77. Madam President, I should like, in my turn, to associate
myself with the moving tributes paid by previous speakers
to the memory of our former President, Mr. Arenales,
whose premature death cast us all into deep sorrow, and to
renew to the Guatemalan Government and to the family of
Mr. Arenales the deep condolences and sympathy of the
Government and people of Gabon.
78. I should next like to express my great satisfaction at
seeing so eminent a diplomat as yourself at the head of this
Assembly and to convey to you, on my delegation’s behalf,
our warmest and most sincere congratulations on your
well-deserved election. No doubt your natural modesty
would incline you to think that the choice is the result of
the strict application of the principle of geographical
distribution. In our view, however, it results from loftier
considerations and has a double significance: first, a
unanimous desire to demonstrate to your country the
esteem of all the Governments represented here for its
unswerving loyalty to the ideals of the Organization and its
tireless efforts to protect them; and also the desire to
entrust the guidance of this new and important session to a
person whose demonstrated ability and high qualities of
intelligence, of courtesy coupled with firmness, are a sure
guarantee of the effectiveness and full success of the
session. That is why your election, which is an honour to
the entire African continent, was received by Gabon with
deep satisfaction and pride, for you, Madam President, are
the brilliant proof of what African womanhood can
accomplish. This desire to succeed must continue to be our
primary concern, and you may rest assured that my
delegation will co-operate to the full in assisting you to
carry out successfully the heavy and delicate mission
entrusted to you.
79. If in some circumstances, and sometimes with reason,
observers have criticized the academic nature of our work
and expressed some scepticism about the value and scope of
our activities, the time has come, I consider, to dispel their
doubts and to convince them, by the realistic nature of our
decisions, of the major and decisive role that the United
Nations can and should play in the settlement of world
affairs. From the success of our undertakings, hope and
confidence, the reserves of which have admittedly been
somewhat depleted during the past few years, may be
reborn; but the failure of those undertakings would be
regarded as an abandonment of the just and the innocent
and as a tacit sanctioning of the triumph of dark and evil
forces.
80. The time has therefore come for all of us to accept the
truth, even if its image is not always welcome to behold,
and to abandon the easy course of evasion and sterile
hesitation. This awareness becomes an urgent necessity, for
since 26 June 1945, when our Charter was signed, the first
enthusiasm has gradually been lost and, if the sacred flame
which burned so brightly at San Francisco has not yet been
extinguished, too many ashes have dimmed its glow.
81. It is true that in joining the Organization, the Member
States have undertaken to respect the code of honour that
it has laid down and to promote a policy of brotherhood
and justice on earth. But the mere acceptance of a rule of
morality is not sufficient to defend it. Like cities, ideas
need soldiers to protect them. It is our duty to act as these
soldiers. If that were not our vocation, we should be
witnessing the worsening of an already disturbing situation
and a generalization of the despotic and degrading practices
which formerly governed relations among men, and some of
which have again become current.
82. One of the most important decisions taken by young
States of the third world on their accession to independence
was to request admission to this body. This haste was
not, as some may have thought, the expression of a hollow
desire for prestige, but was explained by the vital need to
find among friendly and experienced countries the necessary
understanding and the solidarity required for the
growth of the young States. Such haste was also a mark of
the confidence that these newly-born States placed in the
great world Powers which, having endured for five years the
most terrible ordeal of history, could not, in their view, fail
to aspire to peace and to the rediscovery of their past wisdom.
83. Unfortunately, experience has shown that the
promises of the early days have not always been kept and
that those who were themselves the promoters of our life
of international conduct are often those who show the
greatest reluctance to follow it. We new countries, which
are late-comers to this community of nations and which
had placed so much hope in the faithful and generous
application of the principles of the Charter, are thus greatly
disappointed. But our disappointment does not mean
discouragement. Even if temporarily forgotten, the principles
adopted at San Francisco remain, and so long as they
are not officially denounced, there are still grounds for
hope and a chance of salvation. It sometimes suffices for
only one hand to hold high the torch for the darkness to be
illuminated and for the lost to see the light again.
