It gives me pleasure at the outset, Sir, to congratulate you on behalf of the delegation of the Yemen Arab Republic on your election to the presidency of this forty-second session of the General Assembly. There is no doubt that the eminent qualities which you possess and your diplomatic skill will greatly contribute to ensuring the success of our deliberations. I wish to reaffirm to you that my delegation will spare no effort in co-operating with you so as to crown your mission with success.
It also gives me pleasure to express, through you, our sincere appreciation of your predecessor, Mr. Humayun Rasheed Choudhury, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, who achieved resounding success in guiding the deliberations of the last session.
I am also pleased to congratulate, in my own name and on behalf of the delegation of the Yemen Arab Republic, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, the Secretary-General of our Organization, on his worthy endeavors in the service of this Organization and its objectives in maintaining international peace and security. I wish him further success in the great tasks entrusted to him by the Assembly, the Security Council and other bodies of the United Nations.
The forty-second session is taking place while preparations are under way for the third summit meeting of the two super-Powers, following their summit meetings in Geneva and Reykjavik, which coincided with the two previous sessions of the General Assembly. The agreement in principle achieved by the Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union and the Secretary of State of the United States of America concerning the final elimination of short- and intermediate-range missiles is a positive move which my country has supported and which we consider to be a step on the right path towards the elimination of weapons of mass destruction.
We feel, however, that the long-awaited detente in international relations continues to be far from being reached, since the weapons to be eliminated under such an agreement constitute only a very modest proportion of the weapons in the possession of the two super-Powers and in their nuclear stockpiles - merely 3 per cent. Furthermore, the arms race remains as intense as ever. Tension and mistrust and recourse to force to resolve disputes continue to endanger international relations in many parts of the world.
Though the last two summit meetings did not arrive at radical solutions for many of the problems which are alarming our world, we still cherish the hope that the forthcoming summit will yield more positive results that will make it possible to arrive at definitive solutions such as the halting of the arms race, the elimination of nuclear weapons, the permanent demilitarization of outer space, the reduction of tension and reassertion of the rights of the deprived peoples.
My country wishes to express its support for the Political Declaration of the Eighth Summit Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, held in September 1986 in Harare. In particular we wish to highlight the parts of that statement concerning disarmament and international security.
My delegation supports the Soviet Union's call for the final elimination of nuclear weapons by all nuclear-weapon States by the end of the century, in addition to the repeated calls made by six countries - Argentina, Greece, India, Mexico, Sweden and Tanzania - on 23 May 1984, 28 January 1985 and 7 August 1986, all of which advocate a halt to nuclear-weapon testing, the consolidation of the economic role of the United Nations and the diversion of the resources consumed by the arms race to socio-economic development, for most of the developing countries are in dire need of them.
The Yemen Arab Republic believes that the Program for the militarization of outer space means new perils for humanity, perils it can well do without. My country believes that such Programs should be reviewed in the talks on general and complete disarmament, which should be pursued in a constructive and responsible spirit.
The Yemen Arab Republic reiterates its rejection of any military presence in the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea and again expresses its support for transforming the Indian Ocean region into a zone of permanent peace and security, free from nuclear weapons. We also support all efforts aimed at creating nuclear-free zones in other parts of the world, foremost among them the Middle East region, which is fraught with danger and simmering with constant tension.
The conflict which has been raging in the Middle East for over 39 years can be attributed essentially to the Palestinian question. The region will remain explosive and peace and security will be threatened, not only in the Middle East but also in the world at large, as long as Israel maintains its unremitting intransigence and its insistence on continuing its occupation of Palestine and other Arab territories, its denial of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, its aggressive policies against the people of Palestine and other Arab countries, and its brutal practices of repression and terrorism, basing itself on the direct political and military support it receives from the United States of America and other allies.
It is perhaps not necessary to trace the historical chronology of the implantation of Israel in the heart of the Arab homeland and examine what danger this poses nor do we need to enumerate Israel's aggressive racist and settlement policies in the region, from the usurpation of Palestine to the wars of aggression waged against the Arab countries, the aggression against Lebanon in 1982 - which is continuing to this day - and the repeated acts of provocation and attacks against neighboring countries.
It is hardly necessary to remind the Assembly of the various resolutions adopted by the Organization on the Palestinian question and the Middle East conflict, or of Israel's continuing rejection of all those resolutions and its blatant defiance of the international community. That would be merely to state the obvious. It is more important that we focus on a significant reality that has been reaffirmed by developments in the Palestinian question over the past four decades. ?he time has come for the international community to realize that no initiative, effort or arrangement aimed at arriving at a just, comprehensive and lasting settlement in the Middle East will ever be successful without recognition of the rational, legitimate, inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the light to return to their homeland, to self-determination and to establish an independent State on their national soil, under the leadership of their sole, legitimate representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
Some may feel that unilateral solutions are the right means of resolving the Palestinian question and the Middle East conflict. However, the recent past has provided daily reaffirmation of the fallaciousness of such a belief. The Camp avid accords and separate initiatives have only complicated the issue, distancing t even further from a just solution, because such attempts ignore the national lights of the Palestinian people. Hence, the Yemen Arab Republic continues to maintain that the solution of the Palestinian question and the Middle East conflict can be found only in an international conference on peace in the Middle East, to be attended by the five permanent members of the Security Council and all the parties concerned, on a footing of equality, including the PLO, the sole, legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Such a conference would constitute the practical framework for and a sound and suitable step towards a just and lasting peace in the region.
It is more necessary than ever before that the countries that maintain special relations with Israel - foremost among which is the United States - reconsider their partial attitude to Israel and their policies in the region in an attempt to contribute to a solution in a more positive and effective manner, with a view to arriving at a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the region.
The Yemen Arab Republic follows with deep sorrow and alarm developments in the war that has been raging for seven years between Iran and Iraq. It expresses its profound apprehension and alarm at recent developments, which threaten a conflagration and the internationalization of the war as a result of Iran's rejection of the peaceful resolution of the conflict, its continuing attacks against Iraq and its occupation of Iraqi territory, as well as the escalation of its attacks on parties not involved in the conflict.
The international community in general welcomed Security Council resolution 598 (1987) , of 20 July 1987, because it sets out the correct path to an honorable settlement and the ending of the war between Iran and Iraq while protecting the rights of both parties. However, we find ourselves facing a refusal by Iran to comply with that resolution. We therefore call upon all countries, especially the members, including the five permanent members of the Security Council, to play their role in the maintenance of international peace and security and uphold the
reputation and prestige of our Organization by implementing that resolution comprehensively and completely so as to put an end to this war and preserve international peace and security in the region.
At the same time, we call once again upon Iran to heed reason, abandon its recalcitrance, accept Security Council resolution 598 (1987) and have recourse to peaceful means to end the conflict. The continuance of this futile war constitutes in unprecedentedly serious threat to international peace and security, with unforeseeable consequences.
The Yemen Arab Republic has followed attentively the latest round of negotiations on the question of Afghanistan, in Geneva, under the auspices of the assistant Secretary-General, and believes that the continuing failure to solve this issue is very serious. We maintain that the necessary elements of a just solution ire: negotiations between all the countries concerned, the return of the Afghan refugees, the ending of all forms of outside interference in the affairs of Afghanistan, whatever the purpose may be and recognition of the right of the Afghan people to sovereignty and to choose their own social and political system, free from outside influence.
With regard to the question of Cyprus, we believe that negotiation and dialog are the best means of finding a satisfactory formula for ensuring freedom f religion and equality of rights and duties for both Cypriot communities, while reserving the unity and independence of Cyprus.
