of the United Nations family.
310.	The efforts made by Mr. Saouma, the Director- General of the FAO, to implement a strategy and open up long-term prospects for a rapid increase in food production in Africa merit attention. We dare to hope that this analysis will contain a genuine plan of action for a radical struggle against drought' and other permanent dangers posed by locusts and other enemies of the crops in numerous parts of Africa today.
311.	My delegation would also make an urgent appeal to our respective Governments to respond more fully to the plans of action adopted in Nairobi  with regard to the struggle against desertification and in Mar del Plata for the development and exploitation of potential water resources.
312.	That is the contribution I wished to make, on behalf of my country, to the debate of this thirty-third regular session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Security, in its numerous aspects, is at the heart of the concerns of all States, particularly the young States, which are the most vulnerable. However, the main task incumbent on everyone is above all to feed, care for and educate our populations. Consequently, let us look beyond the intentions which we sometimes read into the activities of others, let us cultivate a spirit of universal detente and let- us together resolutely take the beneficial path of genuine international co-operation—the only path likely to relieve humanity of its sufferings and thus to solve the many problems confronting it.


2.	Mr. President, your election to the presidency of the thirty-third session of the General Assembly deserves my sincere congratulations. Your long experience in diplomacy, government and journalism, combined with your knowledge of the United Nations, make you eminently suited to that high office. The delegation of Mauritius assures you of its co-operation in the fulfilment of your mission.
3.	We greatly appreciated the excellent work of your distinguished predecessor, Lazar Mojsov, during the thirty-second session and the tenth special session, on disarmament. The dedication and devotion, of the Secretary- General and his staff over the last year also deserve our praise. The appointment of Mr. Kenneth Dadzie to the post of Director-General for Development and International Economic Co-operation is greatly appreciated by all. His long experience in the United Nations and in the service of his country will, I am sure, be of great value to all of us. My delegation also welcomes the admission of Solomon islands to the great family of the United Nations.
4.	Finally, I should like to express my heartfelt sympathy and condolences to the Governments and peoples of those Member States, such as India, Bangladesh and Iran, which have recently been the victims of natural disasters, and to the Government and people of Kenya in their bereavement on the loss of their great President, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.
5.	My country views with concern the intensifying conflicts among African States on the continent of Africa.
6.	The process of "destabilization" of peace and progress there only endangers the frail economies of the newly independent States. Though this serious conflict in Africa is among African States, the role of foreign Powers there is certainly of importance. If there is an opposition of interests among different African countries, it is obvious that there is also, regrettably, the expansionism of certain outside Powers.
7.	The background of the conflict in Africa is, I believe, an everlasting desire for recolonization on the part of old or new masters. For us the fundamental problem is that Africa, which is' fighting a hard battle against poverty, finds itself in a dependent position in the present world economic order and has no hope of redress in the foreseeable future. There is no projection for world development pointing to a reduction of the gap in production and consumption which separates the rich from the poor in the world.
8.	Inequality and dependence mean that our economic structures are organized around the needs of the multinational corporations, and thus the development of national capital is retarded, our pattern of investment distorted and the result is the stagnation of technical development and of the advance of productivity.
9.	Debt increases and service payments are becoming a serious burden, thus causing a chronic balance-of-payments problem. A deficit country must deflate, devalue its currency, or borrow. Borrowing solves nothing in the long run. Devaluation neither changes the fact that one is poor nor improves the ability to compete against the rich. And deflation makes sustained expansion impossible. In such a system a country which begins in poverty ends in poverty.
10.	These deficiencies in the present world economic order constitute a serious drawback to our development and impose inequality upon us, thus perpetuating suffering and poverty. During the last decade we have begun to understand what the world economic order means for us in Africa. We find it increasingly difficult to accept the prospect of permanent stagnation and deepening poverty. The process of change continues even after independence. Self-assertion and intensified nationalist pressure are already evident in every part of Africa. The developed countries find that they are dependent upon the maintenance of existing economic and political relationships. They need our exports and our labour.

11.	The real problem is therefore an opposition of interests between Africa and the developed countries. For evident reasons, African countries want and need basic changes in the present pattern of relationships with the developed countries. The reaction of many developed countries to these desired changes is unfortunately one of diffidence and stiffened resistance. Every African demand, every change of government, every clash, is construed as something sinister. The growing tendency towards foreign intervention is highly dangerous, as it threatens the peace and security of Africa. The recent resolutions and declarations adopted at the fifteenth ordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity [OAU], held at Khartoum from 18 to 22 July 1978, [see A/33/235], highlighted this danger and reaffirmed the right of each African State to choose its own political system and friends.
12.	Just as Africa is trapped in an inequitable world economic order, so are the people of southern Africa trapped in apartheid and colonialism. The OAU Assembly reaffirmed its support for the liberation struggle in southern Africa and decided to increase its support and assistance to the liberation movements there.
13.	My Government fully appreciates the efforts of the five Western Powers of the Security Council and those of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, regarding Namibia. We have no doubt that they, in turn, have appreciated the co-operation of the African delegations, as well as that of South West Africa People's Organization SWAPO. The hope of a peaceful settlement in Namibia is real now, despite recent public statements by South Africa. The efforts of the five Western Powers have borne fruits which may still be green; but with more sustained patience the harvest will be rich. I am satisfied that the Secretary- General, with his wisdom and patience, will find a solution possible after the new Government in South Africa has been nominated.
14.	My delegation fully supports the report of the Secretary-General,  which is in accordance with the mandate given to him by Security Council resolution 431 (1978) of July 1978. The clarifications and interpretations are now clear. The Security Council should, therefore, in my opinion, be in a position to adopt a draft resolution approving the report of the Secretary-General and to give him a mandate regarding the United Nations Transition Assistance Group.
15.	Both the future of Namibia and the authority, as well as the credibility, of the United Nations may today seem to be in jeopardy. However, I am confident that the Security Council and the Secretary-General will know how to take appropriate action and to ensure that Namibia achieves genuine independence and sovereignty.
