Mr. President, may I first of all be allowed to offer my sincere congratulations, and those of the Government and delegation of Malta, on your unanimous election as President of the twenty-seventh session of the General Assembly? Your election to this high office is not only an honor to your great country, Poland, with which my country is proud to share many ties and common aspirations, but is an eloquent tribute to your own statesmanlike qualities. Those qualities have already been amply demonstrated during the short time you have graced the President's chair, and I am convinced that under your continued wise guidance, and with the co-operation of us all, this twenty-seventh session will prove to be one of the most fruitful in the history of the United Nations. As far as my delegation is concerned, you may count on our fullest support and co-operation in the discharge of your onerous duties.
219.	I should also like to offer a warm tribute to our distinguished Secretary-General, since this is my first opportunity to address the Assembly following his unanimous election. As we all know, Mr. Waldheim is well fitted, by temperament, experience, dedication and ability, to serve this Organization with the utmost distinction. To him, too, I pledge the fullest co-operation of my delegation in the performance of his duties.
220.	Every year the leaders and spokesmen of the world's nations gather here from the four corners of the world, and for several weeks these halls resound to the most mellifluous oratory, the most persuasive pleas, the most passionate denunciations all directed towards the most pressing problems facing humanity today. Whether these problems affect some or all of us, whether they are old or new, lasting or fleeting, intractable or seemingly easy of solution, they are all important and must be tackled. That is what this Organization is for.
221.	Sometimes, perhaps, one may be forgiven for wondering whether, after the ritual speeches are over, after the annual crop of resolutions are adopted at the end of the General Assembly's annual session, the' world does not go about its business as if nothing had taken place. This, unfortunately, is an image which has gained ground in recent years and which all of us here, who presumably believe in the United Nations and all that it stands for, must do all we can to combat. But the most effective way to restore the image of the United Nations is also the most difficult: it is, simply, to reach agreement on differences which we have so far been unable to reconcile; it is to place the common interest of mankind before national self-interest; it is voluntarily to surrender some tiny part of that cherished sovereignty which this very Organization is dedicated to uphold. In short, it requires a genuine change of heart, a fresh direction to national wills, and a realization that the world is fast changing. This change is often the result of events which are unplanned, uncoordinated and largely unpredictable in their effects. Such a realization will in turn bring about the inevitable conclusion that the old, time worn responses are no longer adequate and that nationalistic concepts must be reset in an international framework, as befits an intelligent race whose main preoccupation ought to be how to ensure the common survival on this small planet of ours.
222.	'And yet, some encouragement can surely be derived from the events of the past 12 months. These events, some of which at any rate have their roots in the activities of the United Nations, may hopefully signal the first faint beginnings of a new world order based on trust and international co-operation.
223.	Almost a year ago, in this very hall, we took the historic decision that brought the People's Republic of China to its rightful seat [1976th meeting]. Events followed swiftly upon each other, with the historic visits of the President of the United States of America, first to China and later to the Soviet Union. Those visits, and the official declarations to which they gave rise, were a clear indication that the world's largest Powers were moving away from the sterile postures of years of confrontation to a new era of genuine coexistence and co-operation. The reverberations of that historic breaking of the ice have not yet died down, and its effects will continue to permeate the atmosphere of international relations in the years to come.
224.	Also during the past 12 months the world has seen the United States and the Soviet Union conclude an agreement on certain measures with respect to the limitation of strategic offensive arms an initial step, soon, we hope, to be followed by more substantial achievements leading towards eventual disarmament. The entry into force of the treaties signed with the Federal Republic of Germany by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and by the Polish People's Republic, together with the conclusion of the Quadripartite Agreement on Berlin of 3 September 1971 and the current moves aimed at normalizing relations between the two German States-both of which, I hope, we shall soon be able to welcome to this Organization-have all contributed to a relaxation of tension in Europe. The next move in this context will be the forthcoming preparatory talks soon to be held in Helsinki leading to a full-scale conference on European security and co-operation.
225.	While we fully support all genuine efforts towards stability and security in Europe, it is our conviction that European security will not be completely achieved unless it is extended to the entire Mediterranean basin and accompanied by economic co-operation with all the countries of the region.
226.	In other parts of the world, we have thankfully seen the end of the bloody fighting on the Indian subcontinent and the emergence of the new nation of Bangladesh. Although conditions in that part of the world have not yet returned to full peace and stability, the necessary foundations have already been laid by the Simla Agreement between India and Pakistan, and it is the hope of my delegation that the next few months will see the way clear to the admission of Bangladesh to this Organization.
227.	Elsewhere in Asia, the continued and growing contacts between North and South Korea afford reasonable grounds for optimism that there, too, the legacy of the cold war has been finally laid aside and the goal of genuine peaceful reunification set up in its stead. It is a matter for regret that, for the second year in succession, this Assembly will not be discussing Korea ^during this session. My delegation had hoped that by joining debate in this forum, the United Nations could have added its positive contribution to the bilateral efforts of the parties directly involved.
228.	No reference to the Far East at this particular time would be complete without mentioning and welcoming the successful visit of the Head of the Japanese Government to Peking. After so many decades of estrangement it is of the utmost significance that the most economically advanced nation in Asia and the most populous nation in the world should have embarked on the path of peaceful co-operation.
229.	If this brief review of positive achievements gives rise to a feeling of optimism, let me say at once that this is overshadowed by the continued persistence of conflict and explosive situations in other areas of the world. In the Middle East, the deadlock which has prevented all efforts for a political solution continues unabated, and the prescription for settlement which is to be found in Security Council resolution 242 (1967) remains unimplemented. My Government reaffirms its conviction that a just and lasting peace in the area can be established only within the framework of that resolution, applied in its entirety; and while we cannot condone the continued occupation of territories by force of arms, we also recognize that each State in the area must have satisfactory guarantees to ensure its independence and territorial integrity. It is indeed sad to have to record that any faint hopes we might have entertained last year have, as a result of recent events, receded into the background. We continue to urge, however, that no effort be spared on the part of all concerned to reactivate the mission of Ambassador Jarring. My country is ready to do all it can, in any way acceptable to the parties to the dispute, in order to promote this objective.
230.	In Indo-China, the horror of a war which has raged for decades continues to devastate the countries of that area. Is it too much to hope that here at least the lessons of the past will be taken to heart and those positive steps taken which alone can lead to a just solution? Lest there be any misunderstanding of Malta's position on this matter, we repeat our call for the cessation of all bombing and the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the area so that all the peoples concerned can freely exercise their right to self-determination and, with their industriousness, wisdom and inexhaustible patience, be enabled finally to turn their talents to the immense task of reconstructing their long- suffering countries.
231.	I turn now to Africa. It is humiliating for this Assembly to have to acknowledge that, despite all the resolutions which have been passed, despite all the obeisances made to the principles of the Charter, millions of people are still groaning under the yoke of colonialism and apartheid, the progressive forces of the world will not for ever tolerate such an iniquitous situation and, if an explosion is not to occur, the consequences of which will be as devastating as they will be unpredictable, the chains of bondage which have been fashioned by the minority racist regimes and which weigh heavily on the conscience of the whole world must come asunder. We accordingly join our voices with those of others who have appealed from this rostrum for the United Nations to give a renewed lead to the cause of eradicating colonialism in all its manifestations from the world scene.
