1. I should like first of all, Mr. President, to express the satisfaction felt by the delegation of Gabon at your impressive election to the Presidency of the twenty- second session of the United Nations General Assembly and to offer you my warmest congratulations on its behalf. In our eyes, this election is more than the affirmation of the just principle of geographical distribution applied to the system of rotation of the Presidency of our Assembly; it is also a tribute to your great country, Romania, whose firm determination to safeguard genuine independence fills us with admiration. In addition, apart from the fact that your cultural language is the same as ours — and we French-speaking Gabonese brought up in the Latin culture regard it as a source of fellow-feeling and understanding not to be underrated — your qualities as a statesman and diplomat are well known to us. They are a sure indication, as far as we are concerned, not only that you will guide the deliberations of the Assembly with the competence required, but also that your great authority will be behind the efforts of a number of delegations, including my own, to rescue certain vital issues from the sterility and stagnation into which they have sunk over the years and to find concrete and viable solutions, in keeping with our ideals and acceptable to the parties concerned, for the problems facing us.
2. In that connexion, Gabon was whole-heartedly on your side, Mr. President, when in your inaugural address you stressed certain fundamental principles governing this Organization, principles to which all subscribe and pay lip-service, though they are honoured rather in the breach than in the observance, so that their practical application leaves much to be desired.
3. The issue, as you so neatly expressed it, is the right of peoples to determine freely their own future without any interference from outside, and the obligation on the States Members of this Organization to proscribe armed conflict and to promote harmonious and peaceful coexistence.
4. In response to your appeal, the Republic of Gabon will do all in its power, here as elsewhere, to see that self-determination and peaceful coexistence are not mere idle words but living realities, the outcome of the application of the rules of a system of international morality which the United Nations must establish in all its details, interpret if need be and to the fullest possible extent put into practice on a strict and equal footing all over the world.
5. For Gabon, a young country which achieved independence only a few years ago, a general climate of peace is indispensable if we are to solve our development problems and improve conditions, as are also assistance and co-operation from the wealthy countries, as well as the understanding and friendship of all.
6. My delegation would also like to express its sincere gratitude to your predecessor, the outgoing President Mr. Pazhwak, who so skilfully directed the debates of the twenty-first session, the special session on South West Africa, and the emergency special session on the Middle East, at a critical moment when the peace of the world was seriously threatened.
7. In his annual report on the activities of the Organization [A/6701] Secretary-General U Thant, to whom a warm tribute is due for his indefatigable and devoted efforts, analyses with the utmost lucidity the reason why, in the performance of its task, the United Nations has been faced with difficulties it could not resolve and constant obstacles which at times it could only overcome or turn aside by dint of patient endeavours and at the cost of compromise with the basic principles of the Charter most unpalatable for the many idealists still among us, and even for men of simple goodwill everywhere.
8. These failures, these delaying tactics, this slow progress against opposition, this humming and hawing and apathy, this surrender of the best in international morality to vested interests, leading by an ineluctable process to death, ruin and misery, or to imperialism, oppression and exploitation of the weak, are unfortunately the pattern, of events and of human society for a long time to come.
9. It is not surprising in these circumstances that, after twenty-two years of discussions without much to show, of underlying impotence, of pigeon-holing and procrastination, and after a most disillusioning special emergency session, the dominant note of the present concert of nations is disenchantment and frustration.
10. Yet it is not my intention to use this rostrum for an admission of failure by the United Nations and a declaration that it is useless. It would be both unjust and wicked to do so, for some positive results, however meagre, have been achieved in maintaining an admittedly uneasy peace in certain critical areas of the world, in protecting human rights, and in promoting the progress and welfare of the developing countries.
11. These successes, achieved at the cost of such effort, are after all something to be thankful for in a hard and selfish world. Even if they were still more meagre, they would justify our joint endeavours and spur us on to redouble our efforts. They encourage the hopes of the Gabonese for a better future and renew our confidence that the United Nations, with the participation of all of us, will strengthen the means at its disposal and improve its organization.
12. But these partial results can only be corroborated and supplemented if the leaders of all nations bear in mind in their actions and their decisions the great principles embodied in the Charter we have voluntarily adopted, and accept them as true commandments governing their behaviour and their acts; and above all if, imbued with this resolve and this sense of duty as human beings, they make sacrifices and are prepared to renounce their own private, individual interests.