The current situation in southern Africa is even more threatening than formerly as a result of the increasingly aggressive actions of the racist regime in Pretoria, which continues to reveal its true hideousness by its acts of repression, terrorism, butchery, torture and arbitrary arrest in confronting the nationalist uprisings in southern Africa. This is also revealed in the continuing occupation of Namibia, Pretoria's relentless attacks against the African front-line States and its blackmailing of other neighboring countries.
The Yemen Arab Republic continues to follow developments in southern Africa and reaffirms its support for the legitimate struggle of the peoples of South Africa to attain their national rights. We condemn all illegitimate acts by the racist regime in South Africa against the national majority in South Africa and denounce all aggressive acts against the African front-line States. My country stresses the need to impose more effective economic sanctions against the racist regime of South Africa. We reaffirm our complete support for the Namibian people, under the leadership of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), their authentic representative, in their legitimate struggle for independence and freedom.
The presence of the item on Namibia on the agenda of the General Assembly for the past 41 years, since the adoption of resolution 65 (I) at the first session of the General Assembly, in 1946, presents a great challenge to the international community and makes it incumbent upon it to exert effective, constructive efforts to solve this problem. We believe that the correct procedure lies in implementation of the peace settlement endorsed in Security Council resolution 435 (1978).
If the situations in the Middle East, the Persian Gulf and southern Africa are threats to international peace and security, the situation in Central America is no less menacing. The Yemen Arab Republic, having followed with great attention the recent developments in Central America, wishes to express its support for the peace plan put forward by the Heads of five States, the aim of which is to restore permanent peace in the region free from outside interference and surmounting the complications inherent in the existing situation.
With regard to the problems afflicting other parts of the world, we believe that the ideal way of resolving disputes and differences is by peaceful means and through dialog, enabling the peoples involved to express their will without outside pressure, allowing them their right to self-determination, and halting all outside intervention on whatever pretext.
Although the matters I have just mentioned constitute part of the subjects that call for our attention today, there is another matter that is no less important. I am referring to the continuing deterioration in the international economic situation and the resultant great imbalance, due to the setting of the prices of raw materials and to the indebtedness with which the developing countries are overburdened, as well as to the technological monopoly of the industrialized countries, which widens and deepens the abyss separating the industrialized and developing worlds. That situation portends the total collapse of the present economic, financial and monetary order.
We believe that to escape from this vicious circle a new international economic order must be established, in order to provide fair and adequate prices for the exports of the developing countries. Those countries must be enabled to play a greater role in orienting the international monetary system towards the financing of development and towards increasing their production in the industrial field through the transfer of technology, better debt terms, sovereignty over their own natural resources and a consolidation of the United Nations role in international economic co-operation. It is incumbent upon us to devote increased efforts towards achieving the new international economic order based on equality among all countries, with balance and justice in all sectors.
The developing countries have submitted a number of proposals designed to overcome the world economic crisis:	the	Caracas	plan of action, the principles set
forth at Buenos Aires, the Cairo Declaration and the Economic Declaration issued at the Eighth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries held at Harare in September 1986. Because our world needs greater interdependence and integration, an objective response from the industrialized world, based on a comprehensive vision of the dimensions of the crisis, could bring prosperity for all mankind.
The Yemen Arab Republic, while giving due attention to world economic problems, continues to give its attention to many of the world's social and humanitarian problems as well. In this connection my delegation reaffirms the need for the international community to give greater attention to implementing the World Program of Action concerning Disabled Persons and to observing the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons, and the need to give greater attention to the situation of refugees and to implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, along with other social and humanitarian issues.
The Government and people of the Yemen Arab Republic recently celebrated the silver anniversary of the 26 September 1962 Revolution. In those celebrations we were joined by a number of friendly and fraternal countries. Our celebration takes place at a time' when the Yemeni people have made great forward strides in all areas - social, political and economic. This is attested to by many of those who knew Yemen prior to its Revolution. The choice of democracy as one of the objectives of our glorious Revolution is one of our people's most important victories, and it will culminate in free and direct parliamentary elections to be led at the beginning of next year in keeping with the guiding principles established by our political leadership, represented by brother Colonel Ali tbdulla Saleh, President of the Republic, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces ind General Secretary of the People's General Congress. Our country enjoys security and stability and has made great progress. The beginning of the first ear of the third five-year plan, 1987-1991, represents a new phase of elf-reliance during which we will export the first shipment of Yemeni oil from the shores of the Red Sea.
As for Yemen's unity, our national leadership is working with our brothers in he southern part of our homeland in order to achieve unity through peaceful and democratic means and to realize the hopes and aspirations of the Yemeni people.
In conclusion, I would ask the Almighty to guide you, Mr. President, to success on your way, and I pray for the progress of our Organization in the service if freedom, justice, prosperity and equality, unimpeded by considerations of color, creed or race. All members of the human race must live as equals on this earth, however diverse their cultures, however far-flung their geographical locations. Peace will never prevail without equality, security and stability in our world, and this cannot be realized without justice for all.


On behalf of the Nigerian delegation, I should like to offer our congratulations, Sir, on your unanimous and well-deserved election to the presidency of the forty-second session of the General Assembly. My delegation joins previous speakers in expressing our sentiments on your distinguished personal merits, which have eminently qualified you for this high office. I have no doubt that under your able leadership this session will achieve great success. I therefore have great pleasure in pledging to you the full support and co-operation of my delegation in the performance of your onerous task.
We approach the work of the current session of this Assembly with a sense of objective realism. The original aims and objectives of the Charter hold even more true today in the quest for a peaceful world order and an enhanced process of economic development. It falls to the present members of this world Assembly to ensure the realization of those lofty ideals. The Charter, as applied from the inception of this Organization and strengthened by decisions and resolutions that reflect a preponderance of shared views and aspirations, remains sufficiently flexible to make possible the current effort to reform the structure of the United Nations system.
The reform measures put in place by the Secretary-General reflect a determined attempt to implement General Assembly resolution 41/213. This is admittedly a daunting task which we once again insist must remain faithful to the main purposes and objectives towards which the united Nations has directed its efforts for so many years. The world can ill afford to strip this Organization of its effectiveness and the universalist principles that have lent themselves to the aspirations of all member States, big and small, rich and poor. The need to reduce staff and costs must never obscure the need for the efficacy of collaborative efforts which the Organization has come to represent.
The Organization must remain committed to the rigorous pursuit of such laudable ventures as are exemplified by resolution S-13/2, adopted at the thirteenth special session of the General Assembly to assist African economic recovery and development. It is our strong belief that nothing should detract from this Organization's resolve to maintain this programme on a priority list of issues which deserves a higher allocation of resources.
My delegation will support the ongoing process of reform provided it is geared to efficiency without any decrease in the adequate allocation of resources, be they human, financial or material. Unfortunately, however,  every  attempt at restructuring the Secretariat that occurred earlier this year is certain to undermine the wide-ranging support originally pledged to that process by member States. The Secretary-General must now focus his attention solely on a reorganization that ensures administrative efficiency. More important, it must be carried out with full cognisance of the tenets of the United Nations Charter regarding the sovereign equality of all member states.
In order to facilitate a smooth reordering of priorities and invigoration of a worth-while institutional framework geared to the achievement of development, the world needs peace. It deserves peace. yet this ideal situation continues to elude us. The African continent, which has most of the world's least developed countries, is unfortunately, plagued by intractable conflicts. Most of these conflicts can be traced to the nefarious activities of the racist minority regime in apartheid South Africa.
My Government has consistently drawn the attention of the international community to the plight of millions of indigenous inhabitants of South Africa. We have collaborated with an ever-widening cycle of concerned nations, which continue to urge those countries whose actions and pronouncements tend to embolden the apartheid regime in its open defiance of world opinion, to be mindful of the enormity of the negative stand they have taken.
