1.	May I begin by congratulating you, Mr. President, on your assumption this year of the weighty office that you hold.
2.	Foremost in my thoughts, as I again have the great honor of addressing this Assembly, are the enormous hopes that the world's peoples have had of this Organization. These hopes have constantly had to confront the grave problems and dangers that continue to threaten world peace and security and to divide the nations of the world. But I am also conscious of the accomplishments of the United Nations in the past 40 years in advancing some of our common aspirations. There is progress towards greater equity in economic opportunity. We have avoided generalized world conflict. Appalling wars have occurred, but they have been contained. The United Nations role in these achievements is especially significant when we consider the limitations that we, as Member States, have placed on its capacity to act.
3.	I congratulate our SecretaryGeneral on his own tireless efforts over the years. I wish particularly to place in review today the notion of the United Nations place in world affairs because I am very conscious of the fact that it is almost 20 years exactly since one of the Secretary General's forerunners, the great Dag Hammarskjold, was killed, in the service of world peace and of our Organization.
4.	The sort of world problems that existed 20 years ago are a gauge for measuring how far we have come, if indeed we have come any distance at all, in our search for the truly better world that we were then after. A simple judgment is not easy. The world was dangerous then and it is dangerous now. But some of the dangers today are different than they were in 1961. It requires adaptation on the part of the States Members of the Organization to deal with them. We are entitled to ask whether it is not because of difficulties in adapting the Organization to change, as well as the restrictions that we have placed in it, that the United Nations impact on world problems has not been greater.
5. Not all of today's problems are different. Sadly, some of the problems then are still with us today white minority domination in South Africa, for example, and South Africa's continued occupation of Namibia, or the seemingly intractable problems of the Middle East. Others have appeared to work their way back into our preoccupations, such as features of EastWest competition that for a time had receded from the forefront of our attention.
6.	But, whatever the problems, there is a constant need to adapt to change. As I emphasized here at last year's session [4th meeting], change is natural and inevitable. Our greatest challenge is to adapt to that change, not to resist it.
7.	Many of us here are meliorists, who hold that we can encourage change for the better and that the role of the Organization is central to the promotion of a better life for all the world's inhabitants. But even if we were not thus optimistic, we would still wish the United Nations to be effective in dealing with the problems that are within its mandate and in changing to cope with threats in the world today.
8.	Dag Hammarskjold died in 1961, along with other devoted members of the United Nations Secretariat,, to whom I also pay homage, in an attempt to assist the progress of decolonization in Africa, to preserve the territorial integrity of a newly independent State and to resist the designs of countries and interests from there and elsewhere which, for reasons of self-interest or nostalgia, meant to subvert the changes which were taking place. 1 think that Hammarskjold died with a vision of the United Nations peacemaking and peacekeeping capability which was resisted then and which has been resisted since. But at least the process of political decolonization which seized our attention in those years has now been virtually completed. And, while I ask myself how many newly independent States enjoy today the sort of economic and political security and opportunity which they so bravely expected at the outset of their struggle for independence, it is perhaps illusory to tie their development to the notion of national independence. Self-determination, yes; but in 1981 we are much more deeply conscious of our global interdependence the interdependence of States, of economies, of peoples and of dangers.
9.	Economically, our interdependence is more authentically reciprocal. Twenty years ago the economic relationships between North and South were much more those of the classical form of colonial dependence. The idea that most industrialized countries of the world would by now be purchasing 30 and 40 per cent of their imported manufactured goods in developing countries would have
Seemed far-fetched in 1961. Indeed, this interdependence in trade is an increasingly important feature of our view of international economic affairs. Its reflection in international decision-making is necessary. This, as well as our concern for equity in opportunity, helps to explain why Canada is a strong supporter of the need for a global negotiating process.
10.	There has been remarkable progress in the economic development of many developing countries since 1961. But still for many in the world the basic conditions of life are just as impoverished now as they were then. The apparent inability to aid these people in the dimensions required is an indictment we must accept. But, sadly, we must also accept that the economic expectations many held for the world in 1961, and for the industrialized countries in particular, were exaggerated. Were those years of unprecedented boom an aberration? Do we need to live now 'with diminished expectations for growth in the future? If so, it is our obligation to find ways to deal with world problems within the limits of a more stringent environment now than in 1961 and to redouble our efforts, with discipline and dedication, to direct our attentions to where they are really vitally needed.
11.	Interdependence and its relationship to self-determination are a global political as well as economic reality. We are all neighbors, and strategically so. IWenty years ago the EastWest strategic focus was mainly on Europe. Today the risk of confrontation between the superPowers in areas normally considered to be part of the third world is also enhanced. There is a risk of aggravating problems already anguishing enough in terms of the turbulence and fragility of the conditions of underdevelopment and conflict indigenous to the regions in question. I call for a look backward to those contemporaries of Hammarskjold who saw in nonalignment an opportunity for developing countries to concentrate on the problems before them without the threat of interference in their affairs from more powerful countries intent on diverting their assets to their own purposes. I say that true nonalignment is not only consistent with interdependence but more necessary because of it.
12.	Is it possible that in the last 20 years the nature of EastWest tension has changed because the Soviet Union is today a military super-Power with a capability of intervention which ranges far and wide? This capability can constitute a threat to world peace as well as to the non alignment of countries as long as it is the instrument, in Afghanistan as well as in Kampuchea, of cynical real politik. Let us recognize that, if the strategic interests of great Powers are now in fact interdependent with events in the third world, then there is a need, above all, for great restraint on all our parts.
13.	All these circumstances in 1981 call for a United Nations which is more meaningful and more relevant to global concerns and events, not less. As the challenges to all of us increase in complexity and urgency, the need for more sophisticated, flexible and responsive instruments to meet them grows apace. The problems of the rest of the century and beyond englobe the ecology and use of our land, our space and our seas, as well as the security of peoples and their rising expectation in a world concentrated through technology.
14.	For instance, take the applications of nuclear technology. In 1961 most countries here were consoled by progress in negotiating a nuclear test ban treaty. It looked then as if we were headed towards a halt in the arms race. It was a brief illusion. Today it is one of the most unequivocally disturbing features of international life, and indeed of our interdependence, that the dangers of nuclear war are now even greater. Nuclear proliferation threatens on two axes: the horizontal spread of nuclear weapons to previously non-nuclear weapon States and the vertical amassing of even greater numbers of weapons by the superPowers urge in the name of sanity that this danger be recognized and resisted.