16.	As to the illegal regime in Zimbabwe, it can hardly be expected to last much longer. We can look forward to early independence for its people, who have suffered so much. The internal settlement has proved sterile and has shown

that the process of decolonization, by force or otherwise, is irreversible.
17.	The session of the OAU Assembly held at Khartoum in July noted the dangerous and increasingly deteriorating situation in the Middle East. The continued denial of the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination must stop, and Israel must comply with the resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council. There can be no peace in the Middle East as long as the Palestinians are denied their legitimate rights.
18.	My Government welcomes the efforts of the President of the United States, Mr. Carter, the President of Egypt, Mr. El-Sadat, and the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Begin, to move towards a solution of the Middle East question. We welcome the Camp David accords  as a first positive step in the right direction. We reiterate our view, however, that only the Peace Conference on the Middle East under the auspices of the United Nations and under the co-chairmanship of the United States and the USSR, with the participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization, '"/ill provide the framework for a just and lasting peace in the region.
19.	My Government also welcomes the efforts made by the Government of the Republic of Korea and those of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to achieve, through friendly and constructive negotiations, a solution acceptable to both countries and the international community.
20.	Mauritius, as you know, is particularly concerned with events in the Indian Ocean. Recent events in the Horn of Africa and in the western Indian Ocean have stirred considerable anxiety in my country. We have constantly been calling on the great Powers to refrain from increasing their military presence in our region. We should like to see in the near future the convening of a conference of all the littoral and hinterland States of the Indian Ocean, under the auspices of the United Nations, with the object of finding effective means for ensuring the creation of a zone of peace in the Indian Ocean. My Government has already offered Mauritius as the venue of such a Conference.
21.	The problem of arms limitation in the Indian Ocean is quite crucial for Mauritius. It is only one aspect, however, of a larger problem about which we are all concerned.
22.	Mankind is confronted with an unprecedented threat of self-extinction arising from the massive and competitive accumulation of the most destructive weapons ever produced. The danger- of -"war, including nuclear war, is increasing despite efforts to strengthen international peace and security. Disarmament is no longer an option; it is the only alternative to universal destruction. I have repeatedly stressed the imperative need-for such action. The tenth special session of the General Assembly that took place in May and June of this year offered a unique opportunity to achieve this end. Though it had limited success, yet it laid the foundations for an international disarmament strategy that aims at general and complete disarmament under effective international control. This, in turn, will strengthen the procedures for the peaceful settlement of disputes.
23.	The task before the members of the international community is to rise to a different level of understanding of both their rights and duties in international relations and to conduct their policies in conformity with the universal interests of peace, security and development all over the world.
24.	In order to strengthen the rule of law and the means for the peaceful settlement of international disputes, I reaffirm the previous proposal of my country to establish a body of the General Assembly for the peaceful settlement of disputes in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations.


1.	Mr. President, I wish to offer you the sincere congratulations of my delegation on your unanimous election to the presidency of our Assembly. Your election is a tribute to your country, Colombia, and also a reflection of the knowledge which delegations have of your valuable contributions to this Assembly and to important international conferences. We are confident that this experience and the fruits of your impressive career will allow you to follow the exemplary presidency of Mr. Lazar Mojsov of Yugoslavia with distinction and success.
2.	May I also extend a very warm welcome to the one hundred and fiftieth Member of the United Nations-Solomon Islands. We are especially pleased that the right of the peoples of Solomon Islands to self-determination and independence has been achieved peacefully and with the full co-operation of the United Kingdom as the administering Power.
3.	We begin another session of the General Assembly with a full agenda. The list of problems before us this year is long-as long as ever it has been. In all, we will debate almost 130 questions before this session closes in December.
4.	It is evident from one look at this formidable list of complex international issues that the Secretary-General is right to say, as he does in his report on the work of the Organization, that global order is increasingly indispensable and that we need a sense of human solidarity which will find expression in a strong family of international institutions [see A/3311, sect. I].
5.	Will the work done here over the next three months show real evidence of this sense of human solidarity? Will
our debates and resolutions advance us further towards that global order which the Secretary-General says is now indispensable? These seem to me to be the fundamental questions underlying virtually all the individual problems on our agenda.
6.	At the centre of many, if not all, of these issues is an injustice or conflict arising from the political or economic dominance of one group, of one country or of one interest, and the consequent exclusion or suppression of another. Such situations are by their nature unstable. In a world where all major problems are now interrelated and interact on one another, injustice leading to instability in any one area can be a danger to us all.
7.	Clearly, efforts to maintain domination in human relations today are dangerous and wrong. Instead, we need, in every area of international life, to try to replace domination by participation and co-operation. In this way we can hope to create patiently and by stages a more just and a more stable world order. In doing this, we will need to use to the full all the possibilities offered by this great Organization and the family of international institutions, of which it is the core.
8.	It is clear, of course, that this cannot be achieved all at once-and perhaps in a complex world it will never be wholly achieved. The Secretary-General has done well to warn us that there are many issues where, at best, we may be able to contain and defuse the problem and allow time for a settlement to evolve.
9.	Many of these problems do not yield immediately to settlement because they have roots which go deep into history. But though the past constrains us in these cases, it does not wholly determine the choices now open to us. How we face these inherited problems in our day will decide what the next generation to ours will inherit in its turn. We can pass on or add to the burden which we have inherited, or, instead, we can begin to lift this burden-even if it takes years to remove it completely.
10.	Some here, of course, carry greater responsibility than others for the origin of particular problems; and some will have to do more than others to contribute towards a solution. The contribution which each of us can make in any particular case will depend on our capacity and on our degree of involvement. But since we have a world Organization where these issues are debated and voted on, all of us have some responsibility, and all of us need to do what we can to contribute towards a settlement.
11.	I would summarize as follows the principles which will guide my country on the issues before us in the United Nations.