More than ever before, the need for the international community to take concrete and effective measures towards the eradication of apartheid, which has been roundly condemned as a crime against humanity, cannot be over-emphasized.
The apartheid regime has torn families apart and destroyed humble places of abode of its largely impoverished African population. It has set Soweto ablaze, brutalized teenage Africans through torture and imprisonment. It dehumanised the indigenous population by relegating it to a state of statelessness. Today, over 100 laws are in place to stifle all shades of opinion, in particular, the media.
Friends of the apartheid regime have, in the past few years, delighted themselves with cosmetic measures, which the racists played up to the world as reforms, while its friends extolled these empty gestures, we have never relented in our steadfast opposition to this palliative political posturing. For, there can be no real peace in South Africa until the whole ignoble edifice of apartheid is completely dismantled.
Yet we cannot deny that in the past few years the majority of ordinary citizens, private organizations, educational institutions, religious and other well-meaning organizations in many countries have demonstrated their abhorrence of this unjust rule either by pulling their investments out of South Africa, or by vigorously urging their Governments to apply economic sanctions against the racists. We watch with deep interest and satisfaction the very mature approach of students, businessmen and trade unions in taking concrete action which underlines their commitment to political freedom and economic emancipation for the majority of South Africans. Regrettably, however, certain powerful individuals in high government positions remain unmoved. But the wind of change unleashed in the streets of Sharpeville, and strengthened in the classrooms of Soweto, has become a hurricane, which, as it gathers force, will no doubt sweep away all vestiges of repression and the unjust laws of the apartheid regime.
The process of shaping international opinion towards decisive action has been long and at times frustrating. But the present situation augurs well for 23 million Africans in South Africa. The positive roles of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the Nordic countries, the socialist States and a few Western countries are noteworthy. The groundswell of the anti-apartheid movement in the United States has now assumed such proportions that the Congress has unequivocally demonstrated its desire for positive change in the apartheid enclave. Apartheid is no longer perceived along partisan, ideological or racial lines.
The policy of Nigeria with regard to South Africa is clearly one of honour, but it is also one that holds firmly to the basic principles of the United Nations Charter, we have always stated that our belief in the armed struggle in South Africa and Namibia is predicated on the necessity to wrest, from an unjust order, those basic freedoms that many nations have always fought for in Europe and America. In this regard we also support a dialogue, conducted on the basis of true racial equality, to resolve the issue of the total eradication of apartheid. Let the racists talk to the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) with a view to bringing to an end the violence they started, and this Organization can then squarely face other major issues which still promote division in international relations.
The United Nations' failure, so far, to resolve the issue of Namibia's independence is inextricably intertwined with all the problems that call for early resolution in southern Africa. Racism and racial discrimination have always characterized Namibia's subjugation by South Africa. When in 1978 the Security Council agreed on a plan for the independence of Namibia, the world thought that the end of the indigenous population's nightmare was in sight. However, at the prompting of its Western friends, purely extraneous issues were introduced to ensure the denial of freedom to the Namibian people. Nigeria firmly repudiates the infamous linkage concept. We also reject any makeshift political devices that exclude recognition of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Namibian people. The encouragement of break-away factions only serves the purposes of apartheid South Africa, and the economic exploitation of the unholy alliance in that territory. The United Nations Council for Namibia must be strengthened to enable it effectively to administer the territory until the plan envisaged under Security Council resolution 435 (1978) has been fully implemented.
Last year, the General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring the South Atlantic a zone of peace and co-operation. This was and still remains, in Nigeria's view, a laudable gesture. It is my delegation's belief that the nations contiguous to the South Atlantic remain under an obligation to keep this zone free of super-Power rivalry, thus maintaining its innocent nature.
My country is eager to co-operate with any neighbouring country in any endeavour to achieve this objective. We are prepared to co-operate with all nations bordering the South Atlantic in efforts to guarantee freedom of navigation weather-forecasting and all plans favourable to environmental protection thereby ensuring that the interests of all humanity are adequately protected. To our South American friends we offer the vision of the South Atlantic Ocean as an ocean that unites rather than separates us.
The situation that exists between Chad and Libya is, to say the least, unfortunate and highly regrettable. The Organization of African Unity has mediated and continues to seek a peaceful solution to the problem. It is essential therefore that we should all give full support to the cause of peace that is being promoted by the OAU in this matter· We are therefore happy that the General Assembly deferred the inclusion of this matter in its agenda in order to give more time for further consultation.
An opportunity for such consultation took place at the summit level on 24 September 1987, in Lusaka, Zambia. It re-established a climate of dialogue which, we believe, will enhance the process of peaceful resolution of the conflict. In fact, the two parties to the conflict have reaffirmed their commitment and willingness to work towards a negotiated settlement of the dispute. In addition, they have accepted the OAU framework for its resolution.
In this regard the OAU Ad Hoc Committee on the dispute underlined the need o find a peaceful, African solution to it and warned against its internationalisation. We, therefore, call on the Assembly and the international community to respect Africa's wishes. We call for respect for the OAU peace efforts with regard to the conflict so that there may be a rapid return of peace to the area so that resources may be devoted to the process of development.
My delegation does not believe that the situation in the Middle East is beyond resolution. The fact is that in the absence of the political will to accord to the Palestinians the right to their own homeland, one of the main actors would have been pushed into the background. The main issues in a possible negotiation process would have been ignored. Just as Nigeria would reiterate the right of Israel to exist, my delegation is convinced that the role of peace would be served if all concerned also believed in peaceful coexistence. To this end, my delegation fully supports the convening of an international peace conference on the Middle East, where all the main actors in the protracted dispute would be represented. We do not share the view that the peace process would be served by a denial of the right of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to be represented at such a conference. When, on 20 July 1987, the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution which called for the cessation of hostilities between Iraq and Iran, the world heaved a sigh of relief. To render Security Council resolution 598 (1987) effective, we call on all those countries whose naval power is currently being flaunted in the Gulf to withdraw. There is no excuse for calling for the cessation of hostilities on the one hand, only shortly after to proceed with amassing an array of sophisticated naval fire-power that can only make it more difficult to achieve peace. It is doubly disappointing that both Iraq and Iran, two friends of Nigeria of long standing, have not yet achieved the peace they need for socio-economic development.
In like manner, the people of Afghanistan deserve peace. To this end, we commend the continuing efforts of the Secretary-General's Special Representative to achieve national reconciliation.
My delegation believes that the time has come to enable the people of Kampuchea to embark on reconstruction and development after such a protracted period of conflict and instability. The chronicle of unfortunate events in a friendly country, a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, is of great concern to my delegation. We urge all sides in this dispute to demonstrate their respect for the territorial integrity and non-aligned status of Kampuchea by implementing the relevant General Assembly resolutions to this effect.
Since 1985 the world has been given reason to believe that the end of the arms race is 9 little closer. The announcement by the super-Powers that a new round of disarmament talks in Geneva would tackle the reduction of nuclear arms, leading to their eventual elimination, was hailed by my Government as a step in the right direction. My delegation welcomes the 18 September announcement that the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics have agreed in principle to a treaty to eliminate medium- and short-range missiles. We continue to urge all the nuclear States to devote greater energies to the total elimination of all weapons of mass destruction.
For 26 years the United Nations has urged that a test-ban treaty should be signed by nuclear-power States. A moratorium on testing would therefore seem a very logical approach. Accordingly, my delegation commended the Soviet union for its bold initiative last year unilaterally to impose a moratorium on weapons testing. Unfortunately, that commendable initiative has been brought to an end. It is even more regrettable that others were unable to reciprocate, thus making the search for a nuclear-weapon-free world that much more difficult.