15.	We must enable the institutions of the United Nations to be more productive, not less, and we must encourage all countries to participate actively in the pursuit of solutions in these institutions. In doing so, we can demonstrate that we wish to make them relevant and productive for the general benefit, adapted to the shape of the world today. Many of my remaining remarks are directed to prospects for development in countries which were still colonies 20 years ago, and this reflects the interdependence of our interests and purposes today. But the political and economic problems of the world intersect and interact. It is important that the Organization adapt itself as well through greater sharing in the exercise of power and responsibility. Can we not ask ourselves if some of the notions of Dag Hammarskjold with regard to a stronger United Nations in the interests of world peace and security cannot today be generally seen as more reasonable than they were 20 years ago? It is my view that they are certainly every bit as necessary.
16.	Surely the continued occupation of Afghanistan by foreign military forces is an example of precisely the sort of threat to world peace and security which the United Nations was meant to prevent. The courage and determination of the resistance is an ennobling assertion of the human spirit against the machinery of military oppression, but the tragic facts reflect a basic fault in the notion of collective security. When a powerful country wishes to ignore United Nations decisions, it will feel free to do so unless its actions remain the object of continued international attention. The continued presence of Soviet troops in Afghanistan is an affront to the principles of the Organization.
17.	I call on the Soviet Government to honor those principles and also the ideals of international conduct which the Soviet Union itself is pledged to follow. I ask that it respond positively to international efforts, including reestablishing a truly independent and nonaligned Government in Afghanistan, a Government which can reflect without outside interference the real will of the Afghan people.
18.	As has been emphasized by the countries of the region, the situation in Kampuchea is also a threat to peace and security. A first attempt has been made to cope with the political problems that lie at the heart of the Kampuchean question, and we now know that a settlement should cover a ceasefire on the ground, the supervised withdrawal of foreign troops, the holding of free elections under United Nations supervision and the adoption of appropriate measures to ensure that those elections are not disturbed by the armed factions in Kampuchea. Canada supports these proposals made at the International Conference on Kampuchea and contained in the Declaration of the Conference, because they appear to provide the necessary guarantees for all the parties to the conflict. We also endorse the establishment by the Conference of an ad hoc committee to study and apply the measures necessary to enable the proud Kampuchean people to decide on its own future. We urge the Members of this Organization to take this opportunity to resolve this tragic situation and to promote at long last a lasting peace in South East Asia.

19.	The self-determination sought for both Afghanistan and Kampuchea is one of the historic themes of the United Nations. It has been a central focus of the non aligned movement, of which both Afghanistan and Kampuchea are members. It was also 20 years ago this month that the first meeting of the movement was held in Belgrade. I salute what the movement has done to advance the rights of newly emerging countries.
20.	Today this ideal of self-determination is celebrated with the attainment of independence by Belize. This is an achievement for the United Nations in which Canada takes particular satisfaction as a longtime cosponsor of United Nations resolutions on the subject. While Canada is disappointed that talks between the United Kingdom, Belize and Guatemala have not led to the resolution of all outstanding issues, we are encouraged that there is a real commitment on the part of all parties to the promotion of peace in the region, which must include a Anal agreement on Belize. We are confident that the Governments of Belize and Guatemala will settle the issues between them in a peaceful and durable manner.
21.	But if the independence of Belize represents an event to celebrate, how depressing it is again to contemplate on the agenda of this session of the General Assembly the same issues affecting southern Africa that the United Nations has been pronouncing itself on for decades. I was speaking earlier of the dynamics of change in human affairs and of the futility of resisting the strength of human aspiration to self-determination. But in South Africa in 1981 resistance to change has increased. I have no doubt that justice will come for the victims of racism in South Africa, for the majority whose human dignity is abused in an affront to us all. I sympathize with the impatience of those who shudder at abiding any longer, for another generation, another decade or two, the oppression of apartheid. But I counsel wisdom in choosing methods of promoting the freedom of these people, for we must not let differences over tactics serve to weaken our unity in that purpose."
22.	In Namibia, too, the intransigence of the South African Government remains the sole obstacle to a negotiated settlement. Our only goal is to enable the Namibian people to gain their independence at last and the right to a free and fair election in which all Namibians can take part under United Nations supervision. Canada supports unconditionally Security Council resolution 435 (1978) and the United Nations plan which theCouncil has embraced by that resolution, and we have been active, particularly in the contact group and with African States, in pursuing that goal.
23.	In the Middle East there is also conflict, and at its center is the ArabIsraeli dispute, as old as the United Nations itself. We cannot afford further delay in moving towards a negotiated settlement to this generations old conflict, a settlement in which all the interested parties must participate. Israelis and Palestinians have legitimate rights and concerns which must be taken into account, Israel's quest for security and recognized boundaries and the right to be fully accepted by its neighbors can be met only in a political, not a military, framework. The same holds true for the legitimate rights of the Palestinians, including their right to a homeland within a clearly defined territory the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
24.	I therefore urge all the parties concerned to summon the vision and the will required to take decisions which are as necessary as they are difficult. Among the areas where progress is urgently needed, none is more pressing than measures to ensure that the Middle East will remain free of nuclear weapons.
25.	Another early concern of the United Nations was the Korean peninsula. There too the SecretaryGeneral is performing a useful good offices role. We are encouraged by the recent initiatives of the Republic of Korea for dialog and reconciliation without conditions and for the greater integration of the peninsula into the international community.
26.	The United Nations is also playing a valuable role in Cyprus, where peacekeeping and peacemaking are proceeding in parallel under the SecretaryGeneral's leadership. We hope that the approaches now being considered in negotiations between the two communities will lead to the just and lasting comprehensive settlement they both desire.
27.	It is in Cyprus that the oldest and largest of Canada's present peacekeeping contingents is serving. Twenty-five years after the introduction of United Nations peacekeeping forces to world affairs, I see the Cyprus force as accomplishing an important role, encouraging us to believe in the notion of collective security through recourse to negotiation instead of conflict.
28.	That is also the notion involved in our attempt to advance the rule of law at the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. I should like to associate myself with the statement made by the SecretaryGeneral at the opening of the tenth session of the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, on 9 March, when he said:
"Apart from the achievement of the specific objectives of this Conference, I attach the highest importance to the impact which its success may have in strengthening the role of the United Nations in finding viable solutions to great global issues."3
29.	I wish to emphasize that the Conference is not merely an attempt to codify technical rules of law. It is a resource Conference; it is a food Conference; it is an environmental Conference; it is an energy Conference; it is a conservation Conference; it is an economic Conference; it is a maritime boundary delimitation Conference; it is a territorial limitation and jurisdictional Conference; it is a transportation, communications and freedom of navigation Conference; it is a Conference which regulates all the
uses of the oceans by humanity. Most important it is a Conference which provides for the peaceful settlement of disputes concerning the oceans. It is, in other words, a Conference dedicated to the rule of law among nations.