12.	First, we accept the fact that, though we are a small country, even distant problems and conflicts do concern us, because of a sense of human solidarity and because we know that many of the larger issues can be dealt with only on a global scale and by a common effort to which we all contribute.
13.	Secondly, we reject relations based on domination by any one group over any other. Our aim, instead, is to see participation and co-operation take the place of domination in every area of human life, and we have tried to act accordingly ourselves.
14.	Thirdly, we accept that peoples have a right to see to their own security, but not in ways which seriously threaten or endanger the security of others and contribute to the insecurity of all.
15.	Fourthly, we want to see the resources of our planet shared more equitably and with due regard to the need for conservation where they are limited. The conspicuous waste which is a feature of some of the more advanced societies not only should not but cannot be repeated on a world scale.
16.	Fifthly, we believe that peoples of diverse outlook and culture must be free to develop in accordance with their own traditions and their own understanding of their own needs. The structure of relations between communities and nations should be such as to help and promote this, and any structures or practices which inhibit or prevent it must be changed. But there can be no uniform model for development, and the international community should not try to impose one. Instead, it should promote conditions in which each people can develop, in its diversity, to its full potential.
17.	Sixthly, our concern and our sense of human solidarity is directed not to States only but to people as individual human persons. We believe that there are certain minimum requirements for human dignity which cut across cultural differences and national boundaries, and which men and women everywhere are entitled to expect as of right. In a world of such diversity it will take much patient discussion and growth of understanding in various bodies to develop fuller agreement on these rights and on how they are best given effect. But, in my view, we have already gone well beyond the stage where any one of us could claim that the denial within our borders of a basic minimum of individual human dignity is a wholly private matter and not a legitimate concern of the whole international community.
18.	Seventhly, we believe that progress can be made towards a better world order and a greater sense of human solidarity and interdependence where States of a particular region with a common outlook come together in a regional grouping or organization, provided that they also show a sense of wider solidarity and concern extending beyond their own group to humanity as a whole.
19.	Ireland is one of the nine member States of the European Economic Community and this helps us - to extend and deepen our relations with other countries and groups. The common viewpoint of the nine States on many of the issues on the agenda was expressed here two days ago
by our President, the Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany, and we share fully in those views.
20.	Eighthly, we believe that, however regional organizations or groups may evolve, we shall always have need of a world organization to deal with world problems: the political, economic and social problems of mankind as a whole. The United Nations, together with the family, of more specialized organizations which has grown around it, is such a body; and for all its faults it has already done much, over more than 30 years, to promote that sense of human solidarity which its Secretary-General has asked us to show.
21.	This, in broad outline, is the approach which the Irish delegation will take to the complex of issues before us at this Assembly. Some of these are global issues of direct concern to all of us. Some are problems of instability and conflict in particular regions which also present wider dangers. I turn now to indicate in more concrete terms our viewpoint on some of these specific issues.
22.	This year, for the first time, the General Assembly held a special session on disarmament, its tenth. The session was attended by many Heads of Government, including my Prime Minister, Mr. Lynch, who set out very fully the views of the Irish Government.1 One good result of the session was the establishment of new negotiating and deliberative bodies with wider participation. We hope that this will breathe new life into disarmament negotiations.
23.	We welcome the positive outcome of the special session. But we believe that its success will be measured only by the extent to which States translate into concrete measures the principles and programme they accepted in the Final Document [resolution S-10/2J. All countries, and especially the nuclear Powers, must show the political will to take real steps towards disarmament, and to escape from the vicious cycle of competition which, instead of contributing to their own security, is in fact adding to the insecurity of all. All nations claim that their armaments and military power are purely for their own security. They ask others to accept this on trust. But the military strength so acquired can arouse distrust in others and can be an instrument for the domination of others or for intervention elsewhere. Military strength does not even have to be used; its mere existence gives power to those who control it, which others less powerful may have to respect.
24.	The major Powers must accept that ever-increasing armaments, which they claim are purely for defence or basic security, promote such distrust and insecurity in others that they feel obliged in turn to build up their own military capacity. Some non-nuclear States feel that even the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is discriminatory and is designed .to perpetuate the dominant position of the nuclear Powers. As representative of Ireland, a small country whose Foreign Minister first proposed such a treaty in a draft resolution presented to this Assembly as far back as 1958,2 I cannot agree. But I do agree that the
voluntary renunciation of nuclear weapons by countries such as my own which have signed the Treaty makes it all the more incumbent on the nuclear Powers to take steps to limit the build-up of armaments. Moreover, the nuclear Powers should give clear and unambiguous guarantees not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon States. Such guarantees should be in a form which does not undermine or substitute for the non-proliferation Treaty but rather helps to strengthen it and promotes wider adherence to it as a treaty providing a regime of universal nuclear responsibility.
25.	Apart from the particular problem posed by nuclear weapons, we have witnessed in the years since the Second World War an ever-increasing build-up and spread of so-called conventional weapons. The millions of dead and maimed in the many conflicts fought with conventional weapons remind us that it is not just nuclear weapons whose spread and use must be prevented. Moreover, it is a scandal that countries whose people live in poverty should be encouraged to buy arms and trained to use them against their neighbours, whose people, though just as poor, have been similarly armed and trained. The suffering of the poor and the innocent should be alleviated by the financial resources of the wealthy and powerful rather than aggravated by their destructive resources.
26.	But although we should aim to divert resources from armaments to development, the poorer countries of the world simply cannot afford to wait until disarmament has been achieved. It is questionable whether even diversion of the whole of the world's expenditure on arms, vast as it is, would be enough to meet what is urgently required.
27.	The figures are startling. One quarter of the population of the earth controls 80 per cent of its income and consumes 80 per cent of its protein. In contrast, 40 per cent of the world's population are so poor that they hardly even enter the world's economy as purchasers at all. The poorer countries have only 7 per cent of the world's industry, and more than half the output even of that industry comes from five countries only.
