My first words are addressed to the delegation of Vanuatu on the occasion of the admission of that country to membership in the Organization. France is tied with the people of Vanuatu in many ways and we therefore welcome this one hundred and fifty-fifth Member of the United Nations into our midst.
2.	The Assembly's decision to entrust to you, Sir, the presidency of the thirty-sixth session is one that we find fully justified, and I should like to express to you my delegation's warmest congratulations. You are well aware of the ties that bind our two countries. Your personality and experience in international affairs guarantee that our work will be conducted with all necessary vigor and authority.
3.	My next remarks are addressed to you, Mr. Secretary General. All of us here are familiar with your political acumen and your commitment to international order. We have had many occasions to meet and to become acquainted over the years. To my Government's tribute to your qualities I should like to add my own personal expression of friendship and high esteem.
4.	We also know that we can count on the competence and active participation of the Secretariat. We can be sure of its invaluable support, however onerous the tasks imposed by the successful operation of a session such as this. I wish to express my congratulations and thanks to them for this.
5.	A radical political change recently occurred in the political life of my country, France. On 10 May, a new President of the Republic was elected. On 21 June, by sweeping a majority of the left into power in a most spectacular way, the people of France reaffirmed their will to turn over a new leaf and to enter a new era. The world of today and of tomorrow is not and cannot be build in the image of the world of yesterday.
6.	For many years now, a majority of the States of the world have been heralding in this very forum the new international economic order. This order will not be solely economic nor will it be exclusively international. My country is aware of this change and the Socialist Government of France has embarked upon a definition of this new order, an order which will be more just and more equitable for the least privileged, the weak, those who languish on the periphery of society, those who for too long have been ignored. These people form the most important element of our majority in France; they also form the majority here in this hall. To all of them we wish to propose a future, an ideal consisting of progress and hope.
7.	The message of which my Government feels itself to be the bearer therefore transcends our own frontiers. Of course there is no question of proposing to others solutions that must be defined and adopted only by each people according to its own constitutional authority. The right of each people to define its own destiny is sacred. But there are principles and aspirations that our national community intends to assert and ^defend, and which we . believe have universal value, since they will form the international order.
8.	After those preliminary remarks, it goes almost without saying that our conduct in its entirety is devoted to man himself. Man is the fundamental value. Man is the starting point and the ultimate objective of all policies. France denounces all forms of totalitarianism and authoritarianism. We denounce and will fight discrimination in all its forms, whether religious, sexist or racist. France declares war on contempt.
9.	Our common fight in this Organization therefore must be waged resolutely to ensure respect and freedom for men. It is inconceivable that a State should base its strength and prosperity on the oppression of its citizens, or, worse still, on the humiliation and rejection of a part of its population who are denied the status of citizenship.
10.	Some will object that the Charter of the United Nations, like the rules of international law, prohibits interference in affairs falling within the national jurisdiction of a State. But in this context I should like to make two comments.
11.	The first which hardly needs to be made in this Assembly is that the very practices of our Organization testify to a significant evolution in this regard. Little by little, massive and flagrant violations of fundamental human rights appear to be falling within the competence of the international community, as one can judge from conventions and other international agreements adopted in recent years at world and regional levels.
12.	Who today still doubts that apartheid and other manifestations of racism can and should be denounced be fore the principal United Nations bodies? Who has not welcomed the progress inadequate as it may be brought about thanks to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, held at Helsinki? With regard to violations less broad in scope, they are, as representatives are aware, the object, particularly within the Commission on Human Rights whose tenacity we admire of procedures which are often discreet but which gradually are permitting certain practices to be corrected.
13.	I would add that in the field of human rights the actions of international institutions truly complement those of nongovernmental organizations. I should like to pay a tribute 19*, them today, as well as to the associations, labor unions, political parties, youth movements, religious groups and, of course, to the mass media, the audiovisual medium in particular, which have helped so much to arouse public opinion and mobilize it in express sing its indignation when shocking situations have arisen that need to be condemned.
14.	Human rights are inseparable from the rights of peoples and nations. I have already emphasized the right of each people to decide its own destiny, in total independence, and therefore to choose its political regime, its economic system, its social structures and its friendships; freedom to enter into a network of alliances or to prefer neutrality or nonalignment. France has always been and remains conscious and jealous of its independence. Its geographical situation, its cultural affinities and the fact that the world is, unfortunately, a dangerous place have prompted France to adhere freely to the Atlantic Alliance, to which it brings a loyal contribution in the defense of values that are common to all members of the Alliance  the values of freedom and civilization.
15.	However, France reserves the right to make its sovereign judgment of the threats and dangers that could lead to the gravest decisions. It hopes, too, that negotiations between the greatest Powers will make it possible to reduce the growing threats resulting from recent over-armament. Further, it reaffirms its determination to contribute to establishing confidence building measures from the Urals to the Atlantic. The relations that it has maintained for many years with the Soviet Union and the people's democracies of Eastern Europe allow it to express itself clearly, to let its convictions and worries be known directly, without going through intermediaries, and to contribute in this way to establishing between the countries of Western and Eastern Europe relations promoting the fullest development of all peoples.
16.	The right which we claim to determine our own future is something which we believe it is only fair that other States, both small and large, weak and strong, peoples of the South and of the North, should be allowed to possess, too. France will therefore be on the side of those who fight for the recognition of the rights of their people or for the independence of their nation.
17.	We have the greatest sympathy for those who, still remaining outside the mainstream of East-West confrontation, wish to escape from spheres of influence. We salute the nonaligned movement and wilt be happy to lend our support to genuine efforts at nonalignment, whenever that nonalignment is proposed fry an authentic member of that movement. The world is not inexorably condemned to be divided into two enemy camps. The tensions which sometimes exist between neighbors must not be artificially transformed into duels between champions of the East and West. The sole object of a recent Franco-Mexican statement on El Salvador was to serve as a reminder of the need to let each people settle its own affairs by political and democratic processes.
18.	Faithful to its principles, France condemns outside interference and therefore denounces all undertakings .of force against any people and any State. Violence cannot create right. This elemental truth must not be forgotten, whatever the circumstances, the status or reasons of those who occupy territories against the will of the population that has been invaded and subjugated. Without comparing the occupying Powers, their reasons or their methods, condemnation must be applied equally to the Republic of South Africa, when it sends its tanks into Angola and ignores United Nations resolutions on Namibia; to Viet Nam, when it continues its occupation of Kampuchea; and to the Soviet Union, when it intervenes with its troops in Afghanistan.
19.	In the Middle East, it is not through violence—of which our Ambassador to Lebanon, Mr. Louis Delamare, recently became an innocent victim that peace will finally return to this part of the world, which was the cradle of so many civilizations and which has become the crucible of so much suffering!. The people and cultures of this region, who through the centuries have been caught in the web of historical evolution, victims of contempt and hatred, have a right to peace; their States should be able to develop in security; their peoples should be allowed to build their future in justice.
20.	Violation of the resolutions of the Organization is not the way to ensure the necessary security for the countries in the Middle East, for all the countries, including Israel. War is not the way for the peoples of this region, all the peoples, including the Palestinian people, to see all their rights recognized, including the right to a homeland and a State.
21.	There, as elsewhere in the world, negotiation among all the parties concerned is the only acceptable means of dealing with the reasons that have led one or another of them to act by sword and fire. Negotiation is the golden rule of the Organization. If this rule is broken once, just once, how can its observance be required elsewhere and in all cases?
22.	Let those here who are tempted to justify violence in one instance reflect on the fact that one day they may themselves be the victims of some other violence and be destroyed by it. Justice for peoples, security for States, respect for international decisions, negotiation: these are the principles that will guide France in the position it takes on the Middle East and throughout the world.
23.	Here then are quite a number of situations characterized by attacks on the principles of self determination and national sovereignty. All of us together in this room must agree to maintain the necessary pressure. Let us proclaim our willingness to resort to dialog, to discussion, to objective analysis of the concerns and motivations
of all parties. We are convinced that such an approach is
valid in the case of most of the crises that the world community has to face,
24.	Let me remind you forcefully that in the case of many of these crises it would be sufficient if the provisions of resolutions already adopted by the United Nations were respected. Think, for example, of southern Lebanon, occupied, torn asunder and removed from the legitimate Lebanese authority; think of Namibia, whose independence and sacred right to sovereignty are endlessly delayed. The time has come solemnly to affirm from this rostrum and I do so now in the name of France that every possible means must be brought to bear to ensure that Security Council resolutions 425 (1978) and 435 (1978) are applied in full without delay. My country is ready to make a contribution to this effort on whatever lines are decided on by this Organization.