There is a clear complementarily between disarmament, development and security. For instance, world military expenditure is currently estimated at $1 trillion, while the combined debt burden of all the developing countries is about the same amount. My delegation firmly supports any move to set aside some of this huge expenditure on armaments for development purposes. Care must be taken not to allow an otherwise praiseworthy idea to become entangled in ideological pretension.
The recently concluded Conference on the Relationship between Disarmament and Development failed to achieve its main objective. Although it agreed on basic definitions, extraneous ideas were adopted which tended to elevate the abstract "essence of armed security above that of trade and development. The failure to adopt any categorical plan for the release through financing arrangements of resources that it is hoped would be saved by disarmament may render further progress difficult. The current world economic situation, particularly for developing countries, leaves much to be desired. While substantial growth has continued in developed countries for the	consecutive year, the economic prospects for developing countries in general, and those of Africa in particular, continue to remain very bleak: Despite the painstaking efforts of most of the developing countries to undertake some appreciable levels of structural adjustment they continue to be haunted by monetary debt problems, insurmountable debt service problems falling commodity prices, unjustified protectionism in some developed countries against developing countries' commodities, and high interest rates.
It will be recalled that in May 1986 a special session of the General Assembly was Held which resulted in the adoption of a United Nations Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development 1986-1990, to be implemented at the national, regional and international levels· In spite of the national measures taken by African countries in the form of structural adjustment, and at the international level in support of the United Nations Programme by way of the $12.4 billion replenishment of the International Development Association, 45 per cent of which is to be allocated to sub-Saharan Africa  it is still unlikely that an adequate financial flow will be provided to bridge the financing gap which Africa is expected to face until 1990 and beyond.
The Conference sponsored by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and devoted exclusively to the challenge of economic recovery and accelerated development in Africa met in Abuja, Nigeria, from 15 to 19 June this year. It recommended a comprehensive approach to aid flows to support structural adjustment programmes in Africa and focused particularly on disbursing funds for spare parts and material needed to increase the utilization of existing capacity in industry, agriculture and public infrastructure. The Conference called for an exceptional measure to reduce the debt service burden of African countries, which should include measures to convert official development assistance debt into grants, longer repayment and grace periods, lower interest rates on existing official debt, and consideration of the possibility of repayment of debts in local currencies by African countries. I whole-heartedly commend these recommendations to the Assembly.
Our concern focuses on the fact that a lot is expected of us by way of sacrifice, but it seems that nothing is being realized in return for the sacrifices we have made and continue to make. In the recent past, certain proposals were made by some developed countries to alleviate Africa's crippling debt crisis. Unfortunately, the promises of the Baker plan, British proposals on rescheduling and low interest rate concessions to developing countries have not been fully implemented.
Despite these efforts, a lot more is still required to meet the expanding resource demands of developing countries, particularly when net private foreign investment has also fallen back substantially, from an estimated $17,2 billion at the peak in 1981 for all capital importing developing countries to $7.7 billion in 1985. Thus, the requirement that developing countries finance debt service from trade surpluses rather than from additional capital inflows remains untenable.
I have no doubt that when the Secretary-General reports to the Assembly on his efforts in dealing with the financial crisis of Africa, we shall be well briefed on the practical and politically acceptable proposals put forward by the expert group which he set up in April to deal with debt relief and financial flows to African countries. This Assembly and the international community in general can do a lot to support the Programme of Action and proposals that will provide Africa in particular and developing countries in general with the essential external resource input necessary for their development. The seventh session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which was held in Geneva in July and August of this year, provided the international community with a unique opportunity to negotiate an agreement on the interrelated issues of debt, resource flows, trade and development. That Conference gave recognition to the belief that any resolution of the debt Question must be within the context of the need to foster growth and development in the developing world. In Geneva, the international community agreed that while developing nations need to restructure their economies, there is a corresponding obligation on the developed nations to increase resource flows to third-world nations. The seventh session of UNCTAD agreed that since the collapse of commodity prices has accentuated the debt burden of developing nations there is urgent need for producers and consumers of raw materials to work together to strengthen commodity agreements, not only because of the need to restore commodity prices to remunerative and equitable levels, but also to revitalize co-operation between the developed and developing nations. The seventh session of UNCTAD reminded us all that multilateral co-operation is a catalyst for reviving the world economy as a whole.
It cannot be assumed that ideas, or even mechanisms, for furthering solutions to pressing issues concerning the world economy should be pursued only in the North-South context. On the contrary, developing countries not only are keenly aware of but have, through various mechanisms, given concrete expression to the need to exploit the potential for co-operation among themselves in the economic and technical fields. Nigeria, in close collaboration with its partners in the Economic Community of West African States, has taken steps to invigorate our sub region's capacity to achieve rapid economic recovery through trade liberalization and the pooling of resources. Yet all joint programmes, worked out with the active co-operation of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, as well as the Organization of African Unity (OAU), can achieve the desired goal only if the problems of debt, stabilization of exchange rates and greater access to the markets of the developed countries are resolved.
The 1972 United Nations Conference on the Environment, held in Stockholm, was an important milestone since it not only sensitised concern for but also helped to fashion a global consensus on issues of the environment. That Conference has generated in its wake a number of initiatives on the environment, culminating in the establishment of the World Commission on Environment and Development, which has issued a report entitled Our Common Future.
My Government welcomes that report. We take particular satisfaction in its basic message that there is a close connection between ecology and economy and a need to ensure that sustainable development does not impair the capacity of future generations to meet their own requirements.
We care very deeply about the issue of the environment, as is demonstrated by the measures we have instituted to safeguard our environment. None the less we are also keenly aware that major environmental problems are often global in character, and we therefore feel that it is unhelpful to ascribe lack of interest in environmental protection largely to developing countries when they are in fact often marginal to the causes of environmental problems.
Furthermore, my Government is of the view that we should guard against translating concern for environmental protection into a new form of conditionality for development assistance by the multilateral development and financial institutions, so that the cost of development will not unnecessarily be made even more burdensome for already overburdened developing countries.
The problems of drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking have reached alarming proportions. The United Nations sponsored international conference held in Vienna earlier this year was timely. Apart from the severe sanctions contained in Nigeria's domestic laws against drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking, Nigeria has, at the international level, signed bilateral agreements with some countries to deal with drug-related issues, especially illicit drug trafficking. Nigeria also has national laws and regulations in conformity with the United Nations conventions on psychoactive drugs. While Nigeria supports the idea of an international convention to deal with drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking, it must be stressed that global uniformity in sanctions against illicit drug trafficking is long overdue. It would certainly put a stop to the movement of drug traffickers from countries with severe sanctions to those with more lenient ones.
In conclusion I should like once again to stress my delegation's commitment to the principle of multilateralism in all spheres of activity of the Organization. The United Nations will not be able to achieve a positive role in world events if we stray from the aims and objectives of its Charter. We must therefore be prepared to do more than merely accuse the super-Powers of monopolizing responsibility for and initiatives on the resolution of conflicts.
It is our conviction that the time has come when we must all share the responsibility for conflict management through an active commitment to world peace. We must continuously seek to contribute to the basket of ideas that will facilitate such a process. The issue of peace is so critical that we cannot afford to abdicate that responsibility.

Ours should be a world of peace; it should be a world of security, and above all it should be a world of justice, where we work together to uphold the principles and tenets of the Charter in order to attain our common future.