28.	To the developed countries this huge disparity may once have seemed to be due entirely to the superior skills or abilities of their own peoples. It is clear, however, that, on the contrary, this disparity is in very large part due to distorted economic relations which have evolved over the centuries. Apart from the special case of oil, a study has shown that the 12 major primary products, which brought the developing countries about 80 per cent of their export earnings, brought them a total income of $30 billion. Those same commodities, when processed in the developed world, were worth $200 billion, nearly seven times what the developing countries earned by the sale of the raw materials.
29.	There is no evidence that either God or nature has determined once and for all the relationship which should exist between the price of goods processed or manufactured in the developed world and the price which the primary-producing countries get for the raw materials. What has determined the relationship is the emergence of a serious structural imbalance in the world economy, which had its origin in the position of dominance which the developed
world established for itself and which now helps to sustain it. If interdependence and co-operation are to replace domination in international life we need now a serious commitment by the developed world to accept significant changes in the structures of international economic relations, changes which can help to bring about a more just and equitable international economic order.
30.	The Secretary-General's call to all of us to show a greater sense of human solidarity applies here with particular force. The developed world must learn to accept major changes because it is dangerous and wrong that the international economic system should grossly undervalue the productive output which the countries of the poorer two-thirds of the world have to offer. The developing countries, on the other hand, must accept that change will have to be carefully made. The system may be unfair, even perhaps grossly unfair, but it cannot be dismantled all at once without the gravest damage to all. What is required is a genuine and urgent commitment to reform and a willingness to co-operate and negotiate the major reforms which are needed.
31.	The developed countries are not themselves all of a piece. There are countries like my own which, prosperous as they are in proportion to the third world, are underdeveloped in many ways in comparison with their neighbours. As we rightly seek to develop our own economies for the benefit of our own people, we may have to face some difficult choices. In some industries we may find ourselves in competition with the more successful developing countries as they seek to industrialize, and we may have to weigh our international moral obligations very directly in the balance against the immediate economic interests of our own people. However, it must surely be recognized that it would not be equitable that within the developed world the main burden of the restructuring which is necessary should fall on the weaker part of it.
32.	Some industrially developed countries have in fact opted out of their obligations. If we as a small and less prosperous country with limited resources, which was itself the subject of economic exploitation for so long, accept our responsibility, we cannot agree that other more powerful and technologically advanced countries should refuse to do so.
33.	The developing countries, on the other hand, will, I hope, be wise enough to see that their aim cannot and should not be to recreate throughout the world that profligate waste of resources which is a feature of present-day industrialized societies. As I said earlier, the help which I believe these developing countries need is help to create conditions in their own societies which will be consistent with their own aims and their own traditions, and which, I hope', will show a greater respect than the industrialized world has yet shown for the natural limits of the resources and the environment of our small planet.
34.	Economic and social development is but one aspect of the wider question of the achievement of human rights based on the acceptance of the dignity and worth of the human person.
35.	This year we celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Universal Declaration had, and continues to have, great moral force in the world. Its preamble and articles were a source of enormous hope to those who had survived the terrors of totalitarianism and world war, and its emphasis on the dignity of the individual human being was widely welcomed. Many countries have now incorporated its elements in their constitutions or basic laws, and it continues to provide an ideal for the aspirations of our citizens.
36.	Of course, those who drafted the Declaration knew that it was only a beginning and that much further work would be needed to develop in more detailed and specific form the general principles which it set out. In the intervening 30 years a great deal of work has been tackled and a body of international law and practice on human rights has been built up.
37.	I should like to comment on just one aspect of recent human rights deliberations in the United Nations system.
38.	There is now wide agreement that situations which demonstrate a consistent pattern of gross violations of human rights are a proper matter for international concern and are not within the exclusive domestic jurisdiction of States. This agreement is reflected in the large majorities of the General Assembly in recent years in condemning human rights violations in Chile and southern Africa. We welcome this general agreement and would like to see it apply consistently to the human rights problems everywhere.
39.	There are obviously other countries where civil authorities deliberately and constantly repress basic rights, even in defiance of their own publicly expressed and freely accepted international commitments. These failures threaten the process of detente and relaxation of world tensions in the interests of world peace. They must also adversely affect the confidence and support of international public opinion, which is a highly important factor in this process.
40.	At the United Nations we are now at the stage where it is necessary to take every step open to us to establish and confirm the international will to investigate consistent patterns of gross human rights violations. An important advance in this area occurred this year when agreement was finally reached between the Government of Chile and the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Situation of Human Rights in Chile for the visit of members of the Working Group to Chile in pursuance of General Assembly resolutions. We await the report of that Group. On the other hand, the racist regime in South Africa continues to ignore our consistent condemnations of apartheid and massive violations of human rights in that region. My country utterly abhors and rejects racism, and my delegation will play its full part in our deliberations on this matter.
41.	I said earlier that our aim was to strengthen the United Nations so that it can become a better instrument for the maintenance of peace and the promotion of justice. We have always considered that if there is a role for other nations in local or regional conflicts it is ideally exercised not by direct intervention, but on behalf of the international community as a whole as part of a United Nations peace-keeping operation.
42.	My Government has demonstrated its commitment by supplying over the years some 17,000 Irish soldiers to nine different peace-keeping operations in turn, and this is from a very small Irish permanent defence force. Over this past year, United Nations peace-keeping activities have increased both in scope and significance. In order to support peace-keeping and the useful work of the United Nations Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations, Ireland, in common with its partners in the European Community, believes that it would be useful if the General Assembly were to adopt by general agreement a declaration of support for peace-keeping.
43.	In keeping with our policy, Ireland in May of this year sent a battalion to serve with UNIFIL, and we have recently agreed to augment that force. We felt it our duty, and indeed are proud, to contribute in a practical way to making the United Nations more effective as an instrument in the cause of peace and to help a troubled country. In its first six months UNIFIL has indeed achieved a great deal, and in this context I should like to congratulate the Secretary-General and the Force Commander, Major-General E. A. Erskine, for their conduct of this operation, which called far a high degree of courage, judgement and resourcefulness. The Force has succeeded in exerting its control over most of its area of operation and has contributed to the achievement of peace and stability for many of the people of that area. The Secretary-General has, however, rightly pointed out that much remains to be done. It is vital that UNIFIL be enabled to operate freely throughout its entire area of operations, and that the Lebanese Government should re-establish its authority in southern Lebanon.