13. Many will no doubt think I am being simple, indeed naive, in stipulating such an obligation in the relations between nations. But I speak in the name of a people and a Government which prize very highly simplicity and uprightness. Gabon has faith in reason and truth. It cultivates tolerance and rejects hypocrisy and subterfuge. It believes that a man's word is his bond. We are not without a sense of self-interest. But we realize that the general interest is likewise our own interest, and we are willing to give in to it. We are puzzled and shocked when the spirit of the United Nations Charter is flouted, though I hasten to add that we are well aware that these things take time, and that we must keep a sense of proportion.
14. In that connexion, I cannot do better than recall a voice of greater authority than mine, that of our Head of State, the father of the State of Gabon and one of the wisest, most heeded and respected men of Africa, President Leon Mba. On the occasion of an anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, which in our country is celebrated with joy and solemnity, President Mba spoke as follows:
"In the Charter signed on 26 June 1945 at San Francisco, the founders of the Organization proclaimed their faith in the dignity of the human person, in the equality of people belonging to different races and religions, of nations large and small, in freedom under all its essential forms — freedom of thought, freedom of expression and freedom of association. And all the signatories of the Charter, all the Members of the United Nations, have undertaken to respect these fundamental rights.
"The main aim of the United Nations is to maintain peace in the world. To achieve that, the Organization lays down the principle that all disputes must be settled by peaceful means, by negotiation, by arbitration, by good offices.
"But the Organization has likewise assumed the task of combating poverty, ignorance and disease, which it declares to be the main determining factors of social disturbance, of economic competition and rivalry, and finally of war.
"As far as we are concerned, the United Nations is a human endeavour, and as such, at once imperfect and perfectible.
"But all in all, it strives constantly towards its goals, and gives men more confidence in the future."
15. Yes, we maintain complete confidence in the ability of the Organization to play the decisive role it has to play, not only in the field of international security but in the defence of human rights, be it the freedoms for which men yearn in the police State or material equality based on the gradual elimination of differences in living conditions and standards which are intolerable because they keep human beings in servitude, and dangerous because they lead to misunderstanding, envy and resentment and are the negation of the fellow-feeling which should be the hallmark of the human race.
16. The evolution of international thinking since the last great world conflict and since the birth of the United Nations justifies this feeling of optimism despite the clash of ideologies, the emergence of opposing blocs, the craftiness and manoeuvring of some, including only too often those referred to as the "great" Powers. The prestige of the latter could only increase and their reputation could only be enhanced in the great ledger of history if their power and their wealth were placed, whole-heartedly and without petty haggling, at the service of justice and solidarity.
17. But this reasoned optimism must not obscure the magnitude of the task which remains to be accomplished, the gravity and complexity of the problems which the United Nations must overcome if it is not to shatter the hopes that go out to it from so many countries all over the world.
18. My country is a young one. It is small and its resources are modest. Like all those countries which in the last few years have taken over the management of their own affairs and achieved national sovereignty, our energies are feverishly concentrated on building up the nation, on economic and social progress, on developing and raising the standard of living of our people. But our presence in this forum confirms that we are not isolated, that we can find support, and gives us the courage to face our destiny.
19. If at every session my country proclaims its solidarity with the United Nations, the reason is that we feel that here we have found where we belong — to a family in which, as in all families, quarrels do occur, but where at the same time it is unthinkable that relations will be permanently broken off, and where the instinct of collective self-preservation and the wisdom of its members, whether they be the oldest, or the most experienced, or those most likely to be heeded, will succeed in overcoming the threat of total destruction from the misuse of the marvels of scientific and technological progress today.
20. It is in this spirit and with this conviction that my country would like to say what it has to say concerning the disquieting occurrences in certain parts of the world, and to express our views on the major problems confronting the world.
21. I shall do so in its name, in respect of three basic matters which fall within the purview of the United Nations and embrace the many items on our agenda, namely: international security and the maintenance of peace; man's right to freedom and dignity, and the right of peoples to self-determination; and agreement and solidarity among nations with a view to achieving a balanced development and prosperity in which inequalities in standards of living will disappear.
22. On the first point, even though the two superpowers, with their different social and economic systems, may succeed in achieving peaceful coexistence, the fact remains that there are causes of tension which permanently threaten to upset the world's equilibrium. In certain cases this tension has reached breaking point and armed conflicts have occurred.