May I first of all congratulate Mr. Florin on behalf of my delegation on having been elected to preside over the work of the current session of the Assembly. I am convinced that under his expert guidance, we shall be able to bring to a successful conclusion the important tasks before us.
I also wish to express our gratitude for the tireless and fruitful work done by his predecessor, Mr. Choudhury. I should also like on this occasion to reiterate our full support for the Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, who last year was unanimously elected to a new term of office in a post full of challenges - challenges which he has faced and continues to face with courage and Imagination.
There has been much talk in the past few years about the crisis of multilateralism. We Member States have collectively pondered the reasons and remedies for that phenomenon. In my opinion, the problem is not so much that the multilateral organizations are imperfect as that there is insufficient political will on the part of Member States to help them fulfil their aims.
In the case of our Organization, we are faced with the need to find within ourselves a capacity for renewed and shared determination to lend all our support to this collective project. We must go about this realistically, mindful of the changes that have taken place over the past 40 years - changes that call for greater sobriety and efficiency in the day-to-day running of the Organization. In this way, we will keep alive the spirit that attended the founding of the United Nations and the ideals of peace, justice and solidarity referred to at the last session of the General Assembly by His Majesty the King of Spain.
There is no point in inventing an imaginary, idyllic world. We must take as our starting-point the real world, where there are wars, death, starvation and injustice and where freedom and peace still remain a mere hope. We must start from this reality and quite simply try to ensure that this world is inhabitable by the end of the twentieth century.
In order to achieve that aim, we must deal with three different sets of issues; those relating to security and disarmament; those having to do with the international economic system; and those concerned with the protection of human rights. I shall deal with each of these in turn.
The work of the Assembly is influenced every year by the general climate prevailing in international life, but also - in a very special way - by the state of relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. Spain is glad to see the improvement that has taken place in these relations and the positive character of the dialogue currently in progress.
We believe that détente requires the fostering of confidence among States. This will not come about in the absence of guarantees for the security of all of them, we, for our part, hold to the conviction that security in the world today can and should be achieved on the basis of, among other things, a balance of forces at the lowest possible level. We are convinced that it is possible to move towards a more secure world without this necessarily implying that it will be a more heavily armed world.
We are therefore pleased that the Geneva negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union have led to an agreement in principle on the elimination of intermediate-range nuclear systems. There is no historical precedent so far for agreements of this nature, which may well reinforce the positive trend opened up in East-West relations. Spain has from the outset sought to promote the achievement of these agreements and will support every effort to secure further agreements which are both necessary and possible in such fields as strategic weapons, space defence and the banning of nuclear tests.
Despite its importance, the reduction of nuclear weapons will not by itself generate a satisfactory level of security. A treaty must be rapidly concluded to bring about the total eradication of chemical weapons. Moreover, Spain looks with concern upon the extraordinary accumulation of conventional forces and weapons on European territory - as well as their serious asymmetry. It is therefore urgent that negotiations be undertaken with a view to eliminating these disparities, ensuring conventional stability at lower levels and making large-scale offensives and surprise attacks impossible.
All these agreements must be accompanied by verification procedures to ensure compliance, thus increasing the confidence needed to strengthen détente. As Europeans, we attach the greatest importance to the improvement of East-West relations. We shall therefore make every effort to ensure that the work of the current session of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) in Vienna contributes to the Implementation of the commitments undertaken thus far in all fields and develops them further.
My Government has repeatedly stressed its determination to preserve Spain's status as a non-nuclear country. That intention has also been ratified by a decision taken in a national referendum and will be legally completed with Spain's imminent accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) . The sovereign decision by the Spanish people not to acquire nuclear weapons of its own and not to permit the nuclear weapons of third parties to be brought on its territory - or deployed or stockpiled there - is thus confirmed.
We hope that our accession to the NPT will help to strengthen politically the non-proliferation regime, both horizontally and vertically. All the issues that face us in the field of security and disarmament must elicit a suitable response from this General Assembly, thus paving the way for the forthcoming third special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament.
In this context, we welcome the results achieved at the recent International Conference on the Relationship between Disarmament and Development. Perhaps our greatest historical piece of folly - one for which we will be held accountable by future generations - is the scandalous squandering of resources on increasingly sophisticated weapons, when the threshold of total destruction was passed long ago and while immense areas of the planet are still sunk in hunger and misery.
The second point to which I have referred is the clarification and restructuring of economic relations. This is another of the great challenges facing the international community.
According to the latest United Nations world economic survey, a slowing down of the world economy has taken place for the second year in a row. Moreover, most of the developing countries have not experienced sustained growth and many of them are heading for stagnation in the medium term. Nor is the instability recorded in numerous markets for goods and services very encouraging. In real terms, commodity prices are at their lowest level for the past 50 years and there are no signs that improvement is about to take place.
Since interdependence is an inescapable reality, both developed and developing countries alike share a responsibility to work for the stability of the system as a whole and to seek pragmatic solutions. The developed countries can do this by adopting policies that favour economic growth and access to markets, and the developing countries by implementing appropriate adjustment policies that foster sustained non-inflationary growth. In this context official development assistance also plays an important part. For the last few years Spain has been endeavouring to increase its contribution to the extent possible.
It is out hope that at this session the General Assembly will tackle economic issues with both determination and realism, seeking in the most intractable issues the lowest common denominator acceptable to all, as was the case last year following the promising special session on the economic situation in Africa, but without shying away from imaginative solutions or objectives, which are vital in the long run. The recent example of the seventh session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD VII), at which, after painstaking efforts by all delegations, it was possible to obtain moderately satisfactory results, should prompt us to hold even more strongly to that constructive spirit during the current session.
The problem of external debt continues to be one of the most pressing matters the developing countries have to face, particularly in the Latin American region. At the same time it also affects the functioning of the international financial system as a whole. I wish to stress here in the Assembly the doctrine that creditors and debtors have a shared responsibility to solve the debt problem.
So long as we are incapable of generating sustained growth for the developing countries and helping to co-ordinate the economic policies that will make it possible, so long as those countries are unable to increase their domestic savings and have to live in stagnation, there will be social and even moral limits to their adjustment policies, for it is not possible to follow indefinitely the example of Sisyphus, who pushed the rock up the mountain every morning only to see it roll back down in the afternoon and had to push it back up the next day. It is necessary to build up real hope with real measures, for this is a real problem involving not financial figures but the human beings behind them. Positive action is required, such as more favourable rescheduling, trade liberalization, fair prices, increased resources made available to multilateral agencies and aid for development through an effective transfer of technologies and resources.
Spain supports such a policy and has advocated and will advocate in every forum a policy aimed at dialogue, such as was called for here by the Spanish Prime Minister, Felipe Gonzalez.
I now come to the third issue to which I referred earlier - the defence, promotion and protection of human rights. This is a field in which the United Nations has in the course of its existence tirelessly persevered in an attempt to establish new commitments and respond with determination to unavoidable challenges. The codification of those rights has been perfected and at the same time effective arrangements have been established for the monitoring of the obligations states have entered into in this field. All this has helped to bring to maturity a universal ethical conscience such that the community of nations cannot remain indifferent to the massive and systematic violation of those rights. In such cases there can be no question of resorting to the argument of national sovereignty and non-intervention in the Internal affairs of other States.
It is encouraging to note the progress that has been made in defining and developing legal norms, in particular in respect of the monitoring machinery that has been set up. There is, however, still much to be done in both fields, especially in the area of the effective monitoring of respect for human rights and concrete solidarity with those social sectors that continue to be subjected to indiscriminate repression or marginalization.