30.	The Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea ranks in importance with the San Francisco Conference founding the United Nations itself. It represents an extremely important element in the NorthSouth dialog. It has significant implications for peaceful East West relations. It touches on the interests of every State great or small, rich or poor, coastal or landlocked. The achievement of a universal agreement on a Law of the Sea Convention is fundamental to world peace and security.
31.	Of course, international peace and security, as well as development, freedom and life itself, will ultimately depend on whether we can successfully work towards arms control id disarmament. International security can be consistent with lower levels of armaments and expenditures. The coming special session on disarmament must point the way to more concrete progress than in recent years if credibility is to be maintained. Deliberations on disarmament at this session of the General Assembly can be of crucial importance in preparation. The remarkable consensus reached in 1978 needs reaffirmation and further direction.
32.	It is true that the international climate is less favorable today. At the same time, we cannot ignore the growing impatience of the world's peoples with the lack of progress towards verifiable arms limitation and disarmament agreements. Our efforts on their behalf should take into account the situation as it is in covering realistic proposals which have some substantive chance to effect change. The Canadian Government recently reaffirmed the validity of the concept of the strategy of suffocation mentioned in the Final Document of the first special session of the General Assembly on disarmament [resolution ; SJ0/2], Embracing that strategy are Canada's priorities on preparations for the second special session. They are: to encourage the continuation of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT]; to promote the attainment of a multilateral comprehensive test ban treaty; to assist in the preparation of a convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons and on their destruction; to promote the evolution of an effective nonproliferation regime based on the Treaty on the NonProliferation of Nuclear Weapons; and to participate in. negotiations to limit and reduce conventional forces. Canada is committed to breaking the pattern of madness which spiraling rearmament represents, and those priorities will guide our endeavors to fulfill this commitment.
33.	I have spoken about the far reaching quests for peace, self-determination and development. These are the forces by which pervasive change can be channeled in positive directions. They are as new as today and as old as humankind; constants amid change. They have found eloquent expression in the ideals of our Charter, and I urge our re-dedication to them.
34.	But there is none so pervasive as the quest for human dignity for the individual and for his rights. That is why the United Nations enshrined in its Charter, as a primary objective, the promotion and encouragement of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. There has been the development of several important
human rights instruments since, most notably the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In the stewardship of the implementation of the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights there is the expert and responsible role of the Human Rights Committee. It is an example of the ability of the international community to promote internationally recognized standards.
35.	The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is an equally significant covenant needing serious and expert review. There are areas in which international standards have yet to be established. We applaud the placing before this Assembly for adoption of a draft declaration on the elimination of all forms of intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or belief.4
36.	But, while we welcome the continuing development of international human rights standards, we are deeply conscious that despite these the grossest abuses occur; the lives, freedom and integrity of innocent persons are constantly swept aside in the name of one cause, or power struggle, or another. If the United Nations provides relief unhesitatingly to the victims of natural disasters, how can we do less when the crises are man-made?,
37.	The United Nations has the means to respond. It can, for example, employ the good offices of the SecretaryGeneral; it can provide for the urgent dispatch of a special rapporteur or a mission of inquiry. All that is needed is the will to act in providing protection for those individuals or groups whose situation has become perilous in situations of social breakdown.
38.	On the subject of human rights and massive exodus, Canada welcomed the adoption of our proposal to appoint a special rapporteur. We trust that the experience of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan in that role will lead to the adoption of a report which provides insight into how the United Nations organizations and Member States can together prevent refugee situations from reaching existing proportions. We believe that report should provide an impartial basis for examining broader aspects of international refugee problems, including, for example, the proposed initiative by, the Federal Republic of Germany regarding international guidelines for preventing massive flows of refugees.
39.	Even in more tranquil situations, there is work to be done. This is the International Year of Disabled Persons, to promote the right of more than 500 million disabled' people throughout the world to full participation and equality in a barrier-free world.
40.	And there is the position of women in all countries and the need to improve their condition socially and politically and to promote the equality of women with men. An important step in this direction is the recent entry into force, on 3 September 1981, of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
41.	Collective world concern for individual human rights and for organized efforts to promote the rights of women and the specifically disadvantaged are important recent phenomena. These issues are concerned with individuals, with the lives of people and groups of people, and will continue to receive much attention in international forums.
42.	At the level of nations, the emergence during the last 30 years of some 100 sovereign States must be counted as one of the most significant changes the world has ever seen. Dag Hammarskjold was of course centrally involved in the process of assisting these new States to enter into the life of this institution. This was a period of birth and hope. But for many of those new States, perhaps for most, this hope was quickly tempered by the economic realities which faced them.
43.	One reality which was evident immediately to the new States was that any economic interdependence which then applied was heavily skewed on the side of dependence and vulnerability for them. It was an asymmetrical relationship. The developing countries were acutely aware of this, but the developed world was not. That has now changed. I think that the change in perception on the part of developed countries towards the reality of global interdependence is of great significance, even a source of hope.
44.	The growing realization that to an increasing extent our economic futures are linked can spur us towards solutions. The Brandt Report9 has, I think, contributed in this regard. In particular, there has been an increased awareness of the contribution of the developing countries to the overall world economy. It is now projected that between 1980 and 1990 developing countries will account for more than a quarter of the increase in world trade. These statistics mask, of course, important differences among the various developing countries most involved as well as the relative impact of these changes on individual economies. But they indicate that developing countries are moving closer to the center of the world economic stage.
45.	Interdependence also has a price. It tends to make all nations more vulnerable to shocks from the outside and from forces beyond the control of national Governments. It is therefore of paramount importance that the international institutions which provide the frameworks for the international economic system function effectively. If they do not, if they become deadlocked and divided along bloc lines, or if they become hostage to narrow interests, then the international economy will suffer. In these circumstances, interdependence becomes a liability and all States suffer.
46.	Inflation, high interest rates and sluggish growth pose real problems for the industrialized countries. The constraints on export growth and financing are mounting in the middle-income developing countries. It is, however, the low-income countries, particularly the least developed, which are the most vulnerable and whose prospects are the bleakest. Whether from oil shocks or high inter-strata shocks, they have suffered most.