44.	It is a cause of grave concern to my Government that certain armed elements, supported from outside Lebanon, continue to restrict the freedom of movement and the full deployment of UNIFIL and likewise to resist the deployment within Lebanon of properly constituted elements of the Lebanese army. I would therefore appeal to all States with influence in the area to ensure that all parties give their full co-operation to UNIFIL so as to enable it to discharge its mandate and contribute generally to peace in the Middle East.
45.	In common with other members of the European Community we continue to support the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Lebanon. The Lebanese situation is in itself inextricably linked with the over-all problems of the Middle East, and a satisfactory solution of Lebanon's problems requires progress towards a general settlement in the Middle East.
46.	Since the situation in the Middle East was last debated in this Assembly there have been important developments. Some of them seem to offer hope of progress towards a stable and comprehensive, peace in that area. Others again remind us just how complex and intractable the problems of that region are.
47.	Along with our partners in the European Community we commended. the courageous initiative taken by the President of Egypt, Mr. El-Sadat last year, and more recently the important step taken at Camp David by the President of the United States, Mr. Carter, President El-Sadat and the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Begin.
48.	It is our hope that all of these efforts will lead in time to a just, stable and comprehensive settlement which will take account of all aspects of a difficult and complex problem. Such a settlement in our view will require careful and patient negotiation; and it must involve all of the parties and respect the rights of all of the parties.
49.	In our view such a settlement should start from Security Council resolutions 242(1967) and 338(1973) and should also take full account of the principles which the member States of the Community, including Ireland, set out in the statement on the Middle East made by their Heads of Government and Foreign Ministers at the European Council meeting in London on 29 June 1977. In particular, as we have made clear, there should be acceptance of the rights of all States in the area to live within secure, recognized and adequately guaranteed boundaries; and there must be respect for the legitimate rights of the Palestinians, which would include their right to participate in the determination of their own future and would take into account also their right to a homeland. I sincerely hope that what has been done may become a beginning on the difficult road toward such a settlement.
50.	I have recently had the opportunity to learn at first hand in Africa the views of some African leaders, both in regard to the development of their own countries and in regard to wider political issues. It was made clear to me that the desire of Africans today is to create their own structures of society best fitted for African needs, drawing on and developing their own traditions, while accepting what seems valuable from outside. Africans wish, in other words, to be masters of their own destiny, and look to others to co-operate with them in this task, both economically and politically.
51.	It is also plain that the wish of African States to assert their own individuality has not lessened their willingness to work together in the Organization of African Unity [OAU] and to co-operate at the world level in the United Nations. The high hopes for African unity and the OAU may not always have been fulfilled. It is not realistic to expect that all of Africa's problems, whether indigenous to the continent or bequeathed by colonial rule, can be easily or quickly overcome, but we support the desire of African States to seek African solutions for African problems. We in Europe know only too well how long it takes to create structures to enable us to pursue common interests and concerns together, despite all that we have in common, and indeed those structures that we have are as yet only partial.
52.	The unfinished business in southern Africa remains one of the most likely causes of serious international tension today. The damage to Africa's development and the diversion of resources that stem from these unresolved issues are very great. The injustice of domination by one human group over another, the consequent instability and the dangers inherent in delay in resolving such issues are nowhere more evident than in southern Africa.
53.	The folly of the white minority regime in Rhodesia in trying to maintain its rule by excluding the majority from any effective participation in government is clear for all to see. The consequences of allowing a situation to drift for too long, and a lack of zeal in carrying policies through, are
evident. A renewed effort must be made to bring all parties to the conflict in Zimbabwe together, so that the transfer of power to the majority may take place peacefully. The alternative is a continued and agonizing struggle which will bring further suffering and misery to all races in Zimbabwe and risk a wider conflict that will engulf surrounding countries. Ireland will continue to implement the sanctions which were imposed by the Security Council to bring effective pressure on the Smith regime to negotiate on a realistic basis.
54. In Namibia, we have in the past year had cause to hope that, in contrast, concerted action by the international community and by some of its members in particular, would lead to a just and internationally acceptable solution. The five Western members of the Security Council demonstrated by their efforts their commitment to peaceful change and acceptance of a responsibility to ensure the exercise of self-determination in Namibia. The Presidents of the front-line States, accepting the good faith behind these efforts, worked unceasingly to ensure their success. The South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPOJ put aside its justifiable suspicions of South Africa. South Africa appeared to demonstrate a new realism. It is a grievous disappointment then that South Africa has drawn back by rejecting the Secretary-General's detailed proposals3.1 am convinced that pressure on South Africa to change its mind must be maintained and that the South African Government should be left in no doubt as to the very serious consequences that will ensue if it further resists the will of the international community on this issue, in which the United Nations has a very particular involvement.
55.	The root of the problems in southern Africa lies of course in South Africa itself, in the policies of systematic racial discrimination of apartheid. I do not propose to spell out in detail my views on the apartheid system, which I outlined to this Assembly last year." I would simply say in summary that it is criminal because it condemns millions of people to a second-class existence within their own country, to the destruction of their social and family life and to oppression when they resist; it is hugely wasteful because it deprives the country of the talents of many of its most gifted citizens; it is disastrous because it is bound to fail; and it is tragic because the descendants of those who successfully fought for self-determination against the then colonial Power now deny it to their fellows and claim to be acting in the name of Christianity and as defenders of Western civilization. I believe that we who hold these values have a special responsibility to reject this claim. The reality is that it is white South Africa that, in claiming to defend these values, does them the greatest outrage.