The recent entry into force of the Convention against Torture is an important step in this direction. Spain will ratify it as soon as the parliamentary procedures, which are already far advanced, are complete. It is Intended that that ratification will be accompanied by the declarations provided for in articles 21 and 22 of the Convention, since it is felt that to monitor compliance effectively requires recognition of the jurisdiction of the Committee of Experts set up for that purpose.
While addressing the social and humanitarian sphere, I wish to stress the capital importance of the recent Vienna Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. No one can disregard the increasingly alarming magnitude of this problem, which has now reached worldwide proportions. Its extremely grave repercussions are not merely of a social and economic nature; they are also relate to the notion of security, in view of the links of this phenomenon with others, such as arms trafficking or terrorism, in the impenetrable and powerful networks o international black money, we are convinced that only close international co-operation will make it possible for the illicit traffic in drugs to be combated and their consumption eradicated.
Terrorism is also taking on a worldwide dimension. It is a scourge that threatens us all and that we must all work together to eradicate. The United Nations, which has already promoted several conventions designed to combat terrorism in the legal sphere, has also taking a far-reaching step In political terms by adopting by consensus General Assembly resolution 40/61, which expresses unreservedly the most uncompromising condemnation of terrorism. This extremely encouraging development must not, however, remain as an isolated declaratory gesture. The consensus achieved must be maintained and broadened by devising recommendations and measures in the various sectoral areas.
The task of protecting human rights, which is a vital imperative at this point in history, takes on its maximum significance when those rights are institutionally breached. Racial discrimination, which is always odious and incompatible with the very notion of human dignity, appears in all its starkness in our time with the apartheid system instituted and perpetuated by the South African regime. The international community must once again make it clear beyond all doubt that that system must be totally eradicated once and for all. In this context, we note with grave concern the continuing refusal of Pretoria to commence a genuine internal political dialogue with the representatives of the black majority.
Having analysed the major challenges facing the international community, 1 shall now go on, as have some of my colleagues, to discuss some of the regional problems with which the Organization has to deal. If the maintaining of the apartheid system is the result of the purblind reactionary policy of the Pretoria Government, it must be admitted that in the last few months the grave state of tension that prevails in southern Africa has been " deteriorating and that responsibility for the instability in the area also lies with the Republic of South Africa. Spain condemns the attempts to destabilize South Africa's neighbours by means of: a policy of military and economic aggression.
Moreover, the situation in Namibia, characterized as it is by the maintaining of a colonial relationship and racial discrimination, has still not been channelled along the paths repeatedly called for by this Organization, through the application, without delay or excuse, of Security Council resolution 435 (1978) and the concomitant independence of the Territory. With regard to the Middle East, it is a positive sign to see the almost universal acceptance by the international community of the principle of convening an international conference. In the present circumstances this is the only formula likely to make it possible to achieve a just, comprehensive and lasting settlement of the conflict. Such a settlement should be based upon withdrawal by Israel from the occupied Arab territories, respect for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to self-determination, and the security of all the States in the region, including Israel, within internationally recognized frontiers. The conference, which must be open to participation by all the parties involved and concerned in the conflict, will certainly have to be approached painstakingly and realistically. But it would not seem appropriate to delay convening it. Spain hopes that all the parties involved will make an effort to overcome the obstacles that still stand in the way of such a conference. Meanwhile, Spain is following with growing concern the deterioration in the human rights situation in the territories occupied by Israel, and the increasing number of illegal settlements there. Such action and behaviour has a negative effect on the peace process in the region.
In Lebanon there are tragic recurrences of episodes of bloodshed that impede the necessary peaceful community life of a country which deserves a better fate and whose unity, independence and territorial integrity must be safeguarded. We are also concerned about the sufferings of the Palestinian refugees, aggravated as they are by the internal situation in the camps resulting from the attacks from outside to which they are subjected.
On the long and bloody war between Iran and Iraq, the Organization took an important step when the Security Council unanimously approved resolution 598 (1987). I reiterate our full support for the Secretary-General, who is continuing to make efforts to bring closer together the positions of the parties to the conflict. We believe that resolution 598 (1987) is balanced and realistic. We urge both parties to express without reservation of any kind their willingness to implement the decisions of the Council in their entirety.
We are concerned, moreover, at the recent escalation of the war and call for the immediate imposition of a cease-fire on the various fronts. We also condemn the intolerable attacks on free navigation in the waters of the Gulf. The question of Cyprus continues to be a very dangerous source of tension in an area that is already deeply troubled. We continue to urge a compromise which will fully guarantee the unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus and enable the two communities on the Island to live together in peace.
 Spain regards the Maghreb as a region of priority Interest and is endeavouring to make a comprehensive and active contribution to harmony and cooperation among all the countries in the area. For this reason, the persistence of the Western Sahara conflict continues to give cause for concern. Spain supports the Secretary-General's efforts to use his good offices to reach a negotiated settlement In accordance with United Nations resolutions. The outcome of such a settlement should be a referendum on self-determination, in accordance with the principles and modalities laid down both by this Organization and by the Organization of African unity to make known the will of the Saharan people.
In Afghanistan, the Indirect talks held under the auspices of the Secretary-General have still produced no agreement. The withdrawal of the Soviet troops and respect for the right to self-determination of the Afghan people are the essential elements of a lasting and peaceful solution of the problem. This is the way mapped out by the resolutions adopted, by an overwhelming majority, in the General Assembly year after year.
In Kampuchea we are confronted with a similar situation, for in this case, too, we believe that the withdrawal of the Vietnamese troops is an essential prerequisite for that country to have the chance to choose in freedom the political system best suited to its interests.
The consolidation of the internal processes of democratisation in certain countries in Asia and the Pacific area clearly has an influence beyond those countries and contributes significantly to the stability and security of the region.
We Spaniards feel fraternally bound to the peoples of Latin America, and share their aspirations to peace, freedom and justice as if they were our own. It is thus a source of deep satisfaction that, despite the persistence of difficulties democracy is becoming more firmly established, that encouraging steps are being taken towards the settlement of certain conflict situations and that dialogue and co-operation between the Latin American countries is being strengthened. All this highlights the constructive contribution of the Latin American peoples to the cause of peace.
As regards the crisis in Central America, we have always maintained that this harrowing conflict is a regional problem the deep-seated causes of which are to be found in the persistence of unjust economic and social structures. Consequently, the solution, which must be a peaceful and negotiated one, must likewise be regional. We still believe, too, that prospects for peace in the area are by no means enhanced by trying to place its problems in the context of the confrontation between the great Powers.
We have accordingly encouraged from the outset the activities of the Contadora Group, which has set in motion a process in which its members, together with those of the Support Group, have shown realism and a willingness to engage in dialogue. In the course of this process the Contadora Group and its Support Group have been successful in generating political will and providing a frame of reference for settling the conflict which has secured the support of all the Latin American '· countries, the member countries of the European Economic Community and the vast majority of the international community.
The recent signing of the extremely important Guatemala agreement all the Central American countries has made it clear that this effort has not been in vain. But the really decisive factor is that the Central American countries are willing to approach the solution of their problems in a spirit of solidarity, using the instruments of dialogue and negotiation.
The steps which have been taken since 7 August underscore the importance of the process under way, the firm political will of the Central American countries to carry it through and the need for them to be able to count on the encouragement and support of the international community. Spain sees this as a one-way journey, in which any external interference would be not only Inadvisable but even rash, jeopardizing the establishment of a definitive peace in the area. For this reason, in reiterating the support of the Spanish Government for the Guatemala agreement we urge the Assembly to express in a clear and forceful way the support of the international community for this agreement.