232.	The solution of the political problems to which I have briefly referred will not of itself bring prosperity to the peoples concerned. Political independence of itself is largely devoid of meaning unless it is accompanied by economic independence. My country, in common with other developing countries, has reason to have learned this lesson well. The efforts of this world Organization must continue to be bent towards the creation of a world order which ensures a fair distribution of wealth. The many programmes of the United Nations family which are geared to tackle, on a multilateral basis, such major economic problems as those which relate to trade and development, international monetary stability, the environment, and the equitable exploitation of the resources of the sea-bed must be pursued with vigour and imagination.
233.	Two events which took place this year merit particular attention. The first was the third session of UNCTAD which was held in Santiago in April and May, the other was the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm in June.
234.	It is regrettable that the meagre results which emerged from UNCTAD's third session disappointed many of the expectations of the developing countries. The attitude of some of the more affluent nations was unfortunately coloured by considerations of self-interest, narrowly conceived. Such an attitude hardly conforms to the objectives of the International Development Strategy [resolution 2626 (XXV)]. It is no wonder that the poor and the under-privileged are increasingly pointing to the growing gap between intentions and performance, a gap which is ever widening under the pressure of a fast-growing technology. The third session of UNCTAD did, of course, have its positive achievements, notably in the field of international monetary policy, where agreement was reached to associate the developing countries in the negotiations to take place under the auspices of the International Monetary Fund, as well as in the agreement to accord special assistance to the least developed of the developing countries. On the other hand, no solution emerged to the burning problem of ensuring easy access for the manufactured products of the developing countries to the markets of the developed world and to the question of stabilizing commodity prices. This lack of progress on such fundamental issues cannot but engender a feeling of frustration in the third world, and it is certainly no consolation to know that the passage of time can only compound the problems, especially as the inexorable march of technology will tend to make the rich richer and the poor poorer.
235.	In Stockholm, the issues posed by the threat to the human environment for which this same modern technology is so largely responsible were taken up. Malta was one of the first countries to refer to the problems of pollution in relation to the marine environment when it first raised the issue of the sea-bed in this Assembly some years ago. As such, Malta could not fail to take a keen interest, and to participate actively, in the deliberations of the Stockholm Conference. That Conference recognized that different degrees of development pose different threats to the human environment. In the affluent countries the threat to the environment derives from a high level of industrial activity accompanied by a high standard of living, with all its concomitant demands. On the contrary, in the developing countries the threat to the environment arises from conditions of poverty and under-development. It is therefore important that the aspect of development should not be divorced from the continued consideration of the problems of the environment.
236.	In the Mediterranean, an area with which my country is intimately concerned, the problems of pollution derive from each of these two threats. Last July, Malta took the lead in convening a meeting of Mediterranean States  to discuss matters of common concern affecting the Mediterranean, not least the problem of pollution. It is hoped that that initiative will be followed by other concrete steps to strengthen regional co-operation in matters relating to the human environment within the global strategy which was endorsed at Stockholm,  among others.
237.	One of the recommendations made by the Stockholm Conference concerned the establishment of a 54-member Governing Council for Environmental Programs and the creation of a secretariat to service it. The delegation of Malta, on that occasion, offered the capital of my country, Valletta, as a possible site for the environment secretariat. Today, I should like to repeat that offer.
238.	Another field of United Nations activity in which Malta is keenly interested concerns the question of the sea-bed. The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of the Sea-bed and the Ocean Floor beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction, in the work of which my delegation has participated actively, now approaches a crucial point in its existence. The General Assembly at its present session must review the work of the Committee and decide whether the conference on the law of the sea, tentatively scheduled for 1973 in accordance with resolution 2750 C (XXV), should be convened.
239.	While the delegation of Malta cannot express full satisfaction at the rate of progress of the Committee's work, it recognizes the complex causes, both substantive and organizational, that have made slow progress almost unavoidable. Although progress in the Committee has been slow, we believe that it has been sufficient to justify the convening on schedule of the conference on the law of the sea, particularly in view of the adoption by the Committee at its last session of a list of subjects and issues which will form the basis of discussion at the conference.
240.	The positions of States on many questions relating to the law of the sea continue to remain far apart; yet we cannot afford to delay the forthcoming conference, for technology is advancing rapidly and the possibility is increasing that options will be closed and solutions imposed by those who have superior financial resources and technological capability.
241.	If there is to be an early conference on the law of the sea, the United Nations sea-bed Committee must give its attention not only to negotiation of outstanding issues and to the preparation of draft treaty articles, but also to issues relating to the organization of the conference itself. This will require a broadening of the Committee's mandate, a step which we hope the General Assembly will take at its present session.
242.	One of the items on the agenda of the present session concerns a review of the Charter of the United Nations [item 89]. My delegation is aware of the strong feelings aroused in many quarters by this item, and, to be quite frank, we do not believe that the time is ripe for the Charter to be profitably amended.
243.	If the provisions of the present Charter are consistently violated, it would be naive to expect that an amended Charter would command greater adherence. Different or even improved procedures provide nothing more than a suitable framework for the interplay of national forces. As has been repeatedly stated, what is needed is not new procedures but a new "political will". Procedures in themselves will not function without the willingness to make them work, and, given such willingness, any procedure can be made to work well. None the less, it is pertinent to observe that certain provisions of the Charter not only appear to have outlived their purpose, but could even conceivably be invoked in support of gross violations of international peace and security. This is surely the case with Article 107 and, to a large extent, Article 53 of the Charter.
244.	Another item on our agenda this year which has already engendered considerable feeling is that which our Secretary-General has proposed in connexion with international terrorism [item 92J. The Government and people of
Malta, as befits a civilized country, condemn every act of blind violence, ever}' manifestation of hatred between peoples, every recourse to killing and bloodshed. We are also aware, however, that violence and terrorism are frequently symptoms of a disease. We cannot, therefore, seriously expect that by denouncing or condemning these acts, however deplorable they may be, we shall be making any useful contribution towards the more desirable objective of discovering the cure that will eradicate the disease or even prevent the recurrence of further outbreaks of violence.
245.	Unfortunately, the question of international violence has become entangled with such burning political issues as the conflict between the Arab States and Israel and the struggle against colonialism. In view of what happened recently in Munich and its aftermath, the issue has assumed even more the aspect of an extension of the Middle East dispute, a dispute from which Malta has kept scrupulously aloof and one which we have always deplored as a conflict between our friends. In the circumstances, much as we condemn acts of international violence and terrorism, we do not feel that we should be contributing towards a solution of this problem by denouncing either one side or the other. The road my Government has mapped out for itself does not lead to any denunciations; it only points towards a possible role of mediation by which the two sides may be brought together in search of a just and lasting solution.