56.	The problem we face is that those who hold power in South Africa and their supporters refuse to see the reality of the world around them. How do we get them to open their eyes? Unfortunately I can see no sign that they are prepared to make the fundamental changes in policy that are required to avert disaster or, indeed, even to take the
first step down such a road. No one should pretend that constructing a multiracial society is an easy task, but the longer it is postponed the more difficult it becomes and the greater the likelihood of violence. My Government is therefore fully convinced that co-ordinated outside pressure on South Africa is required to bring it to change its policies. We are determined to play an active part, both here in the United Nations and with our partners in the European Community, in the formulation and implementation of effective international measures to this end.
57.	In the meantime the world also has a responsibility to show its concern in a practical way for those who suffer under the apartheid system and to support the United Nations funds for this purpose, particularly in this International Anti-Apartheid Year. The South African Government should, as this Assembly has so often requested, release those imprisoned solely for opposition to its apartheid laws—such as, for example, the young Christian workers recently arrested—and it should refrain from actions, such as the proposed execution of Solomon Mahlangu, which can only serve further to embitter the situation.
58.	Finally, I should like to report to this Assembly, as successive Irish Foreign Ministers have done, on a problem of direct concern to us: that of Northern Ireland. I think it is important because for this Organization to maintain its credibility each of us must be ready to accept, in the case of problems which involve our own direct interests, the standards of conduct which we want to see applied to problems in which we are not directly involved.
59.	This year, I am pleased to be able to bring to this Assembly a message of greater hope about Northern Ireland It is true that it is violence generally which makes headlines in the world press. But it is important to look beyond the headlines to the fact that, in Northern Ireland, violence is now clearly seen as futile, and that it is rejected and repudiated by all except a tiny minority.
60.	There are signs of new thinking on the part of all of those concerned with this problem—within Northern Ireland itself, in the island of Ireland as a whole, and in the United Kingdom, with which, on this difficult subject, my Government has regular and close consultation. The new thinking and the hope to which I referred derive in part from progress and new developments in Ireland. Today the Republic has one of the fastest growing economies in Western Europe. The problems of inflation and unemployment are being brought under control.
61.	Now that both parts of the island are within the European Economic Community, we have become more conscious than ever of the extent to which the problems aid opportunities we face are similar in both parts of the island. There is a. new mood which recognizes that on many questions we have common interests which are best pursued in common. My Government would like to ensure that there is a clear awareness: abroad of this new mood and of the new possibilities in Ireland.
62.	I stressed at the outset of this statement my belief that relations based on domination or fear of domination by any one: group over any other must be replaced by participation
and co-operation. In dealing with problems of divided communities anywhere, what is necessary is to build trust and reconciliation on a basis of respect for a diversity of traditions and outlook. In such cases, reconciliation can be promoted and encouraged by political institutions which are broad and generous enough to take account of differing aspirations while expressing and promoting common interests.
63.	We have always believed that it would be in the interests of all of the people of Ireland and of good relations between the Irish and United Kingdom Governments if the people of Ireland were to come together by consent, by negotiation and under agreed structures. Without taking from the rights of the majority in Northern Ireland, we would hope to persuade the United Kingdom Government also of this point of view, so that It should indicate its interest in the unity of Ireland by agreement, in independence, and in a harmonious relationship between the two islands.
64.	As we move into a new era of confidence and opportunity, both within Ireland and internationally, I am convinced that we will be able to reassess the relationships ant attitudes which we have inherited from history and which in the past have been a source of tension and conflict.
65.	This reconciliation that we hope to see in the island of Ireland would release new energies and open up new opportunities in a new and changing international economic environment. Our belief is that we can share a bright and hopeful future in Ireland and that in so sharing we would all be enriched and be able to play a fuller part internationally.
66.	Here before our brother nations, I want to tell our brother Irishmen of old traditions-that we respect their past and have confidence in their future.
67.	While the problems of Northern Ireland have been acute they can scarcely compare with the terrible human problems that have persisted elsewhere. I know that many people from all parts of Ireland are engaged in unselfish service-in developing countries. It seems essential, then, that we should find new political understanding to encourage that service.
68.	The voice of my Government is heard in the European Community, at these United Nations> and in our relations with these developing countries. We believe that the voice of Ireland will be all the more persuasive when, as we hope, it speaks on behalf of the people of the whole island of Ireland with their agreement and consent.


59.	First of all, I wish to congratulate you warmly, Sir, as a prominent Colombian statesman, on your election to the lofty and important office of President of the thirty-third session of the United Nations General Assembly.
60.	I salute the important contribution made by Mr. Lazar Mojsov to the work of our Organization during the past year as President of the thirty-second session as well as of the three consecutive special sessions of the United Nations General Assembly.
61.	I sincerely thank the Secretary-General, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, and his associates for the devotion and wisdom which they have displayed in their multifarious activities on behalf of the international community and for their tireless efforts to further the implementation of the General Assembly resolution on assistance for the reconstruction of Viet Nam [resolution 32/3],
62.	The Vietnamese delegation welcomes Solomon Islands on the occasion of its admission as the one hundred and fiftieth Member of the United Nations.
63.	During the year that has elapsed since the last regular session of the General Assembly we have witnessed the victories of many peoples in their struggle for peace, national independence, democracy and social progress. Never have the people of the world seen such bright prospects open before them as those of today. Conscious of the dynamics of history, the system of socialist countries, the movements for national independence and the movement of the working people struggling for economic rights and democratic liberties are being strengthened unceasingly and have scored new successes. This is the main trend in the development of the world situation, no matter how hard imperialism, in collusion with international reactionaries, tries to hinder the advance of mankind.
64.	For many generations now, the maintenance of peace has been the primary concern of the people of the world, because peace is related to the vital interests and the rate of development of all nations. Life today has further strengthened our confidence in the possibility of preventing a new world war and preserving lasting peace on our planet. Imperialism has waged two world wars and hundreds of colonialist wars of aggression; but the forces of war have been repulsed , by the peoples of the world and have collapsed part by part.