The spirit in which the Central American Presidents have acted has also highlighted the profound desire for peace of the Latin American peoples and their reiterated commitment to negotiation and dialogue as the best way of providing lasting solutions to existing conflicts. We are sure that this same spirit will continue to inform the treatment of all disputes that exist or may arise between them.	,
I also wish to refer to the colonial situation of the Malvinas Islands, which remain a source of concern to the international community. This problem can be solved only through negotiations between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Argentina leading to the restoration of Argentina’s territorial integrity. This need not entail disregarding the legitimate interests of the population of the islands. It is urgently necessary that such negotiations take place between the two Governments, and we urge them to begin there.
There is also a colonial Question which continues to affect my country in a very direct way. The Spanish Government and people are still determined to find a definitive solution to the problem of Gibraltar that will enable the Rock to be restored to our national territory without damaging the interests of the population. With this aim, we are determined to pursue the dialogue with the United Kingdom on the lines of the Brussels Declaration, by which both Governments decided to solve the problem in all its aspects, including the sovereignty aspect, by negotiation. This negotiation necessarily includes political and technical elements, and we are willing to make parallel progress in both fields, although always in the direction marked out years ago by the Assembly of completing the process of decolonisation and restoring Spanish territorial integrity..
I began by referring to the alleged crisis of multilateralism and I shall end with it. One of the elements which in the last two years has been added to this phenomenon is the financial crisis which has overtaken our Organization. Following the passing by a consensus last year of resolution 41/213, on the basis of the report of the Group of 18, a process of administrative and financial reform of the United Nations has been started. It is our wish that the reform currently under way should lead on the one hand to greater rationalization and better use of the means and resources of the Organization and on the other to a strengthening of its work to achieve the purposes of the Charter and meet the needs of the international community in our time.
The reform is ultimately a task for all of us and we should all be engaged in it. No country can legitimately withhold its financial contributions, thus failing to meet its obligations under the Charter. We trust, in short, that this year substantial progress will be made in the analysis of the internal situation of the United Nations, that accurate diagnoses will be carried out and that a start will be made on teaching agreement on specific revitalization measures. Only in that way will it be possible to strengthen the role of the Organization as an essential forum for discussion, harmonization and action in international relations, and its character as an irreplaceable multilateral instrument, with which Spain fully Identifies and for the success of which it will spare no effort.
Fifty years ago an eminent Spaniard, Mr. Gregorio Marafton, said something which holds good today:
"We do not know where men will find their new path and their new faith, or where these will lead, but ... the interpretation of the overarching phenomenon of our time, which is the instinctive sense of panic of our species, suggests that the marvellous discovery which will transform future generations is, quite simply, peace".


On behalf of the Mauritanian delegation, Sir, may I first congratulate you on your well-deserved election to the presidency or the forty-second session of the General Assembly. Your moral and intellectual qualities and the wise, constructive positions taken by your country are assurances of the smooth functioning of the work of the session. We also congratulate your predecessor, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, on the outstanding way he presided over the work of the forty-first session, and Ambassador Reed of the United States of America on his appointment to his lofty office.
I also express to the Secretary-General once again out country's respect and confidence in him and I thank him for the effective, far-sighted way in which he performs the task entrusted to him. We also welcome his efforts to promote international peace and security.	.
A rapid survey of the international situation makes clear the scale of the dangers threatening the future of mankind. The economic crisis continues to worsen and its effects are being felt more severely each day. The North-South dialogue, on which such great hopes were placed, is, and may continue to be, stalemated. World growth is below the level recorded in the 1960, which suggests there are several years of recession ahead for our economies.
The gap continues to widen between the developed and developing nations. The per capita income of the developing countries fell by 4 per cent at the very time when a 3.5 per cent increase was recorded by the industrialized nations. The conjuncture of deteriorating terms of trade, the debt burden, protectionism and the acute instability of financial markets explains this alarming trend.
The deterioration in terms of trade reached new heights in 1986 with the fall of commodity prices to their lowest level since the Second World War. At the same time, the price of manufactures continued to rise, wiping out the results of efforts to redress the balances of payment of the developing countries.
The strengthening of protectionism in the developed countries, the weakness of commodity markets and the meagre South-South trade are throttling our young industries. Lastly, the scale of debt and above all the scale of debt servicing have resulted in a veritable financial haemorrhage for our economies and have seriously undermined our export earnings, already weakened by the deterioration in the terms of trade.
The consequences of these factors for the economies of the developing countries have been disastrous. Unemployment, hunger, disease, illiteracy and social crises are becoming widespread. Several development projects and social programmes have been rendered impossible, and everything suggests that this tendency will continue in future. This situation cannot but be a cause of concern to the whole international community, since no one can live in isolation and it is unthinkable for a minority to continue to live in opulence while the overwhelming majority of the peoples of the world have intolerable standards of living.
We are duty bound to become involved in a process that can overcome the present crisis. This process should begin with global negotiations, characterized this time by the determination to achieve concrete results. The short-term objective must be to take immediate steps to believe the suffering of the peoples of the third world, and, over the long-term, the objective must be to make deep-seated reforms in the international economic system in order to establish a just and equitable new order. That is the path of salvation, prosperity and peace, and no one is entitled to stray from it.
This economic situation has seriously afflicted Africa, which alone has to bear one fifth of the debt burden of the third world. We continue to place our hopes in the implementation of the United Nations Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development, and we whole-heartedly desire a special conference on the African debt to be convened.
One of the scourges threatening our continent is drought and desertification, which persist despite a slight improvement in rainfall. According to forecasts by specialists, the forests of Mauritania, for example, could disappear in a few years if there is not a marked improvement in climatic conditions. Mauritania has joined with other States of the Sahel, within the context of regional organizations, to combat that threat and promote the economic and social well being of the peoples of the region. Nationally, a vast programme of economic recovery and growth has been in effect since 1985 and tangible results - such as a substantial reduction in the budget deficit - can already be seen.
The rural sector occupies pride of place in this programme. The long-term objective is to achieve food self-sufficiency, in accordance with the guidelines laid down in the United Nations Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development.
At present we are receiving significant food assistance, and we take this opportunity sincerely to thank friendly countries and United Nations agencies for this generous aid. Unfortunately, everything suggests that for several years to come we shall continue to have to appeal to them, but we are already beginning to earmark this assistance for production.
Our policy of "Food for Work" and the assistance rendered by the Common Counterpart Fund for Food Aid are intended to encourage and stimulate activities for community development. The donors are fully involved in the distribution and management of food assistance. That testifies to our determination to work in an open and businesslike way.
Our National Government, led by Colonel Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, President of the Military Committee for National Salvation and Head of State, is convinced that the battle for development requires the mobilization of all our energies and the establishment in the country of a climate of confidence. That conviction prompted the decision taken on the morrow of the restructuring of 12 December 1984 to declare a general amnesty for political detainees and to restore all individual and collective freedoms to citizens.	·
The participation of the citizens in the management of their own affairs became a reality with the organization in December 1986 of free and democratic elections in the municipalities - the first in the history of our country. The elections took place in complete freedom, with many candidates and without any trace of pressure. Our citizens will soon vote in all the departments, in the same conditions, to choose their local representatives.
Mauritania is experiencing a climate of unprecedented freedom. The rights of the citizens are respected and protected, and, internationally, this policy has been crowned by the ratification of several international instruments relating to human rights.
Another, no less important, dimension of our policy is the fight against illiteracy, the clarion call for which was given in the historic appeal of 20 January 1986 by the Head of State himself. The objective is to eliminate illiteracy by the 199ÛS and to make all citizens aware of the stakes, challenges and realities of our age.
Mauritanian women are playing an increasingly important role in various sectors of national life. Educating them is a particular concern of the public authorities. The programmes against illiteracy are particularly directed to women, and their full involvement has become a fact with the attainment by several women of senior posts in the Government.