47.	The rising prices and diminishing supply of conventional petroleum reserves have had a major impact on all of us, but the impact of the two oil shocks of the 1970s has had a disproportionate effect on the developing countries, setting back the development plans of many of them. Canada agrees that a high priority in international action should be accorded to their energy needs. It is because energy is central to development that Canada supports the expansion of World Bank energy lending, including lending through a new energy affiliate if this were eventually feasible, to assist developing countries in their energy programs.
48.	In Canada we have responded to this need by creating a new development assistance arm of our national oil company, PetroCanada International, devoted to aiding oil-importing developing countries in the mobilization of their own energy resources, particularly hydrocarbons. Effort and imagination must also be used to seek out ways of assisting developing countries in non-petroleum sources of energy. The recent United Nations Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy was important in this respect, but represented a single step on a long and difficult road.
49.	Just as Canada's economic structure and expertise favor development assistance in the energy area, so we also intend to make a major contribution to helping to improve agricultural production in developing countries. While international trade in food products has increased dramatically in recent decades, many nations which were previously self-sufficient in staple products, and even significant exporters of them, have become today reliant on food imports, particularly food grains. There is a real prospect of a food crisis in the 1980s and urgent international attention is needed on this problem.
50.	I have spoken of energy and food areas where Canada can make a unique contribution but I would like also to say a few words about trade, for it is perhaps trade which, in the long run, offers the best promise of escape from the wheel of poverty for many countries.
51.	Developing countries have seized important new opportunities to increase trade among themselves. But northern markets continue to be crucial, and future prospects for expanding NorthSouth trade will depend to a large extent on the ability of industrial countries to develop effective adjustment strategies which can maintain a reasonable rate of economic growth employment. In fact, the relative significance of NorthSouth trade has grown in recent years compared with trade just among the industrialized countries. Now, a number of the most advanced developing countries represent the potential trade partnerships of greatest opportunity for many developed countries. All countries will benefit from an open, universal international trading system, and Canada will continue to pursue this goal. This would be our focus at the new proposed ministerial meeting of GATT in 1982..
52.	The export prospects of developing countries are also an increasingly important factor in the health of the international payments system and of international banking. For the foreseeable future, developing countries will continue to need substantial external finance, whether in the form of private investment, commercial loans Or concessional loans and grants. While private banking continues to play a major role in recycling, the international financial institutions must be increasingly involved. We support renewed effort by IMF and the World Bank in this direction. But for many of the low-income countries, the ability to participate in the expansion of world trade is limited; so is their access to commercial credit. If poverty in those countries is to be attacked and social justice demands this then greater amounts of concessional assistance must be directed to them. There is no way around this issue: development assistance is vital and urgently needed, and the world is not providing enough of it.
53.	The recent United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries held in Paris from 1 to 14 September 1981 was an important contribution to progress. Widespread consensus was achieved in the international community for the setting of objectives to be pursued by recipients and for the projections from donors of significant additional official development assistance in real terms during this decade. Taken together, these hold promise for advancing substantially the development of States most in need.
54.	The Substantial New Program of Action for the 1980s for the Least Developed Countries adopted in Paris not only set an important course for achieving progress with respect to the least developed countries but provides a guide for approaching vitally needed interaction between developed and developing countries on a range of subjects on the NorthSouth agenda. Key portions of the Substantial New Program of Action became known as the "Canadian Compromise". Canada was pleased to be associated with those vital conclusions because they demonstrated that constructive agreement can be reached on a subject of vital importance to the developing countries. In keeping with the role my country played in Paris, I urge that the momentum and techniques generated there be pursued during this session of the Assembly and during other international meetings addressing relations between developing and developed countries.
55.	As a result of the Paris achievement, which Canada helped to create, and in the context of translating that achievement into concrete reality, I am pleased to announce today that Canada will devote 0.15 per cent of its gross national product as official development assistance to the least developed countries in the coming years.
56.	This pledge is in the context of the announcement I made at the eleventh special session of the General Assembly on development last year [4th meeting] that Canada would reverse the trend of previous years and increase our official development assistance to ensure that we are soon at 0.5 per cent of gross national product as part of an effort to reach 0.7 per cent by the end of the decade. I am pleased that we have remained on that upward track.
57.	I spoke earlier of the fact that interdependence means that international economic cooperation is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity without which interdependence becomes a liability.
58.	We must look towards deeper global economic cooperation, yet solutions to world economic problems will not always be global. The progress made at the High Level Conference on Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries in Caracas last May is a case in point. Relations with developing countries was the major focus of a number of high-level consultations among industrialized countries in particular the June ministerial meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Ottawa summit. I want to take this opportunity to report very briefly to the Assembly on the latter meeting.
59.	The Ottawa summit devoted considerable time to the issue of economic relations between developed and developing countries. In the communique the leaders agreed on a joint statement reflecting those discussions. They underlined an appreciation of the magnitude of the problems and a common readiness to help respond to them. Overall, the message to our developing country partners signaled the following: respect for independence and support for genuine nonalignment; commitment to cooperate in a spirit of mutual interest and interdependence; support for closer integration of developing countries into the international economic system, as well as support for their efforts to promote development within the framework of their own social values and traditions.
60.	Moreover, we sought at this meeting to address the key problems of energy, food, trade and finance in a positive and constructive way. We pledged to maintain substantial and, in many cases, growing levels of official development assistance, the major portion of which will be directed to poorer countries. Of signal importance was our affirmation at this meeting of our willingness to participate in preparations for a process of global negotiations. It has been encouraging to me that both developed and developing countries have expressed their appreciation of the results of the Ottawa Summit.
61.	Another important initiative in NorthSouth relations this year will be the meeting of 22 Heads of State and Government of North and South to be held at CaQSun. We hope that this meeting will foster understanding of the key NorthSouth issues and give political impetus to their resolution in whatever forums may be appropriate. We do not see this meeting as a substitute for global negotiations. No non-universal forum can be. But we do see it as a catalyst for them. And while the nature of the North South meeting precludes participation by, all of the interested parties, we welcome the link with the United Nations as represented by the presence at Cancun of the Secretary-General.
62.	While we admit the value of summits, however, universally determined multilateral agreements remain fundamental to our search for effective solutions to global problems. For this reason, a large degree of consensus has been reached on the launching of global negotiations. While admitting that compromise on all sides will be necessary in that process, I believe there is new willingness to face that challenge. Preparatory discussions will resume during this session, and I pledge Canada's determination to work for a successful outcome.
63.	In Canada during the past year we have taken a number of steps to enable us to play a more active and constructive role in international cooperation in those vital areas. A Parliamentary task force on NorthSouth relations submitted a major and invaluable report. It advocated strongly that Canada continue to play an active NorthSouth role, based on the principles of mutual benefit and humanitarianism, and made a series of constructive recommendations relating to energy, finance, trade, food and development assistance. Our Government has been pleased with the broad support the report has received and with the increased public awareness fostered by the Work of the task force.