65.	The high tide of revolution among peoples during and after the two world wars brought the system of the socialist countries into being and caused the disintegration of the colonial system  which was dominated by imperialism. The colonialist wars in the past half-century have further weakened imperialism and exacerbated the crises it has suffered. Though defeated, imperialism has not given up its policy of force and, far from curbing, has in fact stepped up the arms race, thereby causing tension throughout the world. For this reason mankind must be vigilant. Nowadays, however, through their multifaceted struggle and with the combined strength of the forces of socialism, national independence, democracy and peace, the people of the world are more capable than ever before of defending peace and defeating every dark scheme of the warmongers.
66. The victories which have been won by the movement for national independence since the Second World War have brought into existence nearly 100 independent States, thus profoundly changing the political face of the world. Yet at present national independence, self-determination and equality among nations remain the pressing demands of the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America, and indeed the whole of progressive mankind. The peoples still living under the yoke of imperialism, colonialism, racism, apartheid and Zionism are relentlessly struggling for their sacred national rights. Those countries which have gained political independence are continuing to consolidate it and are intensifying their struggle for economic independence and for the recovery of sovereignty over their natural resources. At the same time, they are strengthening their solidarity with other progressive forces in the struggle for a just and equitable new international economic order.
67.	The new victories won by peoples throughout the world prove that peoples are now capable of surmounting every difficulty and choosing freely the path to development which most effectively ensures their independence, freedom and happiness.
68.	Human rights constitute a question of major concern to the world community. Viet Nam is of the view that human rights are, first and foremost, the right to be master in one's own country, the right to use all forms of struggle to defend the vital interests of one's fatherland, the right to choose one's own way of advancement in conformity with one's national traditions and aspirations, and the right of every man and woman to work, study and live a happy life. That is why the struggle for human rights is primarily the straggle to attain and safeguard each country's political and economic independence, and to establish a new international economic order on the basis of respect for national independence and sovereignty.
69.	In order to carry out their expansionist and hegemonistic designs, international reactionary forces are increasingly working hand in glove with imperialism in order to undermine world peace and security and to violate the independence and sovereignty of other countries. They are feverishly stepping up the arms race, preaching the inevitability of war, inciting one country to fight another, and backing and abetting both reactionary and Fascist regimes everywhere to repress the peoples of the world. They try to sow discord among developing countries, to sabotage the unity of the movements for national liberation and the non-aligned countries, and to drive a wedge between those movements and other, revolutionary and progressive forces. They resort to vicious and blatant manoeuvres to oppose the countries which persist in their policy of independence and sovereignty and refuse to submit.
70.	Their acts are designed to side-track the essential goals of the struggle of peoples for independence, democracy and social progress and to make confusion between friends and enemies so that they can side with the chief enemy of mankind—namely, imperialism, colonialism, neocolonialism, racism and apartheid.
71.	The whole-hearted assistance extended by Cuba to other peoples and countries in their struggle for liberation, in defence of their independence and sovereignty and for their national reconstruction is a noble undertaking that has
been highly esteemed by the Fifth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, held in Colombo in 1977, and greatly appreciated by many Latin American countries. Slanders and distortions by imperialism and international reactionaries can in no way detract from these brilliant acts, which are devoted to the just cause of humanity .
72.	The fact that the non-aligned movement will be convening at its Sixth Conference in Havana in 1979, the capital of a nation rich in revolutionary and internationalist spirit, clearly demonstrates the high prestige of Cuba and the tendency towards ever-increasing unity among the forces of peace, independence and social progress.
73.	The acts of the imperialists and international reactionaries run counter to the trend of history and have been condemned by the-whole world. The people of the world, vigilant and united, will certainly foil the desires and actions of the imperialists.
74.	Throughout three decades of struggle for the independence, sovereignty and reunification of our country, Viet Nam experienced great devastation due to the wars which were imposed on us. Today, however, in our south-west border regions the Vietnamese people continue to be killed, and their villages continue to be ravaged. The Vietnamese people have no more earnest aspiration than to live in peace in order rapidly to heal the wounds of war, to rehabilitate and develop their economy and their culture, and to build a prosperous, advanced and happy homeland. Viet Nam desires peace in South-East Asia and in the rest of the world. The foreign policy of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam is one of independence, sovereignty, peace, friendship, unity and co-operation.
75.	As a socialist country Viet Nam has unswervingly pursued a policy of solidarity and co-operation with the Soviet Union and the other fraternal socialist countries. In the past, as now, after its complete liberation and reunification, it continues to enjoy great and effective assistance and support from the socialist countries, friendly countries and the progressive peoples throughout the world. That Viet Nam has become a full member of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance is an auspicious development in the existing relationship between Viet Nam and the countries members of that important international economic organization. At the same time Viet Nam has also established relations with many other international economic organizations in keeping with its policy of broadening and diversifying its relations of international cooperation.
76. For many years South-East Asia has suffered from a situation of instability and has been the arena of many conflicts due to imperialist and colonialist aggression. It is now necessary to put an end to this situation in order to restore peace, and stability and to achieve friendship and co-operation. Viet Nam's attitude is to look to the future and be ready to turn a new page in the history of its relationship with other South-East Asian countries. Viet Nam has been and is prepared to join with other South-East Asian countries in undertaking, through treaties or other formal agreements, strictly to respect each other's independence and sovereignty, to rule out wars against each other, - to refrain from interference in each other's internal affairs, to settle all disputes through peaceful negotiations and to promote bilateral or multilateral co-operation.
77.	We are glad to note that our country is developing ever better relations of friendship and co-operation with South-East Asian countries. This has been clearly evidenced by the visits which, have been permeated with friendship, of Vietnamese leaders to various countries in that region. Those direct top-level contacts have strengthened mutual understanding and trust and have actively contributed to joint efforts to establish a zone of peace, independence, freedom and neutrality, a zone of stability and prosperity, in South-East Asia in keeping with the interests of each country and the common interests of the entire region, and for the benefit of world peace and security.