25.	In certain situations we must go even further, and here again the United Nations has a significant role to play. Once Namibia has finally gained its freedom and independence through the implementation of Security Council resolution 435 (1978), it must be helped, and probably guaranteed, in its first few years. Angola, which has suffered so much from war, must be assured of all kinds of support during its reconstruction. Kampuchea, already rescued from famine by international efforts, must be able one day to determine its future freely and democratically, and it too, of course, will need guarantees and assurances of every kind. Afghanistan, if it is not to run the risk of interference which has recently been denounced in some quarters, and if it is to put an end to the interference now made evident by the bloodshed of the battlefield, will need some guarantee of the status it seeks. In many quarters, and in the face of threats of quite different kinds, the same idea has been advanced, namely, to accept, acknowledge and guarantee the wishes of a people to be freed from the tensions that surround it and threaten its independence and its desire for nonalignment. France believes that this similarity of ideas about very different areas and situations provides material for consideration and a common approach at the international level.
26.	I am often surprised to note that in most circles the true dimension of NorthSouth problems is not understood. Some talk of charity for unfortunate starveling of some devastated country, others demand higher prices for their products or a transfer of some special technology. But how often do you hear it acknowledged, as it has rightly been acknowledged by the members of the Brandt Commission,  that the progress of the NorthSouth dialog is a prerequisite for world progress and perhaps even for world peace?
27.	The South has become part of the life of the North. How much longer will it take for people to understand this? This is an essential aspect of the new age that is upon us whether we like it or not. What position will the South occupy and what part will it play? Those are questions that must be asked.
28.	From the political standpoint, I have already mentioned cases where the fundamental principles of the life of our people and our societies are being threatened or violated. Obtaining respect for such principles in southern Africa, the Middle East and Latin America is essential for those who believe in those principles. The French Government considers itself to be one of these countries. 1 will not return to this point, except to remind you how much our young people, the moving spirit of our so cities, are concerned with these problems, with which they are more familiar today, now that the media are tel ling them what is really taking place in the South, which was not the case a few decades ago,
29.	However, solidarity and interdependence transcend the political and moral realm. The world is riven by crisis, causing the number of unemployed to soar and condemning the most unfortunate to despair. Who can claim that this crisis will be set to rights or brought under control solely by the forces and mechanisms of the market place, and solely within the framework of the most advanced economies?
30.	Economic revival, which we all need urgently and this is particularly true of the most underprivileged countries requires the development of the countries of the South. This is not just a matter of a few hundred million dollars, but of tens of billions of dollars, which must be injected wherever they are most desperately needed and where their effect will be almost immediate in improving purchasing power and, as a result, in expanding markets. Elsewhere I have spoken ? a planetary "new deal" in order to recall this obvious truth which President Roosevelt, when confronted with America's great depression, identified in his day.
31.	It is important, therefore, for all of us together to tackle the issue of financing development and indeed the issue of the very survival of those who are most deprived. Where can the available resources be found? How can we organize the use of those resources? Where should we channel them? What kind of link should be established between the funds that all those who can should contribute, the lending capacity and administrative supervision of competent institutions, and the rightful concern of lenders and investors to guarantee the security of their investments? A few answers are ready and have been proposed. They must no longer be delayed or distorted. But they will not be enough, so let us strive to see how we can do more and better.
32.	Naturally, since the resources to be shared are unfortunately inadequate, our thoughts should turn first to those who are suffering most, sometimes to the point of death. My country was very happy to host in Paris the United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries.
33.	My Government notes with satisfaction that commitments were entered into by the international community and we are pleased that the countries of the European Community decided to commit 0.15 per cent of their total gross national product to help the least developed countries. France, for its part, as the President of the Republic has said and I repeat, will attain the United Nations aid target of 0.7 per cent of its gross national product, excluding the French overseas departments, before the end of Mr. Mitterrand's seven-year term. This in fact commits us to doubling in real terms our aid to the developing countries. France's effort will, starting in 1982, give priority to increasing its voluntary contributions on a multilateral basis and to aid countries with which it has special ties, particularly in Africa.
34.	As we are all aware, it is not enough just to increase financial aid. So I ought to say something now of special aspects that should take priority: food, energy and trade. However, the time allotted for these remarks will not sufficed Allow me to focus on two aspects of the new international order that I believe to be essential.
35.	Predictability has now become an essential feature of tomorrow's order. Without 'it, how can one plan, organize, formulate and invest in a rational manner? But never before in history have the principal factors of economic life been so unpredictable. You only have to think of the prices of basic commodities imported by countries in the South, the prices for raw materials exported by the developing countries, the exchange rates and interest rates that influence all transactions. We are living in a world with out order, a chaotic world, an insane world. We the European countries without significant natural resources are suffering along with the countries of the South. In the face of speculation and uncertainty, our interests are those of the South; in this debate, we are with the South.
36.	It is important therefore gradually to introduce a system of law in world economic relations. We must seek contracts, treaties and international agreements. One of the innovations of the Lome Conventions between the European Community and 61 developing countries is to make the relations they embody predictable and reliable.
37.	Another feature of those Conventions is their comprehensiveness. Even more so at the world level, all of the economic, financial and technological problems should be discussed and negotiated simultaneously and jointly. The foregoing is justification enoughs France and its European partners are resolved that global negotiations should be started at the United Nations at the earliest possible time. We shall exert all our influence to see that no further delay is imposed. This is to be confirmed in a month at Cancun, at the International Meeting on Cooperation and Development.
38.	The global nature of NorthSouth problems seems evident to almost all of us. But have we given sufficient thought to the interaction between those external problems and our domestic problems? The new order will include major structural changes in each of the industrialized countries. The overall progress made possible by this renewal will be reflected in certain sectors by a decline in activity that will be more than compensated for in other sectors. New directions will be taken, and they will come up against resistance.
39.	These things will not be done if in the industrialized countries discussions are limited to diplomats, bankers, administrators and other experts. It is important to involve public opinion, the workers who are directly concerned and the young people whose future is at stake. The media have a key role to play here, and they can do so. There are times when strong feelings are aroused in towns and in the country side, when the misery and suffering of a downtrodden people give the more fortunate television viewer a moment of discomfort and indignation, or when despair in a crisis becomes unbearable.
40.	I have just mentioned the NorthSouth dialog in its worldwide framework. But we must also consider it in the regional framework.
41.	The region is in fact the natural context in which peoples can express their special identity; the similarity of problems, cultural affinities and sometimes even rivalries, as well as common threats, make it possible to multiply ties within a region or subregion. The more highly structured and grouped a region is, the less outside influences come into play there. This is an important way to avoid the contagion of East-West division in areas that are not directly involved. In the economic domain also, the cooperation that is so desirable among the countries of the South can .be encouraged in a rational manner, as was so clearly demonstrated at the very interesting HighLevel Conference on Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries, held recently at Caracas.
42.	It is premature to try to take stock of the activities of the major regional organizations because their responsibilities and importance continue to grow. As a Frenchman, however, I am sure I will not surprise the Assembly when I say something about the European Community. It is still far from perfect, but its results are already evident in a number of different areas agriculture, the monetary system, the Lome policy, the generalized system of preferences and its authority is growing rapidly in the world. The French Government is planning to launch soon a number of new and exciting programs industrial, social and others within the Community.
43.	In the economic sphere, reference should also be made to the United Nations regional commissions. The role of the Latin American countries as precursors in identifying a regional image and regional pride should be noted. We should mention the various regional groups such as the Association of South East Asian Nations [ASEAN], and quite a number of African regional organizations. I should like to pay a tribute to the most important of them, the Organization of African Unity [OAU], which at its recent Assembly of Heads of State and Government, held at Nairobi, dealt in a masterly fashion with some of today's most difficult problems. Thanks to the OAU we now have some hope of seeing a united and independent Chad, free from foreign interference, resume its place in Africa's concert of nations. And it is of course thanks to the OAU that we are hoping to see a referendum of self determination take place soon among the peoples of Western Sahara.
44.	The development of regional cooperation has been so convincing in some parts of the world that we are tempted to set new goals. For historical and cultural reasons disputes may exist between neighbors, sometimes going back several centuries. There are many of us in this Assembly who are worried that East-West rivalry may be superimposed on those differences. Mutual distrust between two neighbors may indeed lead to an arms race. The risk then becomes great that they will all come to depend on increasingly sophisticated and therefore more costly arms supplies. What will then remain of self determination, independence and nonalignment, to which both parties are entitled?
45.	Can we not rather imagine that the group of countries most concerned by a confrontation of this kind among two or more neighbors might have the wisdom to limit the effects of the dispute, to establish a regional or subregional system for the evaluation of military forces, and even to conclude a genuine regional agreement on self-limitation of armaments, accompanied, of course, by appropriate means of control and verification?
46.	France has been shocked, as have so many others, by the disproportionate efforts that so many third-world countries must devote to arms and defense. We are disturbed by the growing dependence that this evolution inevitably en tails, and we fervently hope that the attempts that have already been made to slow this trend will be encouraged by our Organization and supported by world public opinion.