246.	In the field of disarmament, progress remains slow and halting, although perhaps there are grounds to hope for more concrete achievements as the spirit of detente gains momentum. Malta certainly welcomes the agreement on the limitation of strategic arms that has been concluded between the United States and the Soviet Union. We hope that this beginning will soon be followed by more significant achievements as a result of continued negotiations between the two Powers. The opening for signature of the new international Convention banning biological weapons signaled another landmark-not so much because of the nature of the weapons that have been banned as of the historical significance of a treaty which for the first time unconditionally bans certain weapons and which for that reason may be called a real disarmament measure.
247.	On the other hand, I should be less than frank if I failed to express the disappointment of my Government that, despite all the efforts of the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament throughout the year, no tangible progress has been recorded on what is widely regarded as the next front that has to crumble if disarmament is ever to have a chance of becoming reality: I refer to a complete ban on all nuclear testing and to the prohibition of chemical weapons. In the view of my delegation, progress on this front is essential if the proposed world disarmament conference is to be assured of a reasonable prospect of success. Similarly, the proposal before us for a declaration on the renunciation of the use of force and the prohibition of the use of nuclear weapons [A/L.676], however appealing it may appear, can hardly be meaningful unless there is a break-through on the important questions of a complete ban on nuclear testing and the prohibition of chemical weapons.
248.	I have left to the end of my statement a brief reference to the policies of the Government of Malta and its preoccupations. In pursuit of its fundamental objective of friendly relations with all States, irrespective of ideology, my Government has during the past 12 months dispatched and received emissaries to and from a large number of countries, with all of which we seek to promote on a bilateral basis a form of collaboration that will be of mutual benefit to our respective peoples. All this Is being done with scrupulous adherence to the principle of non-interference in internal affairs, while at the same time promoting greater international understanding. Especially in the Mediterranean, our relations with all the littoral States are excellent, and we for our part shall continue to strive for their further consolidation. If I single out for mention the very warm relations which Malta enjoys with its immediate neighbors to the north and to tine south, Italy and Libya, it is by no means to belittle others but mainly because, apart from the practical and valued co-operation with these two countries, their symbolic geographical position, as viewed from Malta, portrays our keen interest in promoting a dialog between Europe and Africa which inevitably embraces the Mediterranean.
249.	Last year, from this rostrum [1965th meeting], I spoke of Malta's dedication to the cause of peace in the Mediterranean and expressed our unhappiness at the fact that cruel economic necessity forced us to continue to make available the use of our facilities for military purposes. Since that time there has been a radical change in the contractual basis on which such facilities have continued to be made available. Apart from ensuring adequate compensation for the benefit of our economy, it is important to emphasize, first, that these facilities do not extend to fleets of either of the two super-Powers, which we consider extraneous to the Mediterranean. Secondly and this is of great significance-under no circumstances will such facilities ever be used for offensive purposes against anyone, least of all against our Arab friends. Finally, as my Prime Minister has repeatedly and publicly made clear, the presence of foreign forces in Malta is not intended to last for more than the period stipulated by written agreement, which will come to an end in 1979. By that time we hope to have progressed sufficiently in the restructuring of our economy to be able finally to do away with the necessity of having to host foreign forces under the pressure of sheer economic necessity. To help us achieve that goal, we confidently look to our friends in Europe and elsewhere and in particular to the European Economic Community, with which we are already associated, for the necessary moral and material support.


It is of special and symbolic significance to me that my first major statement outside of Jamaica since my election to office earlier this year should be made here, before this Assembly, in which so many of the hopes of mankind are invested, and I return thanks to God and to the people of Jamaica for making this possible.
25.	Mr. President, may I extend to you, on behalf of the Government and the people of Jamaica, our congratulations on your election to the office of President of the twenty-seventh session of the General Assembly. As a distinguished son of Poland, you have been a steadfast contributor to the principles on which this Organization was founded. Your election, therefore, is a tribute not only to your great country and to you personally but also to the Eastern European group of nations, which you represent.
26.	I should also like to pay a tribute to your predecessor, Adam Malik, the Foreign Minister of Indonesia, who so ably guided our deliberations during the last session.
27.	May I also take this opportunity to express to Mr. Kurt Waldheim our satisfaction at the dynamism he has displayed since assuming the office of the Secretary-General.
28.	It may surprise you, Mr. President, to learn that I hesitated long before deciding to come and make this statement myself. I hesitated because so many great voices have spoken with passion, eloquence and cogency about the world's problems that I realized that it would not lie within my powers to bring a new revelation to the continuing debate about the world and its crises. But in the end I decided to come because, with all its institutional limitations, this Organization, the United Nations, and this General Assembly still represent the highest aspirations of mankind and still offer the most efficient instrument that man has devised to translate these aspirations into reality for the benefit of all.
29.	Therefore, may I speak to the Assembly, first, as the leader of a small and young nation and. second, in all humility for myself as a human being, and may I briefly redirect members' attention to the fundamental root and source of the continuing crises in human affairs which directly threatens the future of mankind and underlies so many current dislocations, tensions, upheavals and, indeed, violence around the globe.
30.	As I said, my words cannot be new, because the world's problems do not arise from what men have said in this hall, but rather from the stubborn refusal of men to listen.
31.	Simply put, this Assembly has become known as a place where torrents of words that burn with urgency and truth fall upon deaf ears-ears that are often closed by the narrowest considerations of national self-interest. The continuing inability of the United Nations to mediate situations of international crisis and reduce the inequalities between nations does not reflect any lack of desire or skill among the staff of this Organization or its various agencies. I suggest rather that the inadequacies of the United Nations precisely reflect the misplaced priorities of its Member nations and especially of the most powerful and wealthy ones among them.
32.	I speak today for a new administration in Jamaica which has a clear and simple philosophy about human affairs. We believe that the idea of equality is the only enduring principle by which mankind may be guided in the conduct of national and international affairs. We believe, further, that the survival of mankind itself depends upon the speed with which man comes to learn that there must be a universal moral foundation for the conduct of affairs and that in the absence of a universal morality to determine relations within societies and as between nations modern technology will eventually destroy us.
33.	Therefore, we begin with the thesis that unemployment and poverty, malnutrition, inadequate housing existing side by side with conspicuous affluence represent an intolerable invasion of the principle of equality and represent a challenge to the will of our nation which must be faced and overcome.
34.	And, equally, we believe that the international juxtaposition of wealthy nations and poor nations is an affront to both the conscience and the common sense of mankind.
35.	If we fail within Jamaica to build a society of equality and to achieve an equitable distribution of wealth among all our people, we will have failed our generation and history will exact its price.
36.	But equally, if the international community fails to build an order that is founded upon the equitable distribution of the world's wealth, generations will arise that will sweep us away.
37.	May I remind this Assembly of the two critical elements in our present dilemma. On the one hand, colonialism and technology have combined to create an intolerable and self-perpetuating disproportion between the wealth of nations. On the other hand, one of the most dangerous of man's gifts is his ability to mask the raw pursuit of self-interest behind the rhetoric of good intentions but technology has spread the rhetoric to the four corners of the globe and created a world that is no longer merely content to hope for social justice, but has come to demand it as a matter of right.