23. In the Far East, several countries are at war, and fire and sword are ravishing that part of the world, while the Middle East has just passed through a serious crisis of which the convulsions are still being felt all the time and which is not yet settled.
24. One of the causes of tension is undoubtedly the partitioning of certain countries.
25. Thus in Europe, one of the leading countries, Germany, is condemned to be divided and kept outside our Organization. I have already stated that Gabon is firmly devoted to the fundamental principles of the Charter and particularly to the right of peoples to self-determination. We therefore believe that a just solution of the German problem — in many respects a prerequisite for a real easing of tension on the European continent — would be the free consultation of the entire German people to lay the foundations of an agreement ending partition and reunifying the country.
26. The problem of Korea is no different. It can only be solved, in our opinion, by the free consultation of the entire population, under the auspices of the United Nations.
27. With regard to the armed conflicts now taking place which we witness with deep concern and a bitter sense of the impotence of the Organization to prevent or stop them, my country believes that dialogue, arbitration and conciliation are the only means of reaching a settlement and that to make headway in the difficult task of safeguarding peace we must arm ourselves with patience which will survive any test, seize upon any favourable factor which arises, and use a great deal of imagination in seeking formulas which will be, if not entirely satisfactory, at least acceptable to the parties concerned.
28. In Viet-Nam it seems to us that what matters before all else is that the frightful carnage should be stopped, that this insensate destruction should cease, that this confrontation which could draw other peoples into the maelstrom of death and ruin should be ended.
29. The representative of the United States has told us here [1562nd meeting] that his country seeks a political solution by negotiation and has appealed to the States Members of the United Nations to use their influence to end the war by peaceful means.
30. On the Viet-Namese side we are told that negotiations could be started if the bombing of North Viet- Nam territory ceased unconditionally.
31. Does not this realization on both sides that a military solution is impossible, this desire which both share to agree to stop the fighting — since fighting is an act contrary to all morality, repugnant to the human conscience, and incidentally very costly — does it not create an opening which could lead both parties to the conference table?
32. We would appeal to the great and powerful country of America to give fresh proof of that genius it has always had for combining realism with generosity, and to make the first gesture; and we would assure North Viet-Nam that it has given sufficient proof of its heroism and that it will grow in stature, and its supporters likewise, by giving proof likewise of sincerity, which no one can mistake for surrender to MI ultimatum backed by bombs.
33. For as we see it, the only way of settling the problem once and for all is through the 1954 Geneva Agreements. It is only by negotiations carried out within the framework of those Agreements that a treaty is conceivable which will neutralize that part of the world and allow the two Viet-Nams, once they are clear of all outside interference, to return to peace and independence, either as two separate States with whatever regime they choose or, if they so decide, as a single State.
34. In putting forward this view, Gabon considers that it is abiding not only by the principle of the peaceful settlement of disputes but also by that of the right of peoples to self-determination.
35. With regard to the Middle East and the conflict between the Arabs and the Israelis, at the recent extraordinary special session my country took a stand which it feels is in keeping both with justice and with the principles to which we subscribed when Gabon became a Member of the United Nations. Respect for the territorial integrity of States and the peaceful settlement of disputes are two of those principles, and they are no less valid for Israel than for the Arab States.
36. No one can subscribe to the idea of a negotiated solution of a conflict on the basis of territorial gains made by one of the parties. Hence, just as we recognize that Israel is a State which has the right to exist and whose integrity must be respected, so we call for the withdrawal of Israel's troops from the occupied Arab territories, both parties refraining from any belligerent act prolonging the latest crisis or calculated to perpetuate the unstable situation existing prior to the crisis.
37. There will be no appreciable easing of tension in this notorious trouble-spot unless all the parties concerned keep cool heads and show common sense. We call upon Israel to rise above its victory and on the Arabs not to entrench themselves in extreme and irreversible positions and not to lose sight of the possible benefits of peaceful coexistence with Israel as their neighbour.
38. The United Nations has for twenty years done all it could to prevent a complex and delicate situation from flaring up and causing an explosion. Its efforts have not been highly successful, though the responsibility cannot be laid at its door.