47.	Whatever the interests in a regional approach to arms limitation, the effort should, of course, culminate in this Organization. Nothing durable or solid can be built without the endorsement of an institution whose role it is to be universal. There is hardly a domain that is outside its jurisdiction, and the wholly democratic structures it possesses serve to guarantee the value of its decisions. On this rostrum from which I am speaking, every speaker and therefore every country is equal.
48.	The fact that emphasis should generally be placed on the unique role of the United Nations in the most dangerous crises is only normal, because one immediately thinks of Cyprus, southern Lebanon, Namibia and also UNHCR, UNICEF and so many other organizations which, in tragic circumstances, have so well demonstrated human solidarity. But we know that the United Nations has other functions and that, in meeting places that figure less often in the major international press, ideas are compared that gradually lead to a consensus that will generate progress. I have in mind also the arms limitation talks, where gains have been made and where decisive steps are still to be taken among others, the establishment of an international satellite monitor ing agency.
49.	Other ideas, still more ambitious, direct our attention well beyond the immediate future. Next year the special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament will give all of us an opportunity to shoulder our responsibilities. My country will play its part, and we will make a loyal and far-reaching contribution to the search for ways of defining conditions for a just and sure limitation of arms.
50.	Nor do 1 forget that in many ways this Organization and the specialized agencies play an operational role, whether in terms of technical or humanitarian aid, or in more general regulations. In this regard, I should like to emphasize my country's special interest in the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. The convention that that Conference is busy drafting will soon define how these riches of the world should be rationally organized in the future. It will mark extraordinary constitutional progress and will leave its imprint on the history of the world. The United Nations can and should be proud of it. Consequently, and in spite of a few reservations on details, the French delegation believes it essential that the work of the Conference on the Law of the Sea be concluded as soon as possible. We appeal to one and all to cease the maneuvers which have had the effect of jeopardizing the progress made over so many years of persevering effort.
51.	My last remark should confirm what has already become obvious from my observations namely, France's commitment to the United Nations, from which the world expects so much.
52.	Our status as a permanent member of the Security Council, our human and economic resources, the independence of our policy towards all, whether States or great corporations, and our sympathy although that is too weak an expression our feeling of fraternity with the weakest, most deprived peoples, assure us, we believe, of special relations with most of the world. But they also create for us special obligations. At the global level, as indeed in France itself, the Government of which I am a member knows what is expected of it. We are ready.


.
Mr. President, the friendly relations which link Iraq, your country, with mine make it a very special pleasure for me to convey to you my warm congratulations and to express my best wishes for your success following your election to the presidency of the thirty-sixth session of the General Assembly.
3.	Your competence, based on long experience acquired in the course of a distinguished career, and your thorough knowledge of the Organization, its objectives, its activities, its methods of work, have led you quite naturally to invite the General Assembly to depart from a repetitive litany of declarations and decisions without real impact in order to devote itself completely to its primary function of safeguarding and strengthening the peace and progress of mankind.
4.	This realistic approach to international problems was reflected in an original proposal made at the first meeting by your predecessor, Mr. von Wechmar, an eminently qualified diplomat and a man of outstanding human qualities. Being an able diplomat, the President of the thirty-fifth session of the General Assembly wisely called for a meeting of the Presidents of the five preceding sessions of the General Assembly with a view to improving the methods of work of the Organization. We are grateful to him for thus having called upon the profound dynamism and wealth of wisdom of our continents.
5.	In reiterating our esteem for him, we express the wish that this proposal will be promptly acted upon. There is no doubt that Africa, through the voice of one of its distinguished sons who guided the proceedings of the thirty-fourth session in masterly fashion, as we all know, will make a valuable contribution to this work of shading a new world.
6.	This is an excellent opportunity for me to convey to my friend, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, and his able colleagues the tribute they well deserve for their tireless dedication to the cause of the United Nations. We have spoken with this remarkable diplomat on more than one occasion, and he knows that each time we have listened to him with great interest because of his constant concern for restraint and his keen awareness of the complexity and delicacy of the countless problems in international affairs.
7.	Those who drafted the Charter of the United Nations had generous dreams of an outward-looking world in which the various nations, large and small, strong and weak, would extend their hands to one another and build a universal civilization that would shine with the brilliance of a thousand lights. One of those dreams becomes more of a reality from year to year. At this session the United Nations is receiving two new Members. The people of Vanuatu and the people of Belize are taking their places in the ranks of the free peoples of the world. The people of Mali greets and congratulates the peoples of those two new republics and assures them of our dynamic and fraternal co-operation in carrying out their national endeavors.
8.	This emergence of new States has undoubtedly injected new vigor into the United Nations and success would certainly have crowned our hopes if it were not for the opposition shown by some Powers to the new spirit these young sovereign States are seeking to instil in the United Nations. Each session of the General Assembly should provide us with an opportunity to take stock of our achievements and to prepare ourselves for further successes which step by step bring us closer to our common goals.
9.	Clearly the United Nations is continuing, year by year, its victorious march towards universality. However; mankind continues to live in anguish for the uncertain future. Mistrust and confrontation characterize, unfortunately, the present state of international relations. Armed conflicts have become a feature, particularly in the third world.
10.	Last year we hoped for a gradual subsiding of the political and economic turmoil that had shaken the world. Unfortunately, that has not been the case, and lie present session of the General Assembly has opened against an international horizon that is still dark.
11.	Our common commitment to seek concerted, just and equitable solutions to grave international problems is
very seriously endangered by the emergence of contradictory policies and of hostile blocs feverishly preparing to impose their views on one another by force. Coexistence among States, instead of bringing new promise, has turned towards aggression.
12.	The Powers whose many privileges have given them the principal responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security have adopted behavior that remind^ one of the night before the battle. The climate of detente which had in some measure allowed different political, economic and social systems to lay the foundations of cooperation to the benefit of all has seriously deteriorated. Ideological differences are unfortunately being settled on the battlefield.
13.	The regrettable tensions thus generated have weakened our ability to find just, equitable and lasting solutions to the very fundamental problems that affect our .future. The aspiration of our peoples to live in dignity and in spiritual, moral and material tranquility is thus being increasingly jeopardized. Nevertheless, the Charter of the United Nations is a marvelous international instrument embodying ideals, concepts and principles which provide sure values for the growth of our civilization.
14.	I have come here on behalf of the people of Mali to give voice to our deep commitment to those principles, to those objectives, to those aims. Indeed, it is those ideals, those concepts and those principles that have fashioned the long and rich history of our people.
, 15. The Republic of Mali deliberately joined the United Nations precisely because the Charter enhances human dignity. The Republic of Mali voluntarily became a Member of the international Organization because of its universal character, which is the source of its strength and determines its future.
16. It is, therefore, aberrant., unjust and senseless that men who alongside their brothers in arms have courageously and worthily contributed to saving freedom should be kept under the yoke of colonial domination. Although decolonization has been inscribed in glorious letters in the annals of the United Nations, the history of this recovery of dignity by the world's peoples has not yet been written in its entirety. The process of total decolonization is being blocked, particularly in certain parts of Africa, our beloved continent, thousands of whose worthy sons have fallen heroically on foreign soil in alien wars the unsung heroes* of victories that have given mankind renewed faith in its own continued existence.
11. Yes. Africa continues to feel the violence of foreign domination. Namibia, convulsed by opposing historical currents, now finds itself under the rod of the racist regime of South Africa. In point of fact, the sacred principle of
self-determination a principle recognized by the United Nations and enshrined in its Charter, a principle consistently reaffirmed by the international community  is being flouted. United Nations sovereignty over Namibia was clearly established by the International Court of Justice. Its recommendations for leading that colonial Territory peacefully to independence, and the many resolutions of the General Assembly, have met only with scorn on the part of the racist i£gime of Pretoria. That reactionary regime continues ^. with total impunity, to pursue its policy of bloody repression, territorial expansion, blatant aggression and, thus, of serious infringement of international peace and security.
18.	The recent deliberate invasion of the free and sovereign territory of the People's Republic of Angola is one further episode in this unacceptable policy of the South African racists. The Security Council, which on other, perhaps less urgent, occasions did not hesitate to mobilize troops to safeguard peace where the Council felt it to be threatened, on this occasion did not even deign to face the grave and inadmissible challenge being hurled at the entire international community by a regime condemned by the human conscience.
19.	At the very least, the United Nations, which more than ever has the moral duty of supporting Namibia in its heroic march towards independence, should ensure the scrupulous implementation of resolution 435 (1978), adopted unanimously by the States members of the Security Council. Any attempt to water down that resolution, which remains the only valid basis for a settlement of the Namibian problem, is merely a desperate last minute maneuve designed to deprive the South West Africa People's Organization [SWAPO], the sole legitimate representative of the Namibian people, of its rightful place at the global negotiating table.