The international political situation is still characterized by instability and the persistence of flashpoints of tension throughout the world. In the Middle East, .Israel continues to carry out a policy of constant aggression and systematic occupation of Palestinian and other Arab territories. It is frantically undertaking changes in the physical and demographic character of those territories, with a view to their final annexation. This policy of fait accompli, expansion and aggression maintains a climate of violence and instability, and it endangers international peace and security.
The question of Palestine is the core of the Middle East conflict, and there can be no just and lasting peace in the region without total and unconditional withdrawal by Israel from the Palestinian and other occupied Arab territories, including the Holy City of El-Qods, and recognition of the territorial and national identity of the Palestinian people by means of the free exercise of its right to self-determination and the establishment of a sovereign state in its homeland, under the leadership of its authentic, legitimate representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).	.
In that context, the convening of an international conference on the Middle East under the auspices of the United Nations, with the full participation of the PLO on a footing of equality with all the other parties, would be an important step, and Mauritania welcomes the efforts deployed towards that end this year.
In southern Africa, the apartheid regime, an ally and partner of the Zionist entity, is pursuing with equal zealousness a hateful racist, repressive and expansionist policy against the peoples of South Africa, Namibia and the front-line States.
Within the borders of the Republic of South Africa, the Pretoria regime is taking an increasingly hard stand, demonstrating that the so-called constitutional reforms were a mere farce. Mauritania rejects Pretoria's racial policy and reaffirm its support for the heroic, just struggle led by the African National Congress. In Namibia, the Pretoria regime is pursuing its policy of occupation and repression and systematically violating the relevant United Nations resolutions, particularly resolution 435 (1978), adopted unanimously by the Security Council.
That resolution remains the sole acceptable basis for a just and lasting settlement of the question of Namibia. Pretoria's aggressive policy is directed against all the States in the region and indiscriminately harms civilians and the vital economic facilities of those States. The regime's constant use of force, in defiance of international law, is a challenge to our Organization and to the entire international community.
Mauritania remains convinced that no just and lasting solution to the problems of southern Africa can be achieved without the total elimination of the policy of apartheid, the establishment of a democratic, egalitarian regime in South Africa and the complete independence of Namibia.
In the Gulf, the deadly war between two neighbours that are Members of the United Nations continues. It effects every country of that vital region of the world and is a dangerous threat to international peace and security. Mauritania is deeply devoted to agreement among Islamic nations and desires the security and stability of the Gulf countries. For seven years, therefore, it has been calling for an end to that war by peaceful means. The United Nations, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries and other bodies with the same good will have taken initiatives to that end.
Today we are witnessing the danger of an extension of the conflict, with threats to freedom of navigation in the Gulf; hence it is vital that the international community do its utmost to implement as soon as possible Security Council resolution 598 (1987). In this regard we pay tribute to Iraq's openness to all the peace initiatives, particularly Security Council resolution 598 (1987), and hope that Iran will follow the same course.	,
With regard to the question of Afghanistan, Mauritania remains convinced that only a political solution based on the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country and respect for its independence and sovereignty - thus opening the way to national reconciliation and the establishment of an independent and neutral national government - can restore peace to that struggling brother people.
As regards Kampuchea, Mauritania reiterates its support for the resolutions of the Assembly on the question, and reaffirms the need for foreign troops to be withdrawn from Kampuchea so that the Khmer people may freely decide their own future.
With regard to the situation in Central America, Mauritania commends the efforts of the Contadora Group and its Support Groups to promote peace and stability in that sensitive region, and hopes that their efforts will be crowned with success.
I return to the African continent and the fratricidal conflict between the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and Chad. We ardently hope that the ad hoc committee of Heads of state set up by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to find a final solution to the conflict will be successful.
On our immediate borders, the problem of Western Sahara continues to be one of our major concerns. With its many close links to the parties to the conflict, Mauritania considers that there can be no just and lasting solution without a shared desire for understanding and dialogue. Therefore, we support the commendable efforts being made, particularly by the United Nations and the OAU, to find a solution to the conflict.
Peoples of our region yearn for such a solution, which will allow the freeing of all the potential that exists for the construction of the great Arab Maghreb. Mauritania will firmly resist any attempt to involve it in that fratricidal war, and will maintain its policy of strict neutrality. My Government will continue to do its utmost for the restoration of peace and harmony in our region and for the building of a united and prosperous Maghreb.
The conflicts to which I have referred are taking up nearly all the resources of many developing countries, preventing them from devoting those resources to the well-being of their peoples.
Astronomical sums are devoted each year to the design, production, development and stockpiling of weapons, at a time when more than two thirds of mankind cannot meet their basic needs. That is a challenge to morality, common sense and logic. It is terrible to have to say that never has mankind been so close to self-destruction, in a century in which man has discovered the secret of the atom, conquered space and acquired considerable socio-political rights.
It is scandalous that despite our great scientific knowledge and technology and the enormous social and political progress that has been made, we cannot even guarantee the perpetuation of the human race, the fruit of the suffering, sacrifices and laborious efforts of past generations, which lived in a much more difficult environment.
General and complete disarmament, a fundamental goal of our Organization, unfortunately appears as remote as it is crucial. My country devoutly hopes that the efforts both within the United Nations and outside will contribute as soon as possible to the realization of that goal, and thus remove mankind from the scourge of war and at the same time release part of the enormous resources currently devoted to the arms race to economic and social development.
The growing impoverishment of the overwhelming majority of mankind and the imbalance in international economic relations, the persistence of armed conflicts and the arms race are challenges to our Organization, which is called upon to bring about a world of peace and international solidarity and ensure economic, social and cultural progress for all peoples. History will judge our Organization on the extent to which it realizes the principles and purposes of the Charter.
In that regard, the Member States - especially the great Powers - have particular responsibilities; they have the duty to do everything possible to ensure the success of the noble and universal mission of this indispensable instrument of international peace and co-operation. Therefore, their words and their deeds, their principles and their purposes, should flow from their adherence to the Charter.
The complexity, universality and seriousness of current problems relating to peace and the world economy make multilateralism indispensable. Its strengthening demands the renunciation of all kinds of selfishness and compliance with the requirements of our age - the sovereign equality of States, democracy in international relations and the establishment of a just and equitable economic system.
My country is aware of the institutional weaknesses and imperfections of the United Nations, but it also fully appreciates its important successes in such diverse fields as the economic, social and cultural, decolonization, peace, education, health and other related specialized areas. Mauritania reiterates its firm attachment to the noble ideals of the Charter and its faith in the need to develop friendly relations between States, achieve international co-operation based on mutual respect and advantage and preserve the United Nations as an instrument for harmonizing the efforts of nations to achieve those common goals.
That devotion to international co-operation, peace and the peaceful settlement of disputes results from the nature and history of my country. At the hinge between Africa and the Arab world, Mauritania is a land where cultures and civilizations meet. Its geographical position makes it the pivot for understanding and co-operation between those two nearby, complementary regions. That role dates back several centuries, to the time when our Mahadras welcomed students from all the regions of Africa and our scholars went to teach in the great Arab universities. Moreover, our land was, and still is, a crossroads and a trading centre.
Our devotion to peace also derives from our roots in Africa, where persuasion and debate are the usual course of conduct, and from the teachings of our holy religion, Islam, which makes understanding, assistance to others and tolerance a religious duty. Those principles recur as a leitmotiv in the Koran and the Sunna. Thus Allah, the All-Powerful, tells us in the Holy Book:
"Help ye one another in righteousness and piety.
But help ye not one another in sin and rancour." (The Holy Koran, v: 3)