39. The present task of the United Nations, with the peace-keeping means at its disposal, is to encourage the search for a balanced situation based on concessions by both sides, and thus to bring the maximum degree of calm to the Middle East. Above all, it must act with perseverance and firmness in order to remove the root causes of the conflict by finding solutions to the problems which three times already have brought the Arabs and the Israelis face to face in combat and might well drive them again to war.
40. We are somewhat sceptical as to the possibility of direct negotiations between the States concerned; hence we feel that the only way of finding a solution to the basic problems of the refugees and passage through the Strait of Tiran and the Suez Canal is by concerted international action.
41. As I said just now, in spite of all its efforts, the United Nations has not been able to prevent the Middle East from becoming a cauldron always at bursting- point. But it must be said to its credit that in a matter of a few days it was able to arrange a cease-fire, thus preventing the conflict from spreading, saving many lives and reducing material destruction.
42. Apart from all this, what the United Nations is doing in Cyprus, India and Pakistan fully justifies the existence of the Organization and the effort we must make to strengthen and consolidate it. From this point of view there are those who feel that an essential factor in strengthening the United Nations and one calculated to further the efforts to promote peace in the world is the admission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations.
43. The Government of Gabon considers this question of admission as of the utmost importance, calling for specific action under Article 18 of the Charter, and since the intransigence of the leaders in Peking, and the belligerent attitude they adopt all the time, do not create a favourable impression as to their ability to strive for peace and the solidarity of peoples, whatever their political system, my Government continues to give its support to the Republic of China, a founding Member of the Organization.
44. To close this chapter on international security, let me say once again that it is not sufficient to settle any differences which may arise and to be contented with peaceful coexistence brought about by a balance of present world power and the fear of mutual atomic destruction. Everything must still be done to exorcise once and for all the spectre of war; and this will really be done only if the United Nations in the end reaches agreement on general disarmament.
45. Disarmament is, very properly, one of the vital concerns of this Organization, and Gabon will unreservedly support any move in that direction, particularly in regard to the prohibition of nuclear tests, since it is a signatory of the 1963 Moscow Treaty, and also in regard to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. We are pleased to see that a treaty for the banning of nuclear weapons in Latin America has come into being, and I would recall that Gabon is one of the sponsors of an Assembly resolution on the denuclearization of Africa [2033 (XX)].
46. But while we are anxious that atomic energy should not be diverted from the peaceful purposes it must serve and become an instrument of war, and while we unequivocally condemn the use, testing and proliferation of atomic weapons, our opposition extends also to the production and dissemination of all weapons of mass destruction, even the so-called "conventional" weapons.
47. I need not dwell on the bitterness and disappointment we feel when we realize the enormous share of their resources and their energies which nations great and small expend on the manufacture and acquisition of armaments. Other speakers have already done this; some in fact have quoted precise and enlightening figures on the subject.
48. And while all this capital, this manpower, this intelligence, are sacrificed because of fear and suspicion, my country along with many others in the same boat as ourselves is being bled white; we are putting ourselves into debt for generations to come, stretching out our hands to receive, from one quarter or another, aid doled out parsimoniously, to build the hospitals and schools so badly needed, to grow subsistence crops and develop our import trade so that we can feed our people and live a decent life, and to create the infrastructure urgently needed to improve the economic situation on which the standard of living of the people depends.
49. But although the United Nations has something to its credit in regard to the maintenance of peace and the easing of the situation in the Middle East, and although its disarmament efforts have made some headway in respect of nuclear weapons, it has not succeeded in outlawing racism and colonialism, particularly in the continent to which my country belongs.
50. We are deeply concerned about the situation being perpetuated in South Africa, where a whole population is being deprived of its most elementary rights and kept literally in slavery under the rod of an insensate policy of discrimination and racial segregation. In spite of the repeated appeals by session after session of the General Assembly, in the form of resolutions, and in spite of the urgent entreaties of the Security Council, the Government of Pretoria not only has not renounced one title of its policy of apartheid; it is determined to reinforce that policy.
51. The inevitable is occurring. The oppressed and downtrodden Blacks, prevented from expressing their opinions lawfully and peacefully, have no other choice but to resort to illegality and violence, against which their so-called masters, who deny them their ordinary rights, react with the most severe and brutal oppression, Storm-clouds are therefore gathering at the southern extremity of Africa.