20.	It should be clear to all perpetrators of such maneuvers that, since one negotiates only with those who fight, SWAPO, which has taken up arms to free its fatherland, is the only party qualified to represent the Namibian people in any negotiations. This fact has just been forcefully reaffirmed by the recent emergency special session of the Assembly. All diplomatic, political, economic and military means should be used to combat a system which has' become a source of shame for mankind. We do not have the right to fail in so urgent a duty. To act otherwise would be to betray the mandate entrusted to us by our peoples to defend them against hatred and violence.
21.	Yes, it is because it embodies racial hatred and violence that the apartheid regime continues to deprive the black majority in its long-suffering land of Africa of its elementary right to respect for human dignity. It would therefore be a labor of peace to isolate the racist regime, the regime of hatred for the black man, and to apply to it the relevant provisions of Chapter VII of the Charter. To that end, I repeat from this rostrum the urgent appeal constantly addressed to the Western Powers, which have become so prompt to monitor respect for human rights throughout the world, finally to heed the anguished and unceasing cry of Africa for them to resolve together to serve the cause of justice and all mankind by helping the international community, which has been defied, to destroy the apartheid regime.
22.	Unfortunately, southern Africa is not the only part of our beloved continent that is feeling the effects of the last throes of colonial domination: the northwestern part of Africa is suffering on its flank the aftereffects of a still incomplete decolonization. I refer to Western Sahara, which is part of a geographical and human grouping to which my country, Mali, belongs. That area, which has fashioned its own identity characterized by the mutual enrichment of cultures, ways of thinking, a common view of the world, identical beliefs in the sacred nature of human life and a painful common heritage of colonial domination, indisputably constitutes the fruitful belly of our African continent.
23.	Now, at the very moment when, after many vicissitudes, one of the elements in this whole was to be the last to decide on its own future, serious tension has arisen; persistence could disturb the harmony that has always characterized the fraternal coexistence of the peoples of our region, the friends and neighbors of the people of Mali, peoples that legitimately lay claim to the same history, culture and faith.
24.	That is why the people of Mali, committed to struggle for the triumph of
self-determination and with a basic concern for the diplomatic stability and equilibrium of the region, chose very early on to work towards dissipating these tensions. In so doing, my country's only motive is to work for peace.
25.	To that end, in order to enable our continental organization to get out of the impasse, Mali during the fifteenth session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity [OAU\, held at Khartoum in 1978 urged and succeeded in obtaining the creation of an instrument to prepare for deliberations among Heads of State on the question of Western" Sahara.
26.	Since the establishment of this remarkable tool, succeeding sessions of the OAU Assembly have all enabled us to make" real progress towards a coherent solution to this problem. Based on reports of the Ad Hoc Committee of Heads of State and Government on Western Sahara, and after having clearly indicated that the principle of
self-determination remains the keystone of the painful fratricidal conflict in Western Sahara, the sixteenth and seventeenth sessions of the OAU Assembly, held at Monrovia and Freetown, took further steps to improve the atmosphere in that region. The last OAU Assembly, at Nairobi, also ended on an extremely encouraging note. At present, the stage of general considerations with regard to this subject has been completed, and we have even begun to consider specific modalities for a final settlement of the problem. The Implementation Committee that succeeded the Ad Hoc Committee and that was given full powers at the eighteenth OAU Assembly, will pursue its mission in a dispassionate spirit and in perfect and permanent harmony with all the parties concerned, in order to arrive at proposals that will ensure respect for the sovereignty of some and for the legitimate demands of others.
27.	For its part, Mali wishes to assure the General Assembly that as a member of that committee it will work solely for the cause of peace.
28.	Africa remains confident that the technical assistance requested of the United Nations to finalize the decolonization of Western Sahara will be forthcoming, for it is true that here too the preservation of international peace and security is involved.
29.	The urgent problems of development re constantly being eclipsed by grave crises within and among African States, crises that are also sequels of the colonial phenomenon. Such is the case with the painful crisis in Chad, which remains one of the major concerns of the G\U and particularly of the Republic of Mali, which, like that long-suffering country, is a member of our young regional organization, the Conference of Saharan States. The fratricidal war that took place there was a dangerous threat to the territorial integrity, independence and national unity of that brother country.
30.	As in the case of the conflict over Western Sahara, it is imperative that the quest for a solution to this African problem remain African. Of course, an organized Africa should be able to rely in this rase also on the very valuable assistance of the international community in arriving at a final solution to the situation, based on the Lagos Agreement on National Reconciliation in Chad, of August 1979.
31.	Elsewhere in Africa, border conflicts a further heritage of colonization often lead to senseless and devastating fratricidal wars. Convinced of the futility of war as a means of settling conflicts, especially among kindred States, Mali will tirelessly continue to make its modest contribution to the efforts of Africa to seek solutions to these African crises. In such crises, we should be able to stifle our rancors and transcend our differences in order to achieve peace, unity and concord on the basis of respect for the sacred principles of the OAU and especially on the basis of the principle of the inviolability of the borders inherited from colonization.
32.	Outside Africa, through non-respect of the universal principles enshrined in the Charter non-use of force, settlement of international disputes by peaceful means, noninterference in the internal affairs of others and the right of peoples to
 self-determination hotbeds of war and tension, far from diminishing, are spreading.
33.	Those principles, which constitute the basic elements of the foreign policy of Mali, are based on the profound conviction of the people of Mali that without these noble ideals, which should be the sole foundation of the international legal order, international relations would be impossible.
34.	Although the diplomatic history of the past four decades should have taught us that the use of force can never provide a permanent solution to the problems of nations and that without peace there can be no civilization, the strategy of fait accompli, the constant and heedless use of force, the patent and frequent violations of the Charter and of relevant United Nations resolutions all, unfortunately, ^constitute the daily actions of certain Member States of the Organization that calmly enjoy total impunity.
35.	Like the racist regime of South Africa, which, because it has been abetted and supported in its acts of international piracy, has violated with total impunity the territorial sovereignty of the People's Republic of Angola, its ally, the Zionist regime of Israel, arrogantly continues its illegal and prolonged occupation of the Arab territories it has usurped. What is more, in its conceit, Israel, defying the thousands who have placed their faith in the Eternal, have not hesitated to proclaim Jerusalem that thrice Holy City, which bears infinite testimony to the spiritual heritage of three revealed faiths its so-called eternal and indivisible capital. Even worse, the Zionist State is daily pursuing its inflammable policy with regard to Lebanon, which is being destroyed by its expansionist bombardments, and has not hesitated, with the same impunity, to violate the territorial integrity of Iraq.
36.	The international community is duty bound to put an end to this unjust fact of history, to Israel's expansionist behavior that has forced the heroic Palestinian people to have recourse to armed resistance. The Zionist State, more than any other, should remember that one cannot with impunity attempt to exterminate a people, particularly the Palestinian people, which stands as a whole behind the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO], its sole and authentic representative.
37.	Because it lies at the heart of the Middle East crisis, the Palestinian problem remains the first that must be dealt with. Any peace process in the Middle East must take this major element into account. It is in order to bring to life this reality that voices in all quarters are being raised in favor of the recognition of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.
38.	These are ajot only the voices of conscience. They are also the voices of reason. They can be heard at conferences, gatherings and seminars, from all those who have known the horrible consequences of the use of force. They aie heard among the rising generation and in Israel itself.
39.	This language which is that of the people of Mali is also the language of the OAU, the language of the nonaligned movement, the language of the Islamic Conference; in short, the language of all peoples which give peace its true meaning and which are fighting to safeguard if, This language is in keeping with the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian militants and is in harmony with the many initiatives concerning the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.
40.	The latest, highly historic initiative, taken by Emir Eahd ibn Abdul Aziz, Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, after the. important Third Islamic Summit Conference, held at MeccaTaif, deserves the full attention of the current session of the General Assembly.
41.	Indeed, this peace plan aims concretely at finding a comprehensive solution to the problem of the Middle East in general and the Palestinian problem in particular. The peace plan's eight points are in keeping with the relevant decisions of the aforementioned Islamic Summit Conference. They are in keeping with the Charter of the United Nations and the recognized and admitted standards of international law. Designed to liberate the Arab territories occupied by Israel, to preserve the physical and intellectual patrimony of the Palestinian people and prevent the Holy City of Jerusalem from being disfigured and diverted from its Original status as the common heritage of mankind, to ensure the exercise by the Palestinian people of its inalienable rights to  elf-determination and, finally, to recognize the right of all States of the area to live in peace, this realistic and balanced plan enjoys the full support of the Government of the Republic of Mali.