64.	Parallel to the work of the Parliamentary task force, and based on it, the Canadian Government also conducted a review of NorthSouth policy. We have affirmed a number of fundamental issues, including a recognition of interdependence, the need for harmonization of external and domestic policies which have an impact on developing countries, the need to employ a variety of instruments to meet the needs of developing countries and greater integration of the South in the international economic system.
[The speaker continued in French.]
65.	We must as nations acknowledge the fact that our economic concerns, as well as many of our political, social and economic problems, are fundamentally international in nature. In an ever-changing world, the problem of the reconciliation of the fact of interdependence and the imperative need for self-determination is one of the greatest challenges facing political decision-makers. But our awareness of the complexities of interdependence and of its ramifications throughout all areas of national life must not lead us to despair, but rather to act. We must meet the challenge posed by the adaptation and development both of international institutional machinery and of our national ways of thinking to cope with those new realities and the need for change.
66.	Whatever means are used, the institutional machinery is inadequate. What is crucial is the will of all countries to make those instruments effective. Governments, whatever their national policies, must have the courage to tackle the major international problems of our day. In order to do so, they must feel confident that only through international cooperation can security, stability and justice for the world be guaranteed.
67.	Canadians have that confidence. We shall dedicate ourselves here and wherever these problems are considered to the quest for far-reaching international solutions which will affect the lives of every one of us.


61.	 It is, Sir, a particular pleasure for me to convey to you our sincere congratulations on your election to the presidency of the thirty-sixth session of the General Assembly.
62.	The Moroccan delegation feels that that choice is a deserved tribute paid by the international community to the sister Republic of Iraq, one of the founding Members of the United Nations to which Iraq has not ceased to make an effective and constructive contribution.
63.	It is, furthermore, a pleasure for me to welcome your election because Morocco and Iraq have maintained close and trusting fraternal relations for many centuries, professing, both in the Arab and Islamic arenas and in the broader international arena the same ideals of dedication to the causes of liberty, justice and peace.
64.	Your election also crowns a career during which your remarkable competence has served the Organization. The audience that you have thereby gained is the best measure of your success in discharging the noble task entrusted to you.
65.	For its part, my delegation would like to assure you of its full cooperation in helping you accomplish that task.
66.	I wish, at the same time, to express to your predecessor, Mr. Rudiger von Wechmar, our complete satisfaction and our appreciation for the skill with which he guided the work of the previous session.
67.	It is also with great pleasure that I express to the SecretaryGeneral all my thanks and high esteem for the tireless and perspicacious efforts he has undertaken and continues to undertake in seeking to ensure the application of the resolutions of the Organization, the defense of its ideals and respect for its Charter.
68.	The admission of two new independent States, Vanuatu and Belize, which we warmly welcome, is a precious contribution to the Organization and strengthens its universal character.
69.	Our current session opens in an atmosphere charged with worry and tensions. Regional conflicts are constantly extending, and their causes are increasing more and more.
International problems and disputes are becoming ever more complex and are severely testing the Organization.
70.	The agenda of the session contains problems full of specific threats to international stability and peace. Some of these problems are due to flagrant violations of the Charter and to disregard of international morality. Others are linked with lingering colonialism or its aftereffects, attacks on human dignity and human rights and the continuance of the policy of apartheid. Other tensions which threaten international peace and stability can be imputed to the growing gap between the prosperity of the developed countries and the continuing impoverishment of the majority of mankind, and also to the insane arms race and the stockpiling of arms.
71.	Morocco, which belongs to the Arab family, has always attached great importance to the problem of the Middle East and in particular gives a special place to the Palestinian question, because it is at the heart of the problem of the Middle East.
72.	The Palestinian question constitutes a striking example of political injustice in the international arena, a clear illustration of Israel's disregard for the principles and ideals of humanity and a flagrant challenge to the resolutions adopted by the international community represented by the United Nations.
73.	Although the Organization has been seized of this question for more than 30 years, we must note that the Palestinian people continues to bear the full weight of the occupation by Israel, which is attempting to appropriate its land and its goods r • d is pursuing a policy aimed at obliterating the personality and changing the characteristics of the Palestinian homeland. We also note that the occupier is ceaselessly intensifying its policy of aggression perpetrated not only against the people and territory of Palestine, but also against neighboring Arab States, thus defying international public opinion and United Nations resolutions.
74.	Despite a radical evolution of the Palestinian question in the international arena, as illustrated by the recognition by the great majority of States of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people, including its right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent State on its land, and by a growing international recognition of the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, Israel is bent on pursuing its policy of aggression and the methodical colonial settlement of Palestine. Thus, Israel is pursuing a policy of exterminating the Palestinian people and seeks to distort Palestinian history, to destroy the religious and cultural institutions of the country, and to modify the demographic balance, seeking to eliminate Palestinian identity completely, with total disregard of international opinion and the United Nations.
75.	Morocco, which considers the question of Palestine as a priority item, reaffirms its commitment to give steadfast support to the struggling Palestinian people and to the other Arab States with territories that have been occupied since 1967. It reaffirms, moreover, its adherence to the resolutions adopted by Arab summit conferences, in particular those of the Seventh Arab Summit Conference held at Rabat in 1974 as well as those of the summits of Baghdad, Tunis and Amman. Any solution that does not include Israel's total withdrawal from all occupied Arab and Palestinian territories, including the Holy City of Jerusalem, and that does not safeguard the Palestinian people's inalienable right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent State in Palestine, remains unacceptable. We are firmly convinced that peace in the Middle East can be based only on a comprehensive and just solution.
76.	"If the question of Palestine is a matter of high priority, the cause of the Holy City of Jerusalem is for us a sacred cause lying at the very heart of the Palestinian question. Morocco, whose sovereign, His Majesty King Hassan II, presides over the AlQuds Committee of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, reaffirms in his own name and on behalf of the States of the Islamic community their total determination to defend the Arab and Islamic character of Jerusalem, to restore Arab sovereignty over the Holy City so that it will once again become what It has always been, a meeting place for believers of the three revealed religions, a center where tolerance and creative coexistence among the different religions will be restored.
77.	The indignation that arose throughout the world following the decision of the Israeli Knesset to annex the city of AlQuds and to turn it into "the eternal capital" of the Zionist entity, and the unambiguous condemnation of that measure by the Security Council which, in its resolution 478 (1980), deemed it illegal and called for it to be rescinded, has none the less not prevented Israel from pursuing its outrageous policy of judaization of the Holy City.