38.	I believe that the United Nations at this moment is in danger of losing its collective will to pursue right. I believe that the wars which have raged unchecked, the pursuit of national self-interest by the great Powers and indeed by some of the small Powers too, the manipulation of focal points of tension by the great Powers to their own ends and purposes, and the continuing paralysis of the United Nations in the face of this sordid spectacle, are creating the danger that we may forfeit our collective will and see our resolve sink finally into the quicksands of cynicism. My plea, therefore, is the same to you as it is to my own people.
39.	At home, we have launched a massive literacy campaign because a just society cannot function unless the doors of knowledge through reading are open to all the people. We are mobilizing our resources behind the elementary requirements of jobs, food and shelter for the people. We are seeking to mobilize these resources in the name of equality and through the method of self-reliance.
40.	And here today, my plea to the world is for a re-commitment to international morality for its own sake and as the condition of survival.
41.	Let me begin with the simplest possible illustration of what I mean by "international morality". The Government of Jamaica is proud of the fact that its initiative in relation to Southern Rhodesian participation in the Olympic Games led to an international process that ended with the repudiation of a formula for Southern Rhodesia's participation because that formula was totally inconsistent with any moral principle properly understood. We thank our African colleagues for their support, but we note the whole sequence of events with a residual concern.
42.	Because of our adherence to the principle of international morality, I declare that the new Government of Jamaica is totally and bitterly opposed to the racist regimes of South Africa and Southern Rhodesia and to the continuing Portuguese tyranny in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea (Bissau). I also note with concern recent developments in Uganda.
43.	Now that the overwhelming majority of the people of Southern Rhodesia have answered the inquiries of the Pearce Commission, we call upon the United Kingdom, once again, to bring that illegal, racist regime to an end.
44.	I am proud to declare our unswerving support for the freedom fighters of Africa in their struggle for independence. I am equally proud that it was Jamaica, under the leadership of my late father, that was the first country in the world to forbid trade with South Africa and I believe that, small as we are, we pointed a moral direction for mankind to follow. Today, I reconfirm Jamaica's support of the various resolutions that call for economic sanctions against Portugal. However, I am concerned to note that once again there is evidence of international double-talk in respect of trade with Portugal. Among other things, I discovered that, in spite of Jamaica's support of Assembly resolutions calling for sanctions, we are actually conducting trade with that country. And I am announcing here and now that the Government of Jamaica will be taking steps to bring all trade with Portugal to a halt until its African colonies have won their freedom.
45.	I turn now to the question of international terrorism and note with pleasure that the item, as amended by Jamaica, is to be debated [item 92]. Let me state Jamaica's position flatly.
46.	Whenever the means of peaceful political action to correct oppression are effectively denied a people, we accept and support absolutely the right of the oppressed to fight for freedom and justice against the apparatus of authority that oppresses them. On the other hand, we totally and irrevocably repudiate all acts of violence which are directed against innocent third parties who have nothing to do with the- dispute.
47.	I turn now from the question of international morality in the political arena to the problem of the world, its wealth and the developing nations.
48.	The question of how the terrible inequalities of wealth between nations arose in the course of history has been thoroughly analyzed, massively documented and is completely understood. But two questions arise now. Should the present position be allowed to continue; and, if the answer is "no", have we the will to correct it? For let me be clear, I stress the word "will" because the question of technique does not arise.
49.	Everybody knows perfectly' well what needs to be done to reverse the process by which rich nations get richer while poor nations get relatively poorer. The world's crisis arises because the major economic Powers are slow to accept the fact that our view of international economic relationships must undergo a transformation as total as that which brought political colonialism more or less to an end. I suggest that, to survive, the world must make the sort of commitment in the economic field that it is learning to make politically and racially; and it must do so, I repeat, as the condition of survival.
50.	We know that at the heart of our economic problem are to be found three questions: the terms of trade, the price of money and the basis on which the proceeds that arise from the exploitation of natural resources are shared between the countries that have the resources and those that provide the capital and the know-how necessary for their exploitation. However, while we talk about these problems and indulge yesterday's fantasies about the exclusive and prescriptive rights of capital, the world sinks into an ever-widening abyss of inequality. Massive unemployment coexists with spectacular monuments to capital- intensive technology; the endless rows of shanty-town shacks are mocked by the high-rise condominiums of the affluent; levels of unemployment exist around the developing world which would tear apart the very fabric of metropolitian society; and everywhere there is the silent reproach to man's conscience of the young children trying to find a way to grow without the food, the shelter or the settled family patterns that they need.
51.	What, then, can we do? To start with, we must summon our collective will and find the key to the international conscience, because without that the doors will not open. More specifically, reminding you that we are in the Second Development Decade, I wish to make a series of specific recommendations for the consideration of this great body and the many specialized agencies that it directs.
52.	In the first place, I think that we must apply our minds to the role. ? ;ope and powers of the Economic and Social Council. This is the body that we have charged with the tremendous task of overseeing the implementation of the International Development Strategy for the Second United Nations Development Decade. However, it is impossible to implement a strategy if all the tactical elements are not working in harmony.
53.	Noting with pleasure that the Economic and Social Council has recently been expanded, I now call upon the Assembly to take whatever steps are needed to ensure that the full power and authority to co-ordinate a coherent, integrated global development strategy rest clearly with the Economic and Social Council. It is entirely self-defeating for the Council to devise a strategy of development that is aimed at closing the gap between rich and poor countries and at assaulting world-wide problems of poverty and unemployment, only to find that the specialized agencies through which the Council must function are devoted to policies that are often in conflict with every thrust of central development planning. With respect, I suggest that this is a situation that is as illogical as it is unacceptable
54.	Equally, in dealing with a development strategy, it is vital that the people who must plan should be kept free of the distraction of other problems, however important. I would suggest, then, that the direction of the Commission on Human Rights be removed from the immediate concern of the Economic and Social Council and that a human rights council be created which might well be merged with the Trusteeship Council. One is pleased to find that this latter is rapidly becoming self-liquidating as it approaches the completion of the tasks which were entrusted to it.
55.	Before I turn to more specifics in the area of world economics, I should like to press upon your attention a central concern of mine. It is increasingly understood that it is impossible to separate the economic from the social aspects of development; and I will not bore you with a recitation of the interrelationships that are involved. However, I come increasingly to the conclusion that the world which came to understand that there is a close relationship between health and economic development, and later between education and economic development, must now need to understand that there is an even closer relationship between housing and economic development.
56.	I am convinced that housing is going to have to become the great new area of world concern and effort. It seems to me that, in the absence of a home, much else that we seek to plan and to achieve is frustrated and overwhelmed by the sheer, brutal reality of shanty-town life. I believe that much of education is lost upon a child who returns from school to share one room with his brothers, sisters and parents. I believe that many of the hostilities and tensions which frustrate the economic process can be traced, at least in part, to this problem. Therefore I wish to suggest that the international community should address its mind to the development of a world-wide plan for housing. I was pleased to see that the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment has taken note of this problem and called for support for the housing fund that was proposed at that Conference. I suggest that formulas be explored for ensuring that funds for housing become a planned and standard addition wherever investment capital moves.
57.	In the more obviously economic area, we will propose that the entire basis on which special drawing rights are handled should be revised. Special drawing rights should be a key element in the whole process by which capital for development purposes is transferred from the metropolitan to the developing countries.