42.	Whichever way one turns, one can see brothers who at great price have won their independence in faith and" national unity opposing and destroying each other. The guaranteeing of their independence and security eludes their grasp for, in fact, they are no longer the masters of their own independence and security. Interference in the internal affairs of other States seems to be acquiring ever increasing legitimacy from year to year.
43.	This bitter observation should lead us to redouble our efforts to end all fratricidal wars.
44.	Korea, united in the struggle for the independence which it courageously won, has for too long been divided into two hostile camps. The reunification of Korea, united by its history, its geography, its civilization, its genius and the profound aspirations of its people, should be possible on the basis of the important proposals contained in the 10 points presented in October last by the President of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea at the Sixth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea. There are not two Koreas there is Korea. There are not two Korean peoples; there is the Korean nation.
45.	The troubling situations which seem to persist endlessly in Kampuchea and in Afghanistan are subject to the same analysis. Only a political settlement in keeping with the age old talents of these peoples is capable of providing definitive solutions with appropriate guarantees.
46.	Foreign domination is not the only factor producing crises in international relations. The world seems to have settled into a state of endemic fear. The weak outlines of the detente of past decades are gradually being blurred. Diplomatic language is becoming harsh and brutal. Patient dialogF capable of bringing peace has given way to the threat and use of force. Military superiority considered as the only way to maintain a hypothetical international balance has led to a mad race to manufacture and stockpile weapons of war that each day are being perfected to improve their capacity for mass destruction.
47.	Conferences on disarmament are bogged down. The Second Disarmament Decade, solemnly proclaimed at the thirty-fifth session of the General Assembly, has begun with sabre-rattling.
48.	Meanwhile, as new generations of terrifying weapons are being developed, with every second that passes, more than $16 million are swallowed up in armaments. Diverting a mere 1 per cent of these enormous arms expenditures, which now exceed the astronomic figure of $1 billion per day, to the preservation of life would put an end to the nightmare of millions upon millions of people and would open opportunities to the destitute of this world to enrich our civilization through their creative talents.
49.	And it is high time for this long-awaited change to take place. Indeed, the present international economic order is in no better shape than the difficult political situation. There too tension has arisen and restrictions in thinking have been introduced which have prevented the achievement of satisfactory results in the establishment of a new internatidnal economic order. Thus we find ourselves in a situation which is an insult to intelligence and common sense.
50.	Every day we pride ourselves on our technical and technological prowess. We*have successfully begun to master the elements of our planet, whose secrets we have unveiled. We have carried out daring beyond the atmosphere; our planet abounds in vital resources; and we produce others when the need arises. And yet it is precisely at this time that the .most serious economic disorder confronts all mankind with, on the one hand, a very small minority staggering under the weight of riches that are frequently wasted and, on the other hand, an overwhelming majority suffering absolute poverty.
51. The economic relationship between rich countries and developing countries, instead of being one of healthy and fruitful cooperation, is sliding towards that of subjugation. The many conferences devoted to reversing this unfortunate trend continue to accumulate ritualistic reports in place of practical solutions, in the absence of political will on the part of the technically advanced countries. The question is whether we are capable of making rational use of the vital resources of the world economy, whether we have decided to be partners in progress together and, finally, whether we wish to provide common answers to our common destiny.
.52. The current crisis which is shaking the foundations of our whole planet is a general crisis, and it is an illusion to think that any oases of prosperity can be built in the midst of so much misery.
53.	It is precisely to meet this whole range of political and economic concerns that the third world has refused to embark upon the sterile courses of confrontation and selfishness. That is why the nonaligned movement, of which Mali is a member, was created, and we are celebrating its twentieth anniversary with redoubled determination to see our ideals triumph.
54.	This movement does not seek the impossible; its aim is to rally goodwill and it seeks a pooling of efforts to establish a just world. It is working for a decrease in international tension and the participation of all States, with no exceptions, in the management of international affairs. It aspires to establish confidence so that weapon stockpiles may give way to grain silos, so that hospitals and schools may increase in number in order to improve the quality of life and, lastly, so that man may be at peace with himself.
55.	The proposals submitted by the nonaligned countries during the global negotiations for the establishment of the new international economic order derive from this. These negotiations have gone beyond the stage of definitions and analyses. They have made it possible to identify five fields: those of raw materials, energy, trade, development, and monetary and financial questions. The negotiations nevertheless remain deadlocked at this point, just as do the negotiations on the law of the sea.
56.	But we are not the masters of time, and our peoples are impatient and anxious about their future. We therefore call for a manifestation of that political will without which, postponing deadlines, we are merely making the difficulties more complex and restricting, and casting our populations into turmoil and revolt.
57.	Mali hopes that ways and means will be found for the effective launching of genuine global negotiations before the end of the present session. These global negotiations, advocated originally, let us not forget, this, by the nonaligned movement, should exclude no State Member of the Organization. It is essential that their .universal character be preserved. For that purpose the United Nations is the most appropriate framework.
58.	This important question of negotiations must be examined in a spirit of dynamic interdependence in which every State, first mastering its own development, will participate in the integration of the world economy on a balanced and just basis. Thus it is that the new international economic order has fundamentally a national dimension.
59.	Mali is aware of the present shortcomings of its economy, which have been aggravated by the fact that it is landlocked, by the severe consequences of the hostile and capricious climatic conditions it has suffered for 10 or so years and, of course, by the known, effects imposed on it by the serious crisis in the world economy.
60.	That is why the people of Mali has mobilized itself in order to build an independent and planned national economy, relying on its own talents, on its enormous natural potential and on subregional, regional and international cooperation. This option of the Democratic Union of the Malian People is in keeping with Mali's effort to promote endogenous development. It is a national economy, because it is turned inward towards the satisfaction of our own needs and is no longer an outward looking economy. We wish to conduct our development by means of basic day-by-day actions in which all participate, so as to achieve self-sufficiency at the local level. This action, decided on by the rural populations and carried out by and for themselves within the framework of Tons, or village associations, provides the support for basic integrated development. It is an independent economy, because it is designed to master our resources so that they may be used for the improvement of the quality of life of all Malians, either by processing the resources on site or through as equitable as possible a system of international exchange. It is a planned economy, because it is based on the five-year plans which define the stages of our national effort and regulate our actions in terms of our fundamental objectives; Moreover, Mali has set itself a substantial program of action for accelerated development for the period from 1981 to 1990 within the context of the Third United Nations Development Decade, which is the principal instrument of the new international economic order.
61.	An independent and planned national economy in Mali is therefore the internal dimension of the new international economic order. That is why our economy is oriented towards the world, conscious as we in Mali are of the need for progressive integration of our economies, so uniform is our ethic and so closely does the principle of individual and collective self-sufficiency advocated by the nonaligned movement and the OAU fit our national personality.
62.	It is therefore not surprising that my country, Mali, should be a founding and dynamic member of all the regrouping in West Africa. One example is the organization for the improvement of the Senegal River, of which Mauritania, Senegal and Mali are members. Its key works are the Diama and Manantali dams, which will make it possible to control the waters of the Senegal River and produce electricity, irrigate extensive fertile tracts of land and open up a navigable waterway from the sea to the hinterland of Mali.
63.	We cite also as an original joint undertaking, with political and social implications as important as its economic effects, the Authority for the Integrated Development of the LiptakoGourma.
64.	This is designed to promote comprehensive development of a region common to the three member countries Upper Volta, Mali and Niger. This area will thus be at the same time a focusing point, a meeting-ground for economic and social development and a healthy attempt to go beyond the artificial question of frontiers through cooperation.
65.	fh the same spirit of unity and of maintaining a common front to face nature's challenge, Mali, Cape Verde, Gambia, Upper Volta, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Chad established in September 1973 the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel [CILSS] to help the victims of that natural calamity and to take action to protect our nations permanently from climatic disasters and the advancing desert and to exploit our immense potential.
A
66.	As I address the Assembly in my capacity as President of the Republic of Mali I am. equally conscious of the great responsibility that has been entrusted to me as current President of the Conference of Heads of State of the Permanent Inter-State Committee on Drought Control in the Sahel.
67.	First of all, I should like to say that although drought is not a new phenomenon its dimension in the eight member States of CILSS is quite different from what it is elsewhere and what it was formerly. Today the countries of the Sahel are at the edge of a serious disequilibrium* which has caused one of the eminent personalities of our time to state that if we are not careful two or three of them might well be stricken from the map of the world before the end of the century. The expression "polygon of famine", which has frequently been used to describe the countries of the Sahel, is evidence of the tragic character for our peoples of the daily struggle for survival in an environment threatened by the advancing desert.
68.	It is because we have confidence in the creative talents of our peoples, and because we believe that the present situation is not irreversible if appropriate measures are taken in time, that our countries have created this marvelous instrument of cooperation, CILSS. Anticipating somewhat the Lagos Plan of Action for the Economic Development of Africa, we have already decided to entrust as a major task to the Committee, the instrument of our solidarity, the elaboration of specific strategies and the implementation of clearly defined policies designed both to limit the effects of the drought and to promote the development of the. region.