52. What can we do to prevent the storm from breaking and to enable the United Nations to take more effective action than it has had to be satisfied with hitherto, in order to bring to an end a situation shameful for the civilized world? It is not enough to denounce apartheid; we must also take positive action. Here, the great Powers alone possess the economic and other means of bringing South Africa to its senses. We venture to hope that they will not fail in their duty.
53. Apart from this, it must be admitted that likewise in Africa, seven years after the adoption of the Declaration of the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, a number of territories are still under colonial domination and millions of men are denied the free exercise of their political rights. The General Assembly and the Security Council have dealt with this situation at great length but, alas, without success, though it raises the question of the recognition, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of the dignity and freedom of all men and their entitlement to exercise their civil and political rights. This being so, it cannot be denied that there is violation of the Charter, and that its objectives — world peace and prosperity — are being gravely jeopardized.
54. With regard to Rhodesia, the General Assembly has twice condemned any arrangement which would transfer the authority of the administering Power to the Rhodesian rebels in such a way as to infringe the right of the indigenous population to self-determination and independence. Last year the Security Council imposed a system of mandatory selective sanctions, covering certain Rhodesian exports and imports. Unfortunately, it would appear that these sanctions have not hit the illegal Government of that country unduly hard, and that Rhodesia has found, in South Africa and Portugal particularly, accomplices to help it to carry on its export trade.
55. How can this impotence be remedied? By applying more severe economic sanctions and resolving to use coercion and force in order to apply them? By putting pressure on the United Kingdom to restore constitutional legality in Rhodesia? Here again, we can only turn to the great Powers, since they alone possess the key to these distressing problems.
56. The feeling we have, if not of total impotence on the part of the United Nations, at least of the fact that its action very rapidly reaches its limit, is equally valid in respect of South West Africa. In resolution 2145 (XXI), the General Assembly declared that South Africa had failed to fulfil its obligations in respect of the administration of the Mandated Territory to ensure the moral and material well-being and security of the indigenous inhabitants of South West Africa. Consequently, the General Assembly terminated the Mandate which had been conferred on His Britannic Majesty to be exercised on his behalf by the Government of the Union of South Africa and decided that henceforth South West Africa would come under the direct responsibility of the United Nations. Furthermore, under resolution 2248 (S-V), a United Nations Council for South West Africa was set up to administer the Territory, and a United Nations Commissioner was appointed.
57. In this matter, therefore, the Organization has fulfilled its obligation to take a decision and to create the means of implementing the decision. But implementation came up against one further obstacle: the South African authorities have refused to co-operate in the application of the resolution. They are strengthening racial segregation in the Territory and have adopted retaliatory measures against the leaders in South West Africa. Can we allow the United Nations to go on being flouted in this way? Is it not time for the Security Council to propose the sanctions that are needed if our decisions are to be respected?
58. The situation is no different in the African Territories under Portuguese administration, where Portugal is trying to impose its will, by force and terror, against the wishes of the indigenous peoples, and denying them their right to freedom, the management of their own affairs, and independence. These inadmissible claims, this refusal to yield to the great wave of liberalism that has swept away the colonial empires, this lack of realism and generosity, this short-sighted clinging to sordid interests, have incited Portugal to fierce repression of resistance by those whom it has subjugated and oppressed for 400 years.
59. A war without quarter is being waged in Angola, in so-called Portuguese Guinea and in Mozambique, and as the Security Council stated in 1965, it is a serious threat to international peace and security.
60. We appeal to the Members of the Organization to endeavour to convince Portugal that it is on the wrong track, and that there is no example in history where aspirations to freedom and justice have not triumphed in the end. We pray that, in the case of the Portuguese possessions today, success will not be won at the price of a heavy tribute in human lives and destruction.
61. As far as Gabon is concerned, we will continue to apply the strictest boycott against Portugal, and we hope that all who voted in favour of such sanctions will do the same; we shall likewise, as far as lies in our power, give succour to the freedom-fighters in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea (Bissau).
62. The purpose of this part of my statement was to demonstrate, if that were necessary, that the forces of evil are still rampant on the earth, and that on the African continent imperialism and colonialism continue to impede the aspirations of men to self-determination and a life of dignity as they understand it.
63. The fact that today a handful of godless and lawless mercenaries can stand up against the legitimate Government of the Congo (Kinshasa) is at once an eloquent and a saddening testimony to this state of affairs.