84. In the face of tyrannies of all kinds, is it not the duty
of small countries like ourselves to gather together in a
common struggle and to oppose, by our cohesion, the
recrudescence of violence and oppression which threatens
our existence? Undoubtedly the road will be hard, but
faith can move mountains and the moral force of nations is
not measured by the size of their armies or the strength of
their economies.
85. Gabon celebrated its ninth anniversary only a few
weeks ago. Thus it still moves with faltering steps and needs
the assistance and friendship of adult countries in order to
come of age. But although my country has not had time to
attain a stable equilibrium and although the many resources
concealed in its soil have not yet all been fully exploited,
there are two resources which our people value above all:
freedom and peace. The motto of our national party is
“Dialogue, tolerance and peace”.
86. You will therefore understand the strength of the links
which bind us to the United Nations and our desire to
preserve its foundations. In carrying out this difficult task,
Madam President, we know that we can count on your
experience, your courage and your outstanding qualities of
heart and mind which will enable you to direct the session
that has just opened with skill, wisdom and dignity.
87. We also know and appreciate, in this search for
success, the important part played by the Secretary-General
and all his colleagues, whose devotion and competence are
in all respects worthy of the noble cause they serve. May
they find in my words an expression of our gratitude and of
our sincere admiration.
88. Among the representatives seated in this hall, some
will perhaps find the criticisms I have just made too severe
and will reproach me for my remarks. But
let them be reassured. Unconditional acceptance of the
truth does not, for my Government, mean dismay and
retreat. I belong to a people who repudiate the deceitful
virtue of euphemism; hence my frankness and my desire to
make a statement of fact rather than an indictment. It is in
knowing the true worth of an adversary that it becomes
most possible to overcome him.
89. We thus have to consider the situation as it is, calmly
but vigilantly, and to choose the best remedy for improving it.
90. We must place on the credit side of the Organization’s
account the great movement of solidarity which, since the
Organization’s establishment, has made it possible to relieve
so much suffering and eliminate so much injustice. All of us
have clearly in mind the impressive list of activities of all
kinds that the organizations or specialized agencies, over
which the United Nations exercises leadership, have carried
out in the past and continue patiently to carry out today.
91. Whether it be the spectacular achievements of FAO in
modernizing agricultural techniques and driving famine
from the earth, the magnificent work of UNESCO in
eliminating illiteracy and enabling the illiterate before long
to attain the joys offered by culture, the charitable mission
of UNICEF in bringing to abandoned children the affection
and moral and material assistance of which they are
deprived, all this excellent work calls for admiration and
testifies to the greatness of man. And if it was necessary,
despite these laudable achievements, to persuade the
detractors or rally the hesitant, it would suffice to remind
them of the names of the great servants who have fallen in
battle to ensure the survival of the generous ideal they were
engaged in defending.
92. But every harvest has its burden of weeds. Thus our
planet, too, seems to us to be full of obstacles which the
enthusiasm of men of goodwill encounters and against
which it is sometimes broken. In some places, entire
populations live under oppression; in others, war prevails
with its heart-breaking sequel of insecurity, fear, famine
and death. Unconcerned about the terrible and fatal
levelling which an outbreak of atomic conflict might bring
tomorrow, the great Powers are engaged, with a terrifying
detachment, in the game sorcerer’s apprentice, devoting the
greater part of their resources to the building of a fantastic
arsenal capable of reducing thousands of years of civilization
to dust in a few minutes. In the face of this deadly
force, other nations resign themselves if they are too weak,
or, if they have some means at their disposal, succumb to
the contagion of this disastrous example and, to protect
themselves, forge in turn their own devastating weapons.
93. Nevertheless, this tumult has not succeeded in stifling
the ever-increasing number of voices raised everywhere in
the attempt to bring this insane activity to a stop. These
voices, whether they are raised in Rome, Geneva, Paris,
Addis Ababa or elsewhere, speak of justice, brotherhood,
human rights and respect for man. But their messages will
remain unanswered unless they are taken up by those who
wield power and dominate the world.