69.	The first results of this work have led us to lay down for our countries the strategic objectives that you are aware of, namely, self-sufficiency in food, the restoration of the ecological balance and water control to meet the requirements of the population, livestock and crops.
70.	We should like to express our profound gratitude to all States, groups of States and other generous donors who have responded to our appeal for international solidarity with the people of the Sahel, and I am pleased here to recall the eminent role of the, Sahel club in alerting world opinion, the constant efforts of the United Nations system in this general mobilization and, finally, the effective and unprecedented contribution of the Islamic Conference. The last named, indeed, decided to set up the Committee of Islamic Solidarity With the People of the Sahel [see At-361138, annex I, resolution 7/3P(IS)]. That Committee, in less than six months, was able to collect the sum of $210 million as the first contribution for the launching of our program to bring our economy under control.
71.	It is in terms of our strategic objectives that we have defined a common program for the rehabilitation and development of the Sahel up to the year 2000. In order to carry out this program, we are firmly relying upon increasing support from the international community, by means of which the Sahel, with its potential water and soil resources, could become not only the breadbasket of Africa but also a great world food reservoir.
72.	This action of regional cooperation towards collective self-sufficiency fits in perfectly with the African strategy defined by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity at Lagos in April 1980. This Lagos Plan of Action was duly taken into account by the General Assembly when it adopted, at its thirty-fifth session, the International Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade [resolution 35/56]. This is a significant contribution by Africa to the implementation of the new international order, for a more equitable international division of labour, for a more balanced management of the world economy and for a more responsible participation by all members of the international community in the progress of mankind.
73.	One observation must be made. Many countries, particularly those of the third world, are today on the verge of being stifled. It must be recalled that virtually all of the members of CILSS are among the least developed countries of the third world, 21 of whose 31 members are African.
74.	The means to be placed at their disposal so that they can participate in the general progress was recently examined in Paris at the United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries. These means, which are aimed at achieving, among other things, an equilibrium in the balance of payments, the writing off of their debts, the supply of financial and technical means in order to render their economies more dynamic, have been included in the Substantial New Program of Action for the 1980s for the Least Developed Countries.1
75.	Our purpose has been to offer to the community of nations specific' and viable examples of cooperation. We consider ourselves to be one of the links in the immense network which we must knit together as a defense against underdevelopment. Our goals, our efforts, must be understood as being complementary to the commitment which we have undertaken together to fight for the harmonious expansion of all of our economies.
76.	These efforts are designed to achieve the establishment of a new just, equitable and constructive international order. Quite simply, the purpose is to enable man to^ assume fully his sacred rights to existence. In particular, it involves guaranteeing freedom for all, creating a climate of confidence among our nations and further strengthening international peace and security so that war and poverty become no more than hideous memories.
77.	The colonial system, even in its death throes, is still disturbing international order. Famine is crushing increasing millions of human beings in its fearful tentacles. Racism is still showing its virulence.
78.	Together with you, we wish to restore the confidence of our people in their creative abilities. Together with you, we wish to preserve international peace and security. For we have committed ourselves by common accord to remain faithful to the purposes and principles of the Charter. We have committed ourselves by common accord to "promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom".
79.	The Republic of Mali will keep its promises.
80.	The PRESIDENT (interpretation from Arabic): On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Mali and Chairman of the Conference of Heads of State of the Permanent Inter-State Committee on Drought Control in the Sahel for the important statement he has just made.


I come to this rostrum with mixed feelings: first, a sense of deep trust, which makes me see the United Nations as the supreme resort, a very special place where justice and peace reign, an irreplaceable springboard for efforts to bring about concord, understanding and solidarity among nations. This is a very powerful and sincere feeling, and it is ultimately that feeling which made me leave my distant country, Niger, to come here and speak to the Assembly in this crystal palace in Manhattan.
4.	But I have another feeling, less exalted perhaps, because it is more practical, more human, more suited to this fine, distinguished Assembly which is greeting me today. It is a sense of vague dissatisfaction, born of certain demands and well-meaning criticism which make me regret that the United Nations is not always able to match the ideals of its Charter and the immense trust placed in it by most of the countries of the world.
5.	I am not here to praise the institution, nor, above all, am I here to add to the conceit of, at times, excessive criticism and often unjust accusations, which in fact reflect only inner bitterness or even deep disappointment. Niger harbors no bitterness or disappointment to be blamed on the United Nations; quite the contrary.
6.	My purpose is simply to tell the Assembly how much concern my country, which for nearly two years now has been a member of the Security Council, feels at the problems of the hour, in the settlement of which we firmly intend to play our part, and how much we hope that the United Nations will carry out its role in the best interests of the world as a whole.
7.	At this stage let me say how fortunate I feel to have this opportunity solemnly to reaffirm the unconditional devotion of my country to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations the basis for relations among States as providing the best way to ensure international peace and security.
8.	We are opposed to any violation of the Charter. We condemn any transgression of the fundamental principles of sovereignty, independence and equality of States, regardless of their territorial dimensions, their geographical location, the level of their development or their political, economic, social or ideological systems. We proclaim the inviolability of the territorial integrity of States. We recognize the inalienable right to self determination and independence of peoples under a colonial or racist regime or foreign occupation or domination. We recognize their right to. take action, to struggle and to battle to achieve the goals to which they aspire as a nation. We promise them our active solidarity.
9.	May I say to you, Sir, that we welcome your accession to the presidency of this session of the Assembly in which we see a sign of hope and a symbol: a hope of the irrepressible and enriching awakening of the third world and a symbol of the restoration of the powers of the voiceless, and dispossessed and the neglected, who are now unanimously determined to secure recognition of their rights.
10.	You are a worthy son of the Orient, which is based on faith and a glorious history, endowed with immense resources, but sharing with Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific only faint hopes for a less painful future and the terrible suffering of endemic deprivation that is as unjust as it is shocking.
11.	I am therefore not surprised that throughout your career, a particularly long and brilliant one, an effort to defend the poor and fight for equity among nations has been evident.
12.	The General Assembly has wisely placed its fate in your hands and thereby paid you an undying tribute that no speaker at this rostrum can possibly match. I will content myself with encouraging you to continue to work for peace, justice and equity. May you hold aloft for Iraq,
for the Arab and Islamic peoples, for the third world and for the entire world the proud banner of hope, assistance and unity handed on to you by your predecessor, Mr. Rudiger von Wechmar.
13.	Mr. von Wechmar was a distinguished President. I address to him our sincere compliments on his tireless efforts during the thirty-fifth session of the General Assembly to launch the global negotiations, which are so necessary and so urgent and on which the tranquility of tomorrow's world may well depend.
14.	These are indeed ominous times, marked by increasingly serious inequalities and quite understandable and often legitimate impatience, times marked by discouragement because of un-kept promises. The system desired and created by the great Powers of the world persists. Thanks to that system the rich calmly preserve their individual and collective wellbeing, while the economic dependence of the third world increases. Therefore there can be no progress towards the new order so enthusiastically supported here, which is supposed to correct inequalities and redress existing injustices, and ensure steadily accelerating economic and social development for present and future generations.
15.	Never, I repeat never, before has there been such a growing gap between the wealthy and those whose only concern is to have enough food merely to survive and to preserve their threatened dignity.
16.	The present world economy is in such a state of imbalance that the new criterion for regrouping, for alliance and for division among nations is, in the final analysis, wealth or poverty. Let us not be led astray by ideological differences: everything is now governed by these two contrasting realities, which bear dangerously within them the stigma of exploitation and the potential for confrontation. Countries are no longer grouped according to their size, their special abilities, the abilities of their continent or the virtues of their civilization and history. They are now divided simply into rich and poor, the rich systematically dominating the poor and the poor paradoxically having no alternative but to follow in the seductive wake of the rich.
17.	This difficult situation results largely from the inability of the existing international financial and economic structures, which were set up nearly 40 years ago, immediately after the Second World War, to adapt to present day needs.
18.	In spite of certain minor changes that have taken place, the principles on which those structures are based essentially favor the dominant economies. Thus, if the countries of the third world have been able to play an increasing part in international trade, the net result for them has not been the means to ensure self-sufficient development.
19.	The deterioration in the terms of their trade with the developed countries, which is one of the greatest scandals of our day, has constantly worked towards a reduction in real terms of their return on exports.
20.	At the same time, the foundations of the world monetary system have been shaken by the deterioration in the position of the principal reserve currency, and this has caused erratic variations in the exchange values of currencies and brought about a period of instability and intense speculation.
21.	The system inevitably led to its own disorder and its own crisis. Then the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries [OPEC] raised the first significant challenge to the established order.