78.	Quite on the contrary: Israel's defiance of the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council has increased. Currently, the Israeli authorities are engaged in so-called archaeological work beneath and around the very foundations of the AiAqsa Mosque, and the Sacred Dome of the Rock, in flagrant violation of resolutions of the Security Council, the General Assembly and UNESCO, which have firmly called upon Israel to refrain at once from such undertakings.
79.	These criminal acts which, without any doubt, are designed to destroy the Islamic heritage of the Holy City, constitute another flagrant act of defiance of profound Islamic beliefs and international resolutions. The international community as a whole and, in particular, the United Nations, must adopt appropriate measures to put an end to this continued flagrant violation of international resolutions and conventions. The protection of Jerusalem is an international duty and all States of the world must contribute to it without hesitation.
80.	This continued excavation by Israel represents a potential threat to international peace and security in the region, because the Islamic community, whose potential and energy is well known, will not long remain with folded arms faced with such a flagrant challenge to the symbols and sacred institutions of its faith.
81.	The Israeli policy, based upon violence and aggression, is not carried out only against the Palestinian people in occupied Palestine, but extends its misdeeds into neighboring Arab States, Over the last few months, Israel has intensified its aggression against southern Lebanon, where it has destroyed towns and villages, killing or expelling the civilian population, in disregard of international opinion and morality. We have frequently expressed our total support for our brother country, Lebanon, and firmly condemned repeated Israeli acts of aggression perpetrated against its territory. We reiterate today our solidarity with the Lebanese Government in the defense of the independence, the national sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Lebanon.
82.	Moreover, the unprovoked aggression perpetrated against Iraqi nuclear installations in Tamuz represented an additional demonstration of Israeli arrogance and systematic resort to the policy of force in violation of international instruments and conventions. The international disapproval expressed after those acts of aggression was illustrated by the unanimous adoption of Security Council resolution 487 (1981) which once again condemned the Israeli policy of aggression against Arab countries and reaffirmed the recognized right of Iraq to utilize nuclear energy to develop its national economy. In reiterating our condemnation of this aggression, I should like to emphasize its grave consequences for the international system established for the peaceful utilization of nuclear energy and the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, and its consequences for international peace and security. We express the hope that the consideration of this question in the General Assembly will lead to the unreserved condemnation of Israeli aggression and the reaffirmation of Iraq's right to access to the technology necessary to its development.
83.	The Organization has adopted many resolutions concerning the Palestinian question and the continued Israeli acts of aggression perpetrated against the Arab nation. It must now adopt the necessary measures to ensure the respect of these resolutions and their implementation. The Organization should not hesitate to have recourse to the sanctions provided for in Chapter VII of the Charter.
84.	In January this year, the Third Islanac Summi Conference of the Organization of the Islamic Conference was held at MeccaTaif. During that historic Conference, the Islamic community expressed in the Mecca Declaration, on behalf of its sovereigns and Heads of State, its determination to work for the establishment of a just peace and harmony among peoples and to guarantee human rights, and decided to pursue. effort* in favor of the advent of a new era characterized by bi-national relations based on noble principles and not on the use of force, free from all forms of repression, exploitation and domination. On the same occasion, the Islamic community reaffirmed its commitment to combat Zionist aggression both in Palestine and in the other occupied Arab territories so as to mobilize all its energies to ensure the triumph of law and its restoration to those from which it has been confiscated.
85.	The Arab community and the Islamic community have frequently reaffirmed during their summit conferences their will to achieve a peace based u]>on justice, while Israel has demonstrated by its acts that it does not seek peace but, rather* expansion and the acquisition of new territories. Events have continually demonstrated to the world that, unlike Israel, it is the Palestinians and the Arabs in general who aspire to security.
86.	The initiative undertaken by His Royal Highness Eahd ibn Abdul Aziz, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia, has once more demonstrated Arab and Islamic determination to bring about a peace based upon justice. In fact, the point plan proposed by Prince Eahd takes into consideration the objective facts in the region and lays down principles which constitute a realistic platform to ensure the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. These principles take into consideration first of all, the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self determination and to the establishment of an independent State on its territory, in accordance with law and justice as well as with resolutions .of the General Assembly and the Security Council. The MoroccoSaudi communique published at the beginning of September after the meeting between His Majesty King Hassan II and His Royal Highness Prince Fahd confirmed Morocco's full support for this Saudi initiative.
87.	The artificial tension in northwest Africa was created and has been maintained for nearly six years by hegemonistic ambitions which make use of interference in the domestic affairs of other countries and encroachment on the territorial integrity of States.
88.	The problem of what is called Western Sahara is nothing other, in fact, than the result of attempts to impair the territorial integrity of Morocco so as to create an artificial entity in its southern part, in violation of the principle of respect for the territorial integrity of States.
89.	The dismemberment of the Moroccan State by the colonial Powers at the beginning of this century was a good illustration of the colonialist appetites which the African continent hap experienced, but of which Morocco was particularly a victim because of its strategic importance at the juncture of two continents, two seas and several civilizations. Morocco was thus progressively carved up by the colonial Powers which carved out for themselves different spheres of influence under the domination of various foreign Powers.
90.	Since the beginning of colonization, Morocco has tirelessly struggled to regain its independence and to achieve its territorial integrity. It was thus that it eliminated the French and Spanish protectorates in 1956; it then continued the struggle to liberate its other territories still under colonial domination.
91.	Later, in 1958, we regained the province of Tarfaya after negotiations with Spain. The Spanish authorities having shown reluctance and delay in returning the other Moroccan territories still under their domination, Morocco had recourse to the United Nations, which called for new negotiations with Spain. Those negotiations led to the return to Morocco in 1969 of the province of Ifni which, in fact and in law, was an integral part of what today is called Western Sahara.
92.	In its efforts to liberate the parts of its territory still under Spanish domination, Morocco turned in 1974 to the International Court of Justice, which reaffirmed, in an advisory opinion of 16 October 19754 the permanent existence of legal links between the State of Morocco and the provinces of Western Sahara, as well as bonds of allegiance and Beia (fidelity) between, the Saharan population and the Kings of Morocco. Following that decision, the Green March was organized, making it possible for Morocco to recover the Saharan provinces, whose return to the mother country was welcomed with universal satisfaction by the Saharan population. Since then those people have frequently expressed their attachment to their Moroccan identity and their determination to continue it, thus following the example set by their ancestors over the centuries.