58.	Equally, I wish to draw attention to the rules that govern the availability of soft loans, through the international monetary agencies, to the developing world. The present criterion for eligibility for soft loans that distinguishes nations on the basis of per capita income is clearly inadequate. Obviously, per capita income is no measure of the ability of an economy to provide a life for all its people and shows only that there is some wealth for some people. I propose, then, that we work out additional criteria under which developing countries may qualify for low-interest loans, and I make two specific proposals to that end: firstly, that high rates of unemployment in a country should be accepted as a measure for eligibility wherever that exceeds some predetermined level and, secondly, that certain social priorities should be isolated for soft loan purposes, regardless of other circumstances. The most important of these should be housing.
59.	I should now like to turn to an even more fundamental consideration of world economics. It has always been assumed that the continuing imbalance between the living standards of the nations must be adjusted by transfers of aid and technical know-how from developed to developing States. However, the international community counts as aid certain kinds of capital movement whose net effect can only be to increase the long-term drain on the resources of the poorer States. At the same time, the United Nations sets targets for the amount of total aid which should be given. To begin with, there is doubt whether those targets are adequate, but not even those targets are ever met. Yet no sense of urgency infuses our discussion of this problem.
60.	Are we prepared to face the facts? This widening gap will never be closed by economic aid alone, for the simple reason that the established system of economic relations between developed and developing nations works in the opposite direction. Under the established system, which has thus far been singularly resistant to change, the lion's share of the gains from international trade and investment from the extraction, conversion and sale of the world's raw materials accrues to those who command supplies of capital and know-how, and these are inevitably the developed nations.
61.	Nothing less, then, than a reorganization of the system, of the basic economic relations between the two groups, gives any real hope of ever narrowing that gap. I think that the leaders of the developed nations have a moral obligation to address their minds, with us, to this reorganization, an obligation based sometimes on historical facts concerning the original sources of their present wealth, but also based on simple common sense about the future condition of mankind. Some other basis must be found, and soon, for the international distribution of the gains from international economic activity. I think that these leaders have a duty to make clear to their own citizens that, unless they are to continue as islands of affluence and luxury surrounded by seas of poverty and misery, we just cannot all go on having business as usual, profits as usual, national growth rates as usual. Some sacrifice on their own part must also be involved. I say, let the process of adjustment in these gains between developed and developing States begin with what we, the developing countries, own: our mineral resources.
62.	The time has come to reconstruct the basis on which the gains arising from the exploitation of these resources are shared between those, on the one hand, who provide the capital and know-how, and those, on the other, who own the resources and provide the essential infrastructure and the labor force. Let the resources continue in our ownership from the point of extraction to the final sale of the processed product. Let the agreements of the future cover, not the sale of our resources to developed countries, but the reasonable payments which shall be made to those who supply capital and know-how for their services in the process of conversion.
63.	It will be recalled that I spoke earlier, in relation to my own country, of the method of self-reliance. I believe that this has relevance and application in the international field in so far as the developing countries are concerned. We have a responsibility to ourselves to explore every avenue through which we can promote our own development. This is going to require the planned exploration of trading opportunities within the developing world; it is also going to demand the creation of institutions through which we can mobilize our own savings and apply them to our own concept of priorities. In response to similar needs and common pressure, the developing world is evolving its own know-how and ought now to establish the closest communication in the area of indigenous technology and organization.
64.	It is my firm belief that, along with the increasing exploration of trading opportunities, the Member States of the developing world should plan to set aside an agreed share of national income for joint development purposes and to create appropriate institutions through which this capital may be invested.
65.	It is my belief that a fund generated in this way could make a major contribution to international progress and be a sign to the world of the capacity of developing nations to promote the conditions of their own development through international co-operation in their own ranks.
66.	To this end, and if the idea finds favor, my Government proposes to invite other developing nations to attend a conference in Jamaica in 1973 to discuss the ways and means of implementing this proposal.
67.	And so, I end as I began, humble in the face of the awesome responsibility that faces all those who aspire to leadership and conscious of the great voices which have bespoken the cause of peace and justice from this rostrum.
68.	May I urge the members of this Assembly to remember that throughout history there have always been those who have called for the creation of a moral frame within which men and nations may deal with one another. More than ever it is those voices that we must heed. The requirements of survival and justice demand that we listen and act, and now.


Mr. President, my Foreign Secretary had hoped to have been able to address the General Assembly on behalf of the Somali Government, but, together with our Head of State, he has been engaged in a very urgent peace-making mission on behalf of the OAU. Since the mission is in its final stage and requires his presence in East Africa, he has asked me to undertake this task.
193.	He has asked me to convey to you his most sincere congratulations on your accession to the office of President of the General Assembly an honor which you have justly earned and which does credit to your great country.
194.	The principles and practical considerations which direct the Government of the Somali Democratic Republic in its international relations have often been described in this Assembly and can be summed up as a firm belief that the structure of world peace must be built, brick by brick, on the foundations of the Charter and within the walls of the United Nations. In the' past we have sometimes expressed great confidence in the ability of the world body to fulfill its mission to preserve international peace, and we have sometimes been deeply pessimistic about the viability of the United Nations. After 12 years of membership and, I believe, of fruitful involvement in international affairs, we realize that neither unrestrained enthusiasm nor undue pessimism are called for. The United Nations, like all living organisms, has strengths and weaknesses. The important thing is that it is alive. The important task for all of us is to ensure that it continues to have vigorous life. For there is no alternative besides chaos to the attempt to build up effective systems of international morality, international law and international government. As the Secretary-General has emphasized, the nations of the world cannot return to old theories of the balance of power that served different times and different conditions.
195.	In a world situation dominated by the confrontation of opposing ideologies, by the gap between rich and developing nations, and by the threat of nuclear warfare, it would be folly to suppose that international affairs can be left entirely to the direction of the powerful few or to the unfettered play of national self-interest. And yet, the deterioration of long-standing problems which threaten international peace, and many of the events of the past year show that, however much the ideal of an international system is accepted in principle, in practice that ideal counts for little. We have allowed international political theory to outstrip international political action.
196.	This is why, in the opinion of my delegation, the most important of the continuing items on the agenda of the General Assembly is the debate on the implementation of the Declaration on the Strengthening of International Security [item 35]. That Declaration [resolution 2734 (XXV)] is a blueprint for the practical application of the doctrine of collective responsibility for international peace. It contains the guidelines for action on every major question that comes within the purview of the world Organization.
197.	The Declaration was warmly welcomed by the group of non-aligned States, of which Somalia is a member, because it stands squarely for the authority of the Charter and the authority of the principal organs of the United Nations; because it seeks to devise rules of behavior which will eliminate the use of force in international relations; because it adds a new element to the call for general and complete disarmament by underlining the connexion be-tween the annual world expenditure on armaments and the increasing gap between the rich and the developing nations; and because it condemns the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms caused by colonialism, apartheid and racial discrimination. It is in the light of the principles enunciated in the Declaration that my Government will state its views on those international issues which are the concern of all Member States.