22.	That awakening in November 1973 had a considerable impact. That collective action on the part of a group of developing countries, producers of primary products, was strictly in line with the resolutions and the program of Action of the fourth Conference of Heads of State and Government of NonAligned Countries, held at Algiers from 5 to 9 September 1973, and clearly reflected the urgent need to establish a new international economic order, which was endorsed several months later in the Declaration and program of Action adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations at the conclusion of its sixth special session, in April 1974, devoted to raw materials and development [resolutions 3201 (SVI) and 3202 (SVI)].
23.	That action revealed, at the same time, the vulnerability of the wealthy countries, the need for a fundamental reorganization of economic relations among the developing countries and the advantage for those countries in working together to establish among themselves a dynamic strategy for economic cooperation.
24.	This double phenomenon of the awakening of awareness among the poor and the fragility of the bases of supremacy of the rich is not without certain risks, in so far as it shows a lessening of moderation, willingness to share and generosity.
25.	In order to survive, mankind must therefore have the will and the means to prevent the disastrous trends which may arise from the excessive thoughtlessness of the rich and the frustration of the developing countries.
26.	Because of the unproductive waste of immense resources in the arms buildup, the developing countries cannot attain the quite modest levels of official assistance set by the United Nations.
27.	Their debts have, as a result, only increased. In 1970 their debt amounted to $74 billion and debt servicing amounted to $9 billion. By 1980, that is, in the 10 years corresponding, paradoxically, to the pompously named "Development Decade", their debt had increased to $456 billion and the cost of debt servicing had increased to $91 billion.
28.	Even food assistance the urgency and humanitarian nature of which is emphasized every day by the extension of critical zones of malnutrition at times seems to be losing its ability to attract support.
29.	What can be done to remedy this situation? How can we ensure that the impatience of the South and certain too conservative reactions of the North do not lead to a world dominated by discontent, fear and anxiety? How can we convince the community of nations that if we are at this unhappy pass it is unfortunately because of the lack of will to reach a compromise between privilege and privation.
30.	As regards the North, the response to these questions is to be found, in my view, in the courageous admission that yesterday's privileges are already endangered and will be even more endangered if attempts are made to perpetuate them without recognizing their anachronistic and excessive nature.
31.	As regards the South, it is possible for those countries to play a more active, effective and better integrated role in the affairs of the world, particularly in the areas of the processing, marketing and distribution of raw materials. All this should be done in a spirit of harmony and cooperation with the advanced countries and in an effort to bring about equitable and sincere complementarity.
32.	We shall spare the world from a very damaging economic confrontation only if together we overhaul NorthSouth relations and work together for a more unified approach to the development of the world and for the wellbeing of mankind. I am sure that I shall surprise no one when I say that the unfairness, the irrational and fraudulent distribution of the resources of the world, the deprivation of all kinds and the various types of suffering and hardship caused by the economic deficiencies to which I have referred are extremely dehumanizing and dangerous, and must be ended.
33.	In the new economic order which must be brought about, the North must make it possible for the South to grow and prosper and play a full role in the international economic system.
34.	The main routes to this beneficial development have already been perceived, cleared and marked out. I shall limit myself to indicating the indispensable areas in which action is urgently necessary.
35.	The North must give up at once all idea of a club system and all persecution complexes and rapidly agree to a certain number of major reforms in regard to the structures of the existing international economic system. I am thinking here in terms of changing the balance of world trade; the stabilization of prices, particularly of raw materials, on which the developing countries are so dependent; and courageous monetary reform. But the North must also get used to the idea that since industrialization is an inevitable stage of development and our countries will have need of access to markets as well as of investments and will inevitably turn to the North for the outlets which are necessary for the. future expansion of their industrial production. We mean by that that the protectionist policies of the developed countries must be reconsidered and ended and must be replaced by internal changes actively directed towards wisely-chosen specialization, towards raising the purchasing power of their citizens and eliminating unemployment and inflation.
36.	But it would appear, unfortunately, judging from their clearly egocentric reactions to the energy crisis, for example, that these countries are still nurturing tendencies to turning a deaf ear each time the South braces itself and refuses to accept the crumbs which for so long have been served it. However, the Economic Summit at Ottawa last July and especially the excellent atmosphere of mutual understanding which last August marked the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy at Nairobi perhaps suggest that things will evolve differently in the future. May the International Conference on Economic Cooperation and Development soon to begin at Cancan, Mexico, confirm this hope.
37.	The North must then, or rather at the same time, set in motion a vast program of transfer of resources to the South to increase investments, speed up production and the processing of goods, transfer technology and promote and guarantee growth. It must commit itself to a speedy implementation of the conclusions of the United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, held recently in Paris,1 which has just accorded timely recognition to the special problems of the least developed countries. Thus it must actively concern itself with the fact that the current economic and monetary situation is putting these countries in a clearly disastrous impasse, which calls for a rescue operation of solidarity, which will necessarily involve making special financial facilities available to them. In addition to the creation of a system to stabilize the prices of their raw materials these countries must have priority benefit of structures to help offset high interest rates, which are aimed at prolonging their recourse to profitable borrowing. furthermore, if there is no pure and simple cancellation of certain of their debts contracted for development purposes, they must be granted a moratorium that takes into account periods of crisis such as the present one.
38.	The North must also insist that the Governments of that group of countries which have not yet attained the goal of 0.7 per cent of their gross national product make the necessary political effort in order speedily to reach this level of official development assistance, so that at the end of this century at the latest the rate can reach approximately 1 per cent. In this connection I believe I should warn against theoreticians who advocate that the North need only actively promote its own development and the South's will follow in its wake. In my view, these theoreticians are preaching an outmoded and erroneous thesis, which even smacks of a certain revival of paternalism  can no longer be accepted in good conscience by the South. If the South's development is to be viable and harmonious it must be endogenous in nature, respecting the views and the values of the South and making use as much as possible of the people and the resources of the South. Relations with the North will be meaningful, fruitful and equitable only if this is done. Of course, this presupposes that the developing countries will make a decisive contribution by implementing judicious horizontal cooperation among themselves. In this regard the Lagos Plan of Action, for example, constitutes a good Starting point for the States of the Organization of African Unity [QAU]. But that also presupposes that international action will be able to play a truly worthwhile role within the context of a body of social and economic reforms that can be welcomed by each of our countries.
39.	It goes without saying that, given the undeniable problems confronting them, the developed countries may argue that their means are insufficient. In all objectivity, that must be conceded. But in their case insufficient means is not synonymous with a lack of means, and it can^ never be stressed enough to them that their development would greatly benefit from being freed from warlike tendencies and an end to the arms race. Mankind, which aspires to its wellbeing, happiness and survival, really has no need of all the weapons and death-dealing machines which it is being so feverishly pushed to acquire, only to find itself in the final analysis the only possible target of its own observations. The incredible figure of military expenditures for this year alone is $500 billion.
40.	Finally, the North must support and contribute massively to the World Food program, in particular by vigorously supporting the implementation of the programs of FAO and especially the Plan of Action on World Food Security. Those parts of the Brandt report advocating an especially urgent aid program of $4 billion a year and longterm measures to help the poorest countries to break out of the cycle of famine and hunger must be viewed by the developed countries with goodwill and acted upon speedily. And here I should like to encourage the World Bank and the IMF to persevere in the new directions they have mapped out; namely, for the World Bank, the liberalization of its operations in order to contribute to the antipoverty program dealing, in particular, with agriculture and rural development; and, for the IMF, the decision to consider with interest the reports supporting the prolongation of its financial assistance to member States with low incomes whenever these countries, as is often the case, suffer from the consequences of poor harvests or have to deal with a substantial increase in world prices of foodstuffs.
41.	These are a few thoughts which, were they to be further developed and applied, would perhaps make it possible to improve NorthSouth relations and make them more healthy, thus opening up, at a timely moment for our planet, opportunities for harmonious and balanced economic evolution in which all mankind would be able to live and flourish in renewed hope of increased well being, which is so necessary if its great yearning for happiness and dignity is to be satisfied.
42.	The creation of such a climate, marked by sustained efforts to ensure equity, active solidarity, international mutual assistance and generosity, would also have the great advantage of bringing about the conditions for an economic detente capable of preventing in future such crises as the energy crisis, which would only be new consequences of the weariness of the poor in the face of unceasing exploitation by the rich. After all, no one is any longer questioning the relationship between present energy problems specifically oil supplies and general questions of structural change in the world economy. Any realistic strategy aimed at making the dialog between petroleum producers and industrialized countries productive will necessarily involve development problems. I fear that the same will soon be true of other export products.
43.	That is why, once again, there is great urgency. It is urgent that the prices of other primary products should not soar as did oil prices, which as a reaction, as I just said rose abruptly by 350 per cent in 19731974 and by a further 140 per cent in 19791980; it is urgent that the world be protected from such an economic catastrophe, from which many countries probably would not recover  among them, of course, the smallest and weakest countries already bowed down beneath the intolerable cost of their oil bills.