93.	That devotion to the Moroccan homeland had already been demonstrated when the Saharan tribes rose up to protest the deportation by the colonials of His Majesty King Mohamed V and his family, thereby strikingly expressing their devotion to the father of the Moroccan nation.
94.	It was again demonstrated when the inhabitants of the Sahara joined the liberation army in the north, in 1958, to expel colonial armed forces from the Sahara. It took the collusion of the colonial Powers, in the operation known as "Ecouvillon", to put an end to that resistance and to reestablish colonial domination over the Saharan part of Morocco.
95.	When the Moroccan people undertook their unifying march the Green March in 1975, the population of the Saharan provinces also undertook their own enthusiastic popular march to welcome their brothers from the north.
96.	Then on 26 February 1976 the unanimous vote of the Jamaa the representative council of all the tribes and populations of the Sahara came out in favor of the return of the Sahara to the motherland.
97.	In the last five years, the inhabitants of the Saharan provinces have on several occasions had the opportunity to reaffirm their Moroccan identity through legislative, local and public service elections.
98.	Morocco's recovery of its Saharan provinces was, therefore, carried cut on the basis of international legality and responded to the aspirations of the populations involved.
99.	Despite the evidence of Morocco's rights over its Sahara, and despite our respect for international law, the enemies of our territorial integrity resorted to acts of violence and destruction, subjecting our country to acts of aggression commanded, organized and financed from abroad so as to create a situation of artificial tension in the region
100.	But Morocco has never strayed from the path of wisdom and reason and has demonstrated cool-hardheadedness in order to avoid any escalation that might lead to open war with serious consequences for the whole of northwest Africa.
101.	The OAU has made frequent attempts to find a reasonable solution which would put an end to the tension in our region. We all know that the OAU has narrowly avoided paying dearly for the blind policies pursued by those who persisted in maintaining this dangerous tension in northwest Africa. Maneuvers designed to force the OAU to take positions running counter to its charter and its principles nave nearly led to its breakup. Morocco had always considered that the African organization had to be given all necessary latitude to resolve this conflict as it was the most qualified indeed, the only organization able to grasp the facts and their implications. In the framework of the OAU, Morocco's contribution to the search for a solution to this crisis has always been constructive and untiring. The idea of forming the Committee of Wise Men in order to follow the development of the crisis and to reach a definitive settlement was the initiative of Morocco, which presented it to the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization.of African Unity at its fifteenth ordinary session, held at Khartoum in July 1978. The OAU at once approved that initiative.
102.	When the conditions necessary for the solution of the problem had been established, at the OAU Assembly at Freetown in 1980, His Majesty King Hassan II went to the Nairobi Assembly last June to announce Morocco's initiative of organizing a supervised referendum in the Sahara so as to give the population of the territory another opportunity to express their choice, in full freedom, with regard to their attachment to their Moroccan identity.
103.	Morocco, which took that initiative fully convinced of the legitimacy of its rights over its recovered provinces, made that gesture to meet the wishes of a number of friendly States which regard the proposed referendum as the best way out of the crisis in the region. His Majesty King Hassan II stated on 26 June 1981 at Nairobi:
"Therefore, because we desire with the full force of our will to save our African community from that which might threaten its breakup and dissolution, because we have tirelessly desired to preserve the OAU's world image as a coherent, aware and responsible organization, we have decided to consider a supervised referendum, whose mechanisms will be in accordance both with the recommendations of the ad hoc committee the Committee of Wise Men and with Morocco's belief in its legitimate rights. . . .
"By deciding to turn to the solution of holding a referendum which is highly esteemed in Africa, and which was advocated by the Wise Men, we are first and foremost responding to the request made of us by many friendly African, Arab and European Heads of State."
104.	We consider that because of its experience and its knowhow the United Nations could contribute to the proper holding of that referendum.
105.	The Implementation Committee on Western Sahara that was set up by the Nairobi Assembly held preliminary meetings from 24 to 2o ^August and laid down the stages for the implementation of the decision to hold a referendum. We announced our willingness to cooperate fully with the OAU and its Implementation Committee by making available to them all the facilities necessary for the holding of the referendum.
106.	In a letter addressed a few days ago to Mr. Daniel Arap Moi, President of the Republic of Kenya and current President of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity, King Hassan II stated:
"As we assured the Committee, we shall spare no effort to facilitate, in the context of Moroccan sovereignty, the holding of the proposed consultation, which should herald the return of peace to the Western Saharan region.
"In particular, the Moroccan authorities will provide all assistance necessary for the impartial organization of the referendum envisaged in the pertinent paragraphs of the resolution. In this connection, we shall give appropriate instructions to the civilian and military authorities with whom the interim administration is to cooperate."
107.	In view of the resolution that was adopted at Nairobi on Western Sahara, logic, legal considerations and wisdom all require that those States which previously held a position conflicting with that resolution, in that they recognized a nonexistent entity, should withdraw that recognition in conformity with the spirit of that African resolution.
108.	In this connection Morocco hopes that the United Nations will join in this peacemaking effort on the part of Africa by endorsing the African resolution, which, we hope, will make it possible for security, peace and tranquility to return to the Arab Maghreb and will usher in a new era based on cooperation and brotherhood and directed towards progress.
109.	The African continent remains the theater of antagonisms and struggles for political influence which seriously imperil its stability and threaten its economic and social development. Our African continent, however, is determined to oppose any attempts at hegemony or seizure of its wealth, while remaining open to fruitful cooperation and equitable dialog, with due respect for its special characteristics.
110.	In southern Africa, the Namibian people continues its admirable and heroic struggle to free itself of South African colonial occupation. The manifold actions undertaken by the United Nations in order to bring about Namibian independence have been thwarted by the maneuvers and procrastinations of the Pretoria regime, which has given no genuine sign of accepting Security Council resolution 435 (1978) and was responsible for the failure of the Geneva pre-implementation meeting.
111.	My delegation commends the struggle of the fraternal Namibian people and would like to assure it of Morocco's support in its fight for total independence and territorial integrity. We would request the United Nations to take all the energetic measures possible without delay to enable that people to accede to independence and sovereignty.
112.	The unprovoked aggressions which have been visited upon the territory of Angola by the troops of South Africa have given a new dimension to the struggle for Namibian independence. Those aggressions, which my delegation vigorously condemns, jeopardize the sovereignty of a member State of the OAU and through their repercussions may well further exacerbate the already tense situation prevailing in that part of our continent.