64. But apart from the old-style colonialism, apart from the effects of a diehard imperialism, there are other more insidious practices disguised in the alluring garb of an ideology of salvation and a revolution whose benefits are to be shared out in a spirit of brotherhood. These aspirations are reflected mainly in interference in the domestic affairs of other States, particularly through incitement to subversive activities there and backing for any subversion arising against the regime in power. We denounced such hostile and intolerable interference to our fellow-Africans at the recent summit conference of the Organization of African Unity.
65. I should like to state once again, from this rostrum, that all those who belong to our Organization, and have signed the Charter, are in duty bound to respect the sovereignty of States, their territorial integrity, and the principle of non-interference in their internal affairs, and to condemn subversive activities which create unrest and conflict and thus threaten the peace of the community of nations.
66. I shall conclude my statement by outlining the crucial problem of the economic and social gap between the well-to-do or developed countries and those which we need not hesitate to call under-developed, since that is what they are.
67. The Organization has reason to be proud of the fact that, under the banner of international solidarity, it has for the last few years kept this problem in the forefront by instituting, in 1961, the United Nations Development Decade. Organizations financed by contributions from States, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Health Organization, UNESCO, and the United Nations Development Programme, have furnished and continue to furnish considerable assistance to many countries of the Third World for their economic and social development.
68. I must not miss the opportunity to express from this rostrum my country's profound gratitude to the United Nations for its contribution to the efforts we are making, unremittingly and using our own resources to the full, to promote a healthy and prosperous economy which will bring social progress to the people of Gabon and give them a decent standard of living.
69. But for all the tribute due to this international aid, we can only regret its inadequacy and particularly its stagnation, not to say shrinking, sharing the sentiments expressed by the Secretary-General in the introduction to his report:
"Again this year, I am constrained to express my great concern regarding the loss of momentum in international aid and its adverse effects on the results of the current Development Decade." [A/6701/ Add„l, para. 61.]
We are therefore pinning our hopes on the mobilization of more funds, commensurate with the task to be accomplished in connexion with the second Development Decade now being prepared.
70. In the meantime we attach great importance to the possibility of aid from the United Nations Capital Development Fund which the General Assembly decided at its last session to establish [resolution 2186 (XXI)]. In the framework of our first economic and social development plan, which is due to be completed in 1970, and of the second plan, which will supplement the first, Gabon has undertaken to carry out large-scale capital development projects which should set it economically on its feet, such as a deep-water harbour, a railway, the exploitation of its water-power resources, and the extension and improvement of its infrastructure — roads, airports, schools, etc. In addition to technical assistance, we need considerable capital, and we hope to find part of it in the form of long-term loans from the Capital Development Fund.
71. We are also greatly interested in any co-operation we may receive from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. Unlike many small countries, whose principal resource is agricultural production, Gabon has great wealth beneath its soil, and hence we have an industrial future; and as everyone knows, the creation of a modern industrial sector is the surest means of promoting a dynamic economy and providing the people with the benefits of the industrial society of today.
72. For the moment, Gabon is in the unstable and perilous position of a country with a primary economy, which has to sell the raw materials it produces on the world market. Since the first UNCTAD Conference held at Geneva in 1964, we have hoped for great things from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in the way of concrete and rapidly applicable solutions calculated to offset a deterioration in our terms of trade which seriously harms us and is undoubtedly the most powerful obstacle to our economy and our progress in general.
73. We must regretfully point out that although agreements arrived at through the Kennedy Round provided the developed nations with a device beneficial to their trade machinery, and an increase in their trade, the agreements have brought the developing countries nothing more than minor advantages and have done nothing to meet our basic needs.
74. It is to be hoped that the second session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, to be held at New Delhi in February and March 1968, will furnish the developing countries with more solid benefits: liberalization of trade in primary products; preferential treatment for manufactures and semi-manufactures, financing of buffer stocks and, in a more general way, economic co-operation on the part of the developed countries.
75. If this should materialize, and if the highly-developed peoples feel the responsibility they have to remedy the inequality suffered by two thirds of mankind and devote part of their resources to combating poverty and need; if they organize to integrate into their way of life and bring up to their level other nations hitherto kept in the background, then the new era of justice, peace and happiness we, dream of will come to pass, and the developed peoples will have earned the heartfelt gratitude of mankind.