198. My Government firmly believes that one of the strongest supports of the structure of international peace which the world Organization is attempting to build is the expanding role of regional organizations. The OAU is engaged in the constructive task of trying to eliminate regional conflicts, of strengthening regional ties and developing regional co-operation. In recent weeks this has been clearly demonstrated in the dispute between Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, and the serious situation that developed between Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania. In the case of the former dispute much credit must go to the distinguished heads of State of the People's Republic of the Congo and of Zaire for proffering their good offices and to the Governments of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea for accepting them. The positive response of the Ugandan and Tanzanian Governments to the peace efforts of my own Government, acting on behalf of the OAU, has arrested a potentially dangerous situation and holds a great promise of restoring understanding and peaceful relations between two States which have always had a unique history of friend-ship.
199.	One area in which international action lags sadly behind international political philosophy is the area of human rights, particularly as this concept applies to the oppressed people of southern Africa. The southern African brand of racism has been condemned by the overwhelming majority of Member States as an affront to human dignity and a crime against the conscience of the world. And yet, racism and colonialism outside of southern Africa join hands with the racism and colonialism of the minority regimes to ensure that white privilege will be maintained at the expense of the basic human rights of the non-white people. The racism that is open and unashamed within southern Africa exists under cover among the allies and trading partners of the white minority regimes. Inside and outside of southern Africa, neo-colonialism either feeds directly on the life blood of the native majority or supports the systems which so unjustly oppress that majority. Racism, expressed as the ties of kith and kin, and neo-colonialism in the form of quick returns on investments based on slave labour these are the factors which outweigh considerations of human rights and of criminal injustice. These are the reasons why those members of the international community which are most capable of taking effective action in support of United Nations objectives for southern Africa withhold their support.
200.	The charge of moral bankruptcy can indeed be leveled at the United Nations for its failure to deal with southern African problems which not only involve human rights but which constitute a threat to international peace and security. It is a sign of moral bankruptcy when the United Nations campaign to eliminate apartheid is weaHned by the non-compliance of powerful Member States with relevant resolutions, not only of the General Assembly, but also of the Security Council; it is moral bankruptcy when the rebel regime of Rhodesia is encouraged, by overt and covert sanctions-breaking, to intensify the application of apartheid policies to the African people of that Territory; it is moral bankruptcy when Portugal, a country waging major colonial wars against liberation forces in all the African territories under its control, is given massive financial and military support by its NATO partners; it is moral bankruptcy when the giant corporations of certain Western Powers, with the help and complicity in some cases of their Governments, join hands with the South African authorities in using and profiting from the infamous contract labor system in Namibia and elsewhere.
201.	The situation in Namibia has, of course, the gravest implications for the authority of the United Nations because of the special responsibility of the Organization for the Territory and because of the ruling of the World Court on the obligations of States in the present situation.  My Government has already made it clear that, while it will not oppose any attempt at bringing Namibia peacefully to independence, it will always insist that certain basic principles remain unchanged. Namibia must be a single, homogeneous State, not one divided and weakened by the imposition of Bantustans. The United Nations must never relinquish its responsibility for bringing the people of the Territory to self-determination and independence and the basis for that independence must be full political equality, the elimination of all racial discrimination and equality of opportunity for all the inhabitants of the Territory.
202.	The United Nations also has a special responsibility for helping the people of Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) to achieve independence on the basis of equal rights for all its people. That responsibility was assumed, at the request of the administering Power, when the Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the Charter, imposed by its resolution 253 (1968) economic sanctions against the Territory in order to put an end to the illegal regime. It is now seven years since that action was taken, but today the Southern Rhodesian problem is as far from solution as it ever was. Indeed, the steady erosion of justice inside Southern Rhodesia seems to be matched by the erosion of some Member States' sense of moral responsibility towards the Territory. Now that the unacceptable settlement devised by Britain and the rebel regime has been firmly rejected by the African majority, neither Britain's responsibility nor the United Nations responsibility for the Territory has ended. But the recent veto by Britain at the 1666th meeting of the Security Council of an African draft resolution on Southern Rhodesia reaffirming basic principles of international action,  points to a withdrawal from earlier positions which supported the oppressed people of the Territory. The fact that Britain's friends and allies on the Security Council abstained in the vote on the draft resolution was a further abrogation and a further retreat from responsibility.
203.	The African draft resolution sought first of all to reaffirm the principle of no independence without majority rule. This is a principle which is insisted upon by the true leaders of the African majority in Southern Rhodesia; it is a principle that is supported by the non-aligned group of States and had the full backing of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the OAU, which met at Rabat in July. In addition, it has been overwhelmingly endorsed by the General Assembly [resolution 2877 (XXVI)]. I state these facts to show that in vetoing this principle-and
Member States were given an opportunity to vote on it separately—Britain was opposing the consensus of the world community. It was also, in effect, shrugging off the plea of the African people that it should not abandon them until they are firmly established in a position where they can claim the political and social rights that are their due.
204.	The draft resolution also sought to establish, as a basis for a new initiative on Southern Rhodesia, that there should be a process of democratic consultation with all the people. Apart from the logic and the justice of this proposal, its necessity would seem obvious, following the complete failure of the attempt to impose a settlement that had been negotiated without any significant consultation with any of the African sections of the population or their political leaders. This eminently reasonable proposal has been rejected, as well as the call for the administering Power to seek ways of according to the people of Southern Rhodesia such accepted norms of political development as universal adult suffrage, secret ballot and the principle of one man, one vote".
205.	Britain's rejection of the principles which must be the basis for any just and lasting settlement of Southern Rhodesian problems, and the indifference of its allies, come as a shock and a cause of deep disappointment to many States, both in and outside of Africa.
206.	Another disappointing aspect of the Rhodesian situation is that the United States will continue to break international law and undermine the authority of the Security Council by openly violating the sanctions against Southern Rhodesia which it is pledged to enforce. While the United States is not the only country which has broken sanctions, and its Rhodesian imports are a small percentage of the illegal trade with that Territory, it cannot be denied that its importations of chrome, nickel and other ores is the result of a deliberate decision of the United States Government and sets an example that ill befits a world Power. The United States cannot escape its position of world leadership or the responsibilities of that position.
207.	The African States have always held that economic sanctions are not the only means of bringing an end to the rebel regime, but they do believe that sanctions are an important measure and that, having been instituted under the authority of the United Nations, they must continue to be enforced. It was the firm consensus of the Rabat African summit Conference that now. more ever, the United Nations should keep up the pres.are the illegal regime so that it is forced to struggle for economic survival and to feel the discomforts of isolation. Nov/, more than ever, the Smith regime should be made aware that its attempts to impose the apartheid system on the African people of Southern Rhodesia will be opposed by the world community with all the means at its disposal. Instead what do we find? We find sanctions widely ignored, even by States which claim to observe them, and the United States justifying its open violations on the unseemly grounds that other Powers are equally or more at fault in this matter.
208.	Obviously we are witnessing in the case of Southern Rhodesia the same disregard for the authority of the United Nations, the same withdrawal from responsibility on the part of those most able to take effective action, the same drift towards support for the racist regime that characterize the other unjust situations in southern Africa. My Government is convinced, however, that in the course of this session of the General Assembly the moral weight of the world community will be directed towards preventing a deterioration of the Rhodesian situation and towards reaffirming the commitment of the United Nations to the task of seeking justice for the people of that Territory.