113.	At a time when the world is becoming more and more aware of the need to respect the rights and dignity of all human beings in all latitudes, we have seen that the racist regime of Pretoria is entrenched ii> its policy of apartheid and collective repression of the people of South Africa.
114.	The effective support which that regime continues to receive undoubtedly enables it to continue a policy that affronts human dignity and violates all the principles of international morality.
115.	We shall never cease to call on those who continue to help the South African regime economically and militarily to apply the decisions of the United Nations and immediately put an end to their collusion with the racist regime of Pretoria.
116.	In Western Asia, the Moslem people of Afghanistan has for almost two years now been prey to foreign military occupation.
117.	Morocco, whose concern it is to preserve the links of friendship and cooperation that have been forged with the Soviet Union, and which, with the rest of the Moslem world, shares responsibility for defending the heritage and the ideals of Islam, is in duty bound to reaffirm its support for the Afghan people and to assure it of its complete solidarity, in the context of the Islamic Conference and other international institutions, the first of which is the United Nations, in seeking a solution that will guarantee the Afghan people the right to choose the sort of regime it desires and also will guarantee its identity as an Islamic people and its status as a nonaligned country.
118.	Like the rest of the international community, the Islamic world is deeply disquieted by the destructive war, which has lasted for more than one year now, between two neighboring Islamic States, Iraq and Iran. My country, which gave its full support to the resolution of the Islamic Conference calling for a ceasefire and the start of constructive dialog between the two countries, once again expresses its hope that peace will be restored between the two neighboring States, a peace based on respect for the principles of State sovereignty, noninterference in internal affairs and the rules of good-neighborliness, while at the same time guaranteeing the historic rights of Iraq over its territorial waters and national territory.
119.	As far as Democratic Kampuchea is concerned, Morocco believes that every measure should be taken to ensure the implementation of the Declaration and the resolution adopted by the International Conference on Kampuchea which met in New York in July 1981.5
120.	In the Mediterranean region, Morocco has devoted itself for several years now to devising and establishing, with all the countries that border that sea, the foundations for the type of cooperation that will assure all coastal States of permanent security and prosperity. We arc today deeply concerned by the ugly clouds of tension that can be described there.
121.	Because of its geographic location and the strategic position that it occupies, Morocco is fully alive to the particular responsibilities it bears in seeking conditions guaranteeing the security of that sea, especially in the Strait of Gibraltar.
122.	That is why we declare our readiness to join in the efforts of all those coastal countries which wish to turn the Mediterranean into a zone of peace and security.
123.	In this connection, we are very pleased that the work of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe will shortly be resumed, and we are anxious that our own concerns be set forth there and, as far as possible, heeded, particularly with respect to the Mediterranean where we are seriously concerned.
124.	Morocco, which is pleased with the good relationships which it has with all the countries on the northern coast, would like to emphasize the particular ties that we have with one of those countries, because of a certain historical closeness. The positions which are occupied by Morocco and Spain both in the Mediterranean and in the Atlantic call for even more trusting and fruitful cooperation between the two countries' But we must, on both sides, be aware that that sort of cooperation, if it is to develop further, must be protected from certain vicissitudes which have been inherited from the remote past. I am referring to the enclaves of Ceuta and Mellila and the surrounding islands, in connection with which Morocco, my country, cannot give up its rights to sovereignty. Morocco remains wedded to the idea of seeking a frank and free exchange of views on that point in order to remove the aftereffects of the past, which have been rejected by the international community and which Spain itself has constantly condemned when it has claimed, from this very rostrum, the rightful return of Gibraltar to Spanish national sovereignty.
125.	International public opinion is demanding with increasing assertiveness that conditions be brought about that will make detente possible in international relations, and will ensure peace and guarantee international security. We note with some distress that the few results that were achieved by that tenth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament, have had no impact on the headlong race to develop all types of armaments.
126.	The continuance of nuclear tests, apart from violating the nonproliferation regime, indicates the absence of any political will on the part of the main nuclear Powers to conclude a treaty prohibiting such tests.
127.	The unprecedented accumulation of the means of waging war is undoubtedly not likely to preserve peace. It is regrettable that the great Powers have been indulging for more than four decades now in a rivalry in which considerable effort has been devoted to armaments research.
128.	Instead of giving rise to an atmosphere of security and hope, scientific and technological progress only leads to anxiety and distress.
129.	Morocco, which has always been a staunch supporter of disarmament, both internationally and regionally, hopes that the special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament which is to be held next year will tackle this problem in a determined fashion and lead to the conclusion of international conventions, particularly in the fields of nuclear testing and of chemical weapons.
130.	International relations, which are marked in general by uncertainty and the state of the world economy, continue to deteriorate.
131.	This situation has a particularly alarming effect on the developing countries. Their growing indebtedness, which in 1980 reached the intolerable level of $450 billion, their persistent dependence on others for food and the deterioration in their terms of trade have created phenomena which' hamper their development and threaten their political stability.
132.	International economic institutions and various conferences have taken up the situation and have recognized that there is a need to examine the world economic order. Partial and unilateral solutions are merely expedients and in fact hold up the application of a remedy that will have more lasting results. Faced with economic injustice, the appeals of the third world have met with a total lack of political will on the part of their interlocutors, who obstinately reject equitable solutions. Indeed, the most developed countries are stepping up their protectionist policies, reducing their foreign aid and adopting measures which have a negative impact on growth and employment in the developing countries.
133.	The hesitancy which has been shown by certain developed countries with respect to the rather moderate goals of the International Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade, which was initiated this year, has increased our fears, particularly since the Second United Nations Development. Decade was a total failure.
134.	The United Nations Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy, held at Nairobi in August 1981, did agree on a program of action, but this may well remain simply a pious wish if there are no specific financial commitments. More recently, the United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, held in Paris in September 1981, simply took a few first-aid measures, with no precise timetable for their implementation.
135.	That series of deadlocks in partial and sectoral negotiations makes it even more essential that the global negotiations which have been demanded by the countries of the third world be started. Those negotiations should result in genuine international cooperation and the effective implementation of the International Development Strategy for the Third Decade. The forthcoming International Meeting on Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries at Cancun should be the occasion for a frank and, we hope, fruitful exchange of thinking that will help to remove the obstacles preventing the initiation of global negotiations under the aegis of the United Nations.
136.	Although the same reasons for concern are always encountered at each of these sessions, it is nevertheless heartening to see that every year the Assembly echoes with voices that are almost unanimous in their desire for friendship and cooperation among peoples and for peace in the world. Our sincere wish is to contribute to this in the best way we can, and it is our undying hope that an era of harmony and prosperity will dawn to the benefit of mankind as a whole.