78.	We welcome the very important contribution that has been made by the Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic to the cause of peace and the co-operation of the countries of South-East Asia. We also welcome the efforts and the goodwill of many other South-East Asian countries in normalizing and strengthening relations among the countries of that region.
79.	At present there are forces which nurture ambitions for expansion and big-nation hegemony and are trying to follow the old path of the colonialists by sowing division, suspicion and enmity among South-East Asian countries. -They thereby run counter to the aspirations for peace, friendship and co-operation that prevail among the countries of that region.
80.	The 4,000-year history of the Vietnamese nation is one of long and hard struggle but one that has been crowned with glorious victory for national independence. In their contemporary history the Vietnamese people have waged an undaunted struggle to defend their independence and freedom. They perpetrate aggression against no one, but they will not allow anyone to encroach upon their independence and sovereignty. The more they cherish their own independence and freedom, the more they respect the independence. and freedom of other countries.
81.	The Vietnamese people are deeply convinced that the differences and; disputes, even the conflicts, between independent and sovereign States can be satisfactorily settled on the basis of respect for one another's independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and equality between states and respect for one another's legitimate interests. This is in conformity with the desire of the peace- and justice-loving peoples throughout the world and constitutes one of the principles of the United Nations.
82.	In this spirit, the Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam has made several constructive proposals for settling the conflicts and lessening-the tension between Viet Nam and some of its neighbours. My Government is. persisting in its endeavour to seek a satisfactory settlement that serves the interests and traditional friendship existing between Viet Nam and those countries, and to further peace and stability in that region.
83.	The Socialist Republic of Viet Nam has improved normal relations and its comprehensive co-operation with other countries, irrespective of their political systems, on the basis of the principles of peaceful coexistence.
84.	We are prepared to negotiate with the United States in order to normalize relations between our two countries, and we are confident that, with goodwill on both sides, the problems that concern them will be satisfactorily settled step by step.
85.	Viet Nam is willing to pursue bilateral and multilateral co-operation with other countries and to participate in or maintain relations with international co-operation organizations in order to develop its economy on the basis of respect for each other's independence and sovereignty, equality and mutual benefit. Viet Nam is a member of the World Bank, IMF, the Asian Development Bank, the Mekong Committee and many other international organizations. It also maintains relations with the European Economic Community.
86.	I wish to express here the profound gratitude of the people and Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam to their friends all over the world who are showing both sympathy and support for our efforts to build the homeland and to defend independence and sovereignty.
87.	The Vietnamese people are fully aware that their struggle, in the past as well as in the present, for their own national interests is closely associated with the common struggle of the people of the world for peace, national independence, democracy and social progress, as well as with the objectives of the non-aligned movement and those of the United Nations. During the past year the peoples of Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Democratic Yemen and others have obtained major victories in their revolutionary struggle and in the defence of their revolutionary gains.
88.	The Palestinian people and other Arab peoples in the Middle East are continuing their struggle against the Israeli occupation, which is backed by imperialism. We reaffirm our strong support for the struggle of the Palestinian Arab people, under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization to win back their fundamental national rights, including the right to establish a separate, independent and sovereign State. We support the Arab peoples in the Middle East who are endeavouring to recover completely their territories occupied by Israeli aggressors. We welcome all efforts aimed at bringing about peace and an end to war in the Middle East. However, in order to have genuine peace, the sources of war must be eliminated. A durable peace in that region requires that the aggression be totally eradicated and implies the restoration of the fundamental national rights of the Palestinian people and total sovereignty of the Arab countries over their occupied territories. A solution in which-only the aggressor has his say, and even the right of veto, while the victim of the aggression, the Palestinian people, whose. legitimate representative is the Palestine Liberation Organization, is prevented from making its important voice heard can only encourage aggression and damage the cause of peace in that region. Unfortunately, that is the essence of the Camp David peace agreements,
89.	In view of the ever greater victories that have been scored by the peoples of southern Africa, the imperialists and their agents are resorting to increasingly wicked and deceitful manoeuvres. We reaffirm our strong support for the peoples in Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa in their struggle for self-determination and genuine independence against Fascist regimes and apartheid.
90.	The United States must immediately and unconditionally cease its embargo against Cuba, pay damages for the losses caused by its aggression and its embargo against Cuba, and restore Cuban sovereignty over Guantanamo. We support the Korean people in their struggle for the peaceful and independent reunification of their country in keeping with the three principles and five guidelines laid down by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. We support the Panamanian people in their continued struggle for complete sovereignty over the Canal Zone. We support the peoples of Puerto Rico, Belize, Cyprus, Western Sahara, those islands "under trusteeship", the Non-Self-Governing Territories and other countries which are now struggling for their fundamental national rights. We support the people of Nicaragua in their struggle against die Fascist and dictatorial Somoza regime for the restoration of democracy and freedom in Nicaragua. We energetically condemn the savage repression perpetrated by the Fascist clique now in power in Chile.
91.	We support every effort to achieve peace and total and complete disarmament. As regards nuclear disarmament, we are in favour of any initiative that will ensure the protection of non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of the use of such weapons by the nuclear Powers, provide non-nuclear States with adequate rights and the conditions for developing the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, help to stop the nuclear arms race and prohibit the production of new systems of those weapons. These matters relate to the rights and obligations of both nuclear-weapon States and non-nuclear-weapon States, and both have equal rights and obligations in the matter of nuclear disarmament as well as in that of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. For that reason these matters should be settled in an interrelated way.
92.	We support proposals aimed at inculcating noble sentiments concerning peace in the youth and broad sectors of the peoples of all countries.
93.	Although in the present situation we are still-confronted with complex and difficult problems, the struggle of the people of the world for peace, national independence, democracy and social progress has consistently gained new successes, and this has been reflected in part in the documents of our Organization during the past year.
94.	We are confident that the noble goals of the international community will, one by one, be achieved. Progressive mankind will find proper solutions for the major problems of our time. In this conviction we will co-operate closely with, other Members of our Organization and contribute our part to the success of this thirty-third session of the General Assembly.