44.	I do not wish any longer to convey the impression that I have come to this rostrum solely to discuss economic problems. Unfortunately, there are other subjects, other threats, other forms of discord which are disrupting the world every day and on which I must dwell on such an occasion. My country, which will soon be concluding its two-year term on the Security Council, has had adequate time, on many occasions to state its position on most of the situations disturbing the conscience of nations and seriously threatening the peace and security of the peoples of the world.
45.	I must, however, recall Niger's grave concern over the arrogance and terrorism of Israel in the Middle East and the incredible stubbornness, the constantly defiant attitude and the stalling tactics of South Africa, which continues illegally to maintain Namibia under its colonialist and racist boot and to oppress its own black majority under the inhuman laws of its contemptible policy of apartheid. But, in doing so,~I shall not engage in unnecessary lamentations, for those two countries have heard so many pleas, reproaches and condemnations that they have become immune to them and no longer respond to the injunctions of the world except by overreaction or scorn.
46.	Let Israel merely know that its tranquility, development, survival cannot be found in military power or in war, but in a peaceful and rapid settlement of the Palestinian problem. Its stubborn desire to pursue its policy of aggression, expansion, confiscation and frantic judaization of the Arab territories that it has occupied since 1967 will probably do less for its future than would a courageous willingness to cooperate with the international community in order to reach agreement on the ways and means of bringing about a just and lasting solution to that sad problem, which is eminently political and human. It must in any case realize, having lived through the recent suffering of its own people under Nazism, that neither pogroms, nor brutal oppression, nor blind persecution will defeat a people whose selflessness and collective determination are ennobled every day by each new fallen martyr in its ranks. The Palestinian people is entitled to a land, a home, a country. As for the Arab States of the area, no one can reasonably wish to destroy them or humiliate them to the point of inducing them to renounce their duty to help their Palestinian brothers to win back their inalienable rights and their dignity. Finally, Jerusalem must be allowed to enjoy international status, for that status alone is compatible with its prestige as the city of three religions.
47.	The case of South Africa is more troubling in another way. After 15 years of open rebellion against the United Nations and the international community, it
seemed that the moment had come, in January 1981, for the racist authorities of that country to relish victory in tranquility by finally freeing Namibia within the framework that they themselves had weighed, considered and accepted that is, the provisions of Security Council resolution 435 (1978). But their insults during the Geneva talks were so spectacular and so resounding that the entire world still seems not. to have recovered from them.
48.	But the truth of the matter is that South Africa holds extremely valuable aces that are given, alas, enormous weight by its vast riches cards that the OAU and the international community together will probably not be able to trump by a mere flood of speeches and resolutions. The support that it is able to line up in this hall alone gives it peace of mind while it embarrasses us, for its partners are essential and precious to us as well; they have long proved that they know how to defend the freedom of peoples and respect the dignity of races.
49.	Let us none the less repeat to South Africa and to its partners and allies that the Namibian problem has gone on long enough, that the Namibian people and their sole representative the South West Africa People's Organization [SWAPO] have. suffered enough, that the front-line States have paid enough, and that the patience of AMca and of all peoples that love justice and freedom has limits and has now reached the breaking-point. The independence of Namibia must be speedily won and proclaimed if we wish to spare Africa and the rest of the world an increase in unnecessary tension that will only lead us to upheavals with irreparable consequences. Security Council resolution 435 (1978) remains a suitable basis for that task and one that, logically, must not be discarded. We would ask the contact group of Western States, which have assumed de facto responsibility for that task, to bear that point firmly in mind and to act swiftly to ensure that Namibia is present soon at this prestigious gathering of sovereign and free nations, the General Assembly of the United Nations.
50.	But the problem of South Africa will not then automatically be settled, for that country is still the embodiment of racism, intolerance and humiliation. The apartheid which rages there is an inhuman practice. No man, no State, no people can rest peacefully as long as that country continues to mete out and with constantly redoubled, force the brutality, the persecution, the torture, the humiliation, the arbitrary imprisonment and the banishment so long the lot of the black South African majority which pays thus, with courage and self-sacrifice, for its only crime that of being black and of wishing to be a living and important part of mankind.
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51.	How often has it been proclaimed from this rostrum that apartheid must disappear? How many resolutions have been adopted here, and elsewhere in the world, condemning South Africa for that shameful policy and even imposing sanctions on it? But if apartheid, alas, continues, it is because once again the weight and influence of the Western partners have not been brought to bear sufficiently on the problem. That is why I trust) towards them and say solemnly to them once again that apartheid is a serious threat to peace, that apartheid is a grave defiance of all mankind, and that any search for world
peace must begin by combating and eradicating apartheid.
52.	Our task in the United Nations is to do our utmost to maintain peace where it exists, to restore it where it is breached, to protect it wherever it is found to be fragile or threatened. But we must also recognize that peace is not fragile or threatened only in southern Africa or the Middle East. It is also fragile and threatened in Kampuchea, in Afghanistan and in many other parts of the world, for the very serious reason that a fundamental principle of our Charter is still not properly respected, namely, the principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of States, a principle which, in turn, presupposes the unacceptability of the use of force, or threat of the use of force, in relations among nations. But let us all agree that that principle has not lost its relevance and that it is not only vital to the future of all countries but, above all, to that of the United Nations and of all mankind.
53.	I would not be so imprudent as to conclude this statement without referring to human rights, to the rights of the peoples of the world and to the canons of democracy. I simply wish to say that for us in the Niger, man is priceless. That is why our intelligence and our actions are devoted to the search for the wellbeing of the people of the Niger.
54.	We are aware that our small, but worthy, population belongs to the group of economically weak countries. We are the proud inhabitants of a very harsh and unyielding land, which is both a stimulus and a hardship. That is why we are all committed, as a matter of urgency, to the building of our nation, and we have little time for questions of prestige, nor do we indulge in overhasty actions.
55.	To feed the people of the Niger, to house them, to educate them, to take care of them, to clothe them, so that they can worthily be present at the gathering of the nations that for the moment is our only program and our only pretension. But probably only those who, like us, have suffered thirst, ignorance, sickness and hunger can understand the appropriateness of those choices; only those who have been exposed to want or have been the victim of humiliation will be able to understand why we wish to struggle to be self-sufficient in food, to free ourselves of hardships caused by the unpredictability of the weather and to build a society marked by development.
56.	Those, then, are the main goals of our struggle, the reasons for our mobilization and the motives of our hopes. It is true that we still have great difficulty in providing subsistence from our soil, because it is poor and infertile. It is difficult indeed for us to cope with the world economic environment, which demands far different means than our present rustic and pitiful capabilities. But we, as a nation, have enough endurance to continue the struggle, enough faith to continue the work and enough humility to recognize our weaknesses and to seek the cooperation of the world.
57.	Who more than we could wish for peace and internal concord in order to build and grow? We wish for j peace and international harmony so that we may assist each other and bring, about sincere cooperation among States.
58.	In the Niger we are ardent supporters of peace, tireless workers for good-neighborliness and fervent apostles of dialog and understanding among nations. We condemn any desire for domination, whether from the East, the West, the center or the periphery. We abhor injustice, intolerance and inequity. We refuse to accept instability or the threat of instability not only in our country but also in our region, on our continent or anywhere in the world.
59.	We are grateful to the United Nations for everything it has done to maintain the unity and cohesiveness of the world; to bring about and protect the freedom and dignity of peoples; to foster the wellbeing of man and the development of mankind. Thanks to its vitality and its high prestige, the Organization has done well. But it can do more, provided we give it the necessary means and, at the same time, scrupulously respect the provisions of the Charter to which we, as free and independent nations, subscribe in the interests of their inalienable sovereignty.
60.	I wish to end on this exhortation for, together with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Charter of the United Nations is certainly the finest, the most noble and the most relevant document that mankind has ever adopted. It is by honoring it, therefore, that you will give supreme substance and active weight to your work.
61.	Words fail me here as I try to convey our gratitude to and our admiration of all those men and women of all races from all continents who have chosen the United Nations as their country and who are attempting to come to grips with harsh present realities in an effort to prevent our species from sweeping away the world by its own excesses. In the vanguard of those men and women we find, of course, the familiar figure of the SecretaryGeneral, whose devotion to the cause of the Organization is undeniably beyond praise. A vigilant servant of the Charter and a tireless pilgrim of peace, he has regularly demonstrated his practical knowledge and his exemplary tenacity. Thanks to his diplomatic talent, his dynamism and his ardent devotion, he has raised the United Nations to the highest peaks, where it has found trust, prestige and credibility. On behalf of the Niger, I wish to congratulate and thank him.