209.	The challenge presented by racism and colonialism in southern Africa as a whole has never been greater than at the present time. My Government believes that strong emphasis must now be placed on support for the liberation movements of that area. We believe it is necessary for Member States to go a step beyond the mere recognition of the legitimacy of the liberation struggle and to take positive measures in support of that struggle. We fully support the Mogadishu Declaration, adopted by the leaders of East and Central African States, which concluded that, since all avenues for a just and peaceful settlement of the problems of southern Africa had been rejected by the minority regimes, there was no way left for the liberation of the region except armed struggle.
210.	There are many who belittle the role and the motives of the freedom fighters, but this can only be through the bias of racism. The freedom fighters of southern Africa are not* less justified and not less heroic in their struggle than the members of the European underground who fought their Nazi oppressors in the Second World War and who are still held up as examples of courage and self-sacrifice in the cause of patriotism.
211.	Moral leadership in this matter has been given by the World Council of Churches and by the grass-roots movements of individuals and non-governmental organizations in many of the countries which are southern Africa's main trading partners. It is the hope of my Government that that example will be widely followed.
212.	The problems of southern Africa of course loom large in any consideration of colonialism, but it would be unfortunate if these problems were to overshadow completely the problems of smaller Territories in other areas which are also still caught up in the struggle for independence. These countries must continue to receive the attention and support of the United Nations. In addition to its interests in other colonial situations, my country has made it a cardinal point of its policy to advocate the right of self-determination and independence for the people of French Somaliland. This year two important international resolutions supporting the political rights of the people of that country were adopted by the international community. The first was in Rabat, in June 1972, when the summit conference of the OAU affirmed its support of the right of the people to self-determination and independence and called upon France to create the conditions-as France had done in the past in other colonial Territories so that those rights could be freely, equally and fully expressed. The same resolution was subsequently endorsed by the Conference of Foreign Ministers of Non-Aligned Countries during its meeting in Georgetown, Guyana, two months later.
213.	The Middle East question, that perennial source of violent conflict, presents another example of how the best efforts of the world community to bring about just settlements can founder on the rock of national intransigence and can be frustrated by the determined refusal of a State to act within the framework of international law that it is pledged to uphold.
214.	The retention by Israel of Arab territory, illegally seized and held since 1967, is a setback to the development of international law; it is a hindrance to the strengthening of international security. The Israelis have now publicly admitted what the world has long known, that they initiated the war of June 1967, that theirs was the first surprise attack. Even within Israel itself there is recognition of the fact that violent conflict with Arab neighbors was not inevitable and that the tensions existing then could have been reduced by international diplomacy. Armed aggression against other States, forceful and illegal territorial acquisitions, contravention of international agreements on the treatment of occupied territories, defiance of the clearly expressed consensus of the international community and of the Security Council-these are some of the grave offenses against international law and order that have been committed by Israel.
215.	But the root-cause of the continuing violence in the Middle East over the past 25 years has been Israel's refusal to accord to the Palestinian refugees their rights, an obligation which was clearly a condition of Israel's recognition as a State by the United Nations, an obligation which is clearly spell out in numerous resolutions of the General Assembly and an obligation whose fulfillment is called for by Security Council resolution 242(1967). Wrongs left unrighted inevitably create an expanding circle of violence and counter-violence. Of one thing we can be certain: there will be no peace in the Middle East until the wrongs done to the Palestinian people have been righted and until Arab territory illegally seized by Israel has been returned.
216.	One of the most distressing failures of the United Nations, in the view of my Government, and one which was highlighted during the recent 1661st meeting of the Security Council meeting requested by Lebanon, is the increasing unwillingness of some members of the Security Council to put the cessation of hostilities between States above considerations of national self-interest. The recent use of the veto at the Council's 1662nd meeting by a permanent member to kill a resolution which merely called for an end to armed hostilities in the Middle East region is a case in point, and the misrepresentation of this issue by the news media in this country did nothing to improve an unfortunate situation.
217.	One would think that the primary purpose of the Security Council would be to try to put a stop to hostilities, particularly when these are being carried out by the armed forces of a State over which that State has direct control. The question of what might have constituted provocation of the hostilities was a separate matter and any member of the Council was free to bring that matter before the Council. In the view of my Government and this view has been expressed on several occasions in the past the use of the veto to inhibit the Security Council from exercising its primary responsibility for peace-keeping Was most deplorable. It was a serious blow to the development of the peace-keeping capacities of the United Nations.
218.	The world-wide phenomenon of terrorism, which has many aspects, national and international, political and non-political, has become one of general concern, and the Secretary-General's initiative requesting that this matter be debated by the General Assembly [A/8791 and Add.l ] reflects that concern. It is now, of course, widely recognized that this question is a difficult and complex one and that its study must be undertaken with certain important guidelines clearly in view.
219.	Some of these have been indicated by the Secretary-General in his statement in support of his request for a debate on terrorism [A/8791/Add.lJ, and it is important that they be carefully followed. He has pointed out, for example, that the underlying causes of terrorism cannot be ignored and that a clear distinction must be maintained between terrorism and the struggle of people fighting for their freedom and independence rights that are supported by the Charter.
220.	It has been asserted by some speakers in this debate that international action against terrorism would obviously not be directed against liberation movements such as those of southern Africa. None the less, the need remains for clear-cut safeguards of the rights of those engaged in the struggle for basic human rights and for self-determination. The liberation fighters of southern Africa have been labeled "terrorists" by the white minority regimes and are considered as such by some of their friends and allies, even though the southern African liberation struggle has been declared legitimate by the United Nations. It would be a tragic blow to the cause of freedom and justice in southern Africa and elsewhere if the forces of racism and colonialism were to be given an opportunity to cover with an air of legality their harsh suppression of all who oppose their policies.
221.	As far as isolated acts of terrorism which involve innocent people are concerned, my Government deplores them and holds that they cannot in themselves be condoned. But we do not believe that those acts which are politically motivated can be divorced from their root-causes when those causes include the suffering of long-standing evils which have been recognized by the international community but allowed to continue without hope of redress; when those causes have given rise to struggles that have been recognized as legitimate and when every avenue of peaceful change has been closed to those who seek justice.
222.	A few years ago the historian Arnold Toynbee, on a visit to the United States, said:
"One of the most serious evils in the world today is violence. You have to shoot somebody, burn yourself alive, do something violent in order to get any attention at all, however good your cause or causes, however patient you have been, however well you have put your case. There is an absolute stone wall of indifference all over the world."
223.	My Government will consider carefully all proposals that are put forward as part of the world Organization's effort to end or contain international terrorism. But it is against this stone wall of indifference to the pleas for justice from the oppressed and the dispossessed that we would like to see the most vigorous efforts of the United Nations directed.
224.	The*General Assembly must view this question of terrorism with a sense of historical perspective. While the world Organization has a duty to use the peace-keeping machinery at its disposal to deal with all forms of violence, including international terrorism, it must be realized that this phenomenon is not new; it has only been brought closer home because a world which had accepted violence and terror as the natural lot of the poor, the weak and the oppressed, is shocked to see these evils applied to the rich qjid the successful. And where shall we place terrorism in relation to violent conflict as a whole?
225.	The difficulties inherent in defining terrorism can be seen if one considers the war in Viet-Nam. That is an undeclared war; a war in which hundreds of thousands of Viet-Namese people have been killed or rendered homeless; a war in which a small country has received, at the hands of a great Power, twice the destructive force of all the bombing that took place in every theater of the Second World War; a war in which the senseless killing, bombing and destruction of human life and national resources go on without any end in sight. And for what purpose? For aims which in their origin were as confused as they were mistaken and which, even if they had ever had any validity, have been rendered completely meaningless by the political developments and events of our times.
226.	That is no, just the judgment of one small African State; it is the judgment of the majority of the nations of the world. It is the judgment of the majority of the American people. When we consider the innocent human lives that have been destroyed or damaged by so-called terrorism, let us consider also the innocent millions of the civilian population of Viet-Nam.
227.	The American-made gravel bomb that killed one diplomat was designed to kill, and has killed, countless VietNamese people-civilian and military alike. Is it more terrible when one such bomb is delivered by mail than when hundreds are delivered by military aircraft? Do the families of those unknown people killed by anti-personnel bombs in Viet-Nam grieve less for their loved ones than the family of someone with a more exalted status? One would think so, judging by the outcry in one case and the bored acceptance in the other. In the view of my Government, the terrorism that is being directed towards the whole VietNamese people is the one that should have the highest priority for concern by the membership of the United Nations.
228.	Another unsatisfactory international situation is the manner in which the United Nations continues to be involved in the Korean question. My Government is disappointed that a viewpoint based on outmoded cold-war concepts has prevailed and has once again succeeded in preventing the long-overdue debate on the Korean question. The main reason for the success of the effort to prevent the debate was the misrepresentation of the issue. It was made to appear that such a debate would interfere with the movement towards a detente which is taking place between North and South Korea, when nothing could have been further from the case.
229.	The Algerian proposal [A/8752] -which was supported by my delegation-had as its aim the "Creation of favorable conditions to accelerate the independent and peaceful reunification of Korea", and was concerned primarily with United Nations involvement in that country. It was an effort to complement-not to inhibit or interfere with-the negotiations being carried out between the Governments of North and South Korea.
230.	My Government has always maintained that the question of unification and all other internal questions can be decided only by the Korean people themselves. This is precisely why we feel that there must be a drastic review of the role of the United Nations Commission for the Unification and Rehabitation of Korea [UNCURK] and why the anomaly of a United States force in South Korea under the banner of the United Nations should be ended. The incongruity of the continued presence of that force- which is supposed to protect the independence of South Korea-is illustrated by the fact that South Korea is itself so self-sufficient, militarily speaking, that it has been able to send divisions of troops to Viet-Nam to oppose the liberation forces of that country.
231.	It is factors such as these which hinder the reunification of Korea not a consideration of those steps which must be taken to put the United Nations in a proper relationship with the Korean people. It would have been particularly appropriate if steps had been initiated at the present time when there have not only been talks between Red Cross officials of the two Governments but also when they have taken the important step of declaring the principles on the basis of which they intend to proceed towards unification. It is particularly noteworthy that one of these principles is the desire to avoid all foreign interference or intervention by foreign forces.
232.	The normalization of United Nations relations with Korea by the removal of the forces which remain there in the name of the Organization would undoubtedly hasten the process whereby old patterns of hostility would finally be eroded.
233.	If the weakness of the United Nations is that it has so far made very slow progress in effecting the acceptance of new norms of morality and law in international politics, its strength is that it has been quietly and steadily promoting the concept of global co-operation in other fields. The achievements of such examples of international co-operation and planning as the third session of UNCTAD and the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment may have fallen short of the goals set, but they are immensely valuable as exercises in the kind of co-operation that must eventually prevail in our interdependent world.
234.	There is an increasing awareness of the fact that we, the nations of the world, are all partners in the business of planetary survival. One of the serious concerns of today which strongly necessitates a global view is the question of population, and my Government welcomes the increasing involvement of the United Nations in this area. We note also the rapid growth of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities and the expansion of its assistance in population matters to over 70 countries. Every support should be given to the Fund to enable it to respond to all requests from countries embarking upon serious population programs. Although not yet supported by the entire United Nations membership, the Fund has adopted guidelines which we regard as entirely correct in that it grants assistance only at the request of Governments and it does not advocate any particular approach to the solution of population problems.
235.	It is often repeated that closing the gap between the rich and the developing nations is one of the ways in which international security can be strengthened. While this is yet another area where there is still a wide distance between practice and principle, yet the United Nations has set up and continues to devise machinery for closing the economic gap. What is necessary, in economic as in so many political problems, is the will to work for the goals set by the Organization—the will, for example, of the developed countries to implement the decisions taken at the third session of UNCTAD and to increase the scope of those decisions which still do not give the developing countries the equitable trading conditions necessary for economic growth and economic independence.
236.	In this same context, my Government will give its support to the establishment of a revolving fund for research into, and development of, the natural resources of developing countries. The majority of the third world countries have rejected direct financial aid as a primary source of national development and seek to establish national self-sufficiency. This can best be done by the development of their natural resources. My Government hopes that when the question of the revolving fund is discussed in the Economic and Social Council it will be seen in its proper perspective: as part of the process of strengthening international peace and security through the building of economically stable societies.
237.	We see that task not only in the perspective of self-interest but also from the point of view that a State must put its own house in order if it is to meet its international obligations successfully. Under-developed countries like my own are beset by a multitude of problems, chief among which are the colonial legacies of illogical geographic or ethnic boundaries; economies hobbled by restricted trade and communication patterns; non-existent or sketchily built infrastructures; and alien political and cultural traditions. Since independence, most of us have struggled through a period of continued dependence on the aid, methods and cultural impositions of the former colonial Powers. As pioneered by the leader of our own revolution, Jaalle Mohamed Siad Barre, we in the Somali Democratic Republic are going on now to the development of national pride, to the encouragement of dependence on our own resources and to the arousing in all the people of national identity and purpose. It is my firm belief that this kind of national approach, this kind of reconstruction, is an essential basis for the carrying out of international obligations which all Member States of the United Nations have assumed.
238.	In conclusion, I should like to reject, on behalf of my Government, a current view that the political issues which threaten international peace are better reserved for the so-called realities of super-Power politics, and that the United Nations would do better to confine itself mainly to the social and economic aspects of international co-operation. While most of us, and particularly those of us who are developing countries, have benefited, and continue to benefit, from the work of the United Nations agencies, while we are grateful for the campaigns to eradicate malaria and illiteracy, it seems obvious to my Government that the surest guarantee for the enjoyment of those benefits is a United Nations which is geared to preserve international peace and security, and whose Members, large and small, accept the rule of law as set forth in the Charter. That document, after all, has shown itself to be a durable and flexible instrument. It is capable of providing the basis for action in all the great issues of our times and of the foreseeable future, whether those issues are regional or global, political or humanitarian, social or scientific. The Charter's full potential must be developed to meet the needs of our complex and interdependent world.