94. My words are therefore addressed to you, the representatives
of the great Powers. Since the beginning of this
century you have twice, in less than 25 years, known the
horror of a pitiless struggle. Tens of millions of your
brothers and friends disappeared in that turmoil. Some of
you have seen your territories devastated, your families
obliterated or dispersed and your wealth dissipated. On the
morrow of this apocalypse, and to avoid its repetition, you
decided to create an international organization founded on
the sovereign equality of all peace-loving States and open to
all nations, great or small. To bring it into being, you
solemnly accorded it a Charter which guaranteed its
existence and defined its purposes. May I remind you of
them: the maintenance of peace and security, the prevention
of threats to the peace, the suppression of acts of
aggression, the peaceful settlement of disputes, the development
of friendly relations among nations based on respect
for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of
peoples, international co-operation, and promotion of and
respect for human rights.
95. Your initiative raised great hopes, and people shaken
by five years of folly regained their courage and their zest
for life, and found in their national genius the strength
needed for their rebirth. This good fruit, however, had a
worm of destruction within it. While offering this kingly
gift to mankind, you agreed on a partition of the world and
laid down the boundary stones of your zones of influence.
Thus, the allies of yesterday became adversaries and the
earth was split into two opposing camps.
96. As architects of this partition, it is your responsibility
today to end it. Why can your present leaders not regain
the spirit which was evident in their predecessors at the
Moscow Conference in October 1943, or which, the
following year, inspired your jurists meeting at Dumbarton
Oaks? Do you think that you can bring nearer the day of
universal well-being by maintaining permanent and dangerous
tensions in the four corners of the earth through your
influence or interference?
97. It is true that, by a last-minute stroke of wisdom, your
Governments have so far been able to avoid the worst. At
their instigation, commitments have been assumed and
treaties prepared for signature. But the effort made is still
insufficient. To bring about a relaxation of tension, it is not
enough for a State to propose that its neighbours should
sign an instrument prohibiting the proliferation of nuclear
weapons, while it itself jealously hoards a stock of bombs
less than half of which would be enough to lay waste the earth.
98. There are no two ways to bring about peace and
confidence: that can be accomplished only through total
disarmament and the controlled destruction of existing
stockpiles. It is for you to take the first step. The prestige
of your countries would be enhanced by such a decision
and, at last freed from the fear of annihilation, our world
would experience a new upsurge. You could then have no
misgivings in using freed resources and your powers of
persuasion to promote, not terror, but mutual assistance
and the greater well-being of the developing nations.
99. The physical and moral misery which shackles three
quarters of mankind provides an ideal battleground for
your need to conquer. And if the earth is not large enough
to satisfy your desire for domination, the cosmos now
opens up undreamt of possibilities.
100. In this connexion, we wish to renew our warmest
congratulations and sincere admiration to the people of the
United States for their country’s fantastic exploit in landing
three cosmonauts on the moon for the first time in the
history of mankind. That epic achievement, which covers
all concerned with glory, opens up new horizons in the
conquest of science and technology as well as in that of the
universe. In the light of this prodigious cosmic achievement,
it is only to be hoped that, at the same time as he pursues
the conquest of space, man will harness his energies to the
vast effort still to be made in improving living conditions on
earth, in particular for the developing countries, and will
begin by restoring peace throughout the world wherever
men are destroying each other. We believe that the United
States potential is quite equal to such an effort.
101. Whatever the differences which separate the ideologies
that you defend or the systems that you advocate,
there should be some possibility of finding common
ground. Not long ago, in order to settle their disputes,
leaders responsible for world policy met together to seek
compromise solutions. Is your national pride so demanding
that you cannot revert to that tradition? Sullenness and
threats have never been good methods of persuasion.
Conciliation or arbitration, on the other hand, are still
well-tried recipes.
102. Some will consider this appeal a mere stylistic
exercise. Others will be more generous and see in it a
certain ingenuousness. They should realize, however, that
for us young, small countries, there is no solution other
than agreement among the large nations and the disinterested
assistance they can give us.
103. Ever since it attained to independence, Gabon, like
other States of the third world, has been working with
determination to build a nation. To do so, it must solve the
vital problem of its economic and social development. But
it knows that the: endeavour will be doomed to failure if
tomorrow it were condemned to live in isolation. That is
why it is glad to belong to the great family of the United
Nations and to draw from each session of this Assembly a
renewed sense of encouragement. Even if at times relations
among Members are not totally cordial, it appreciates the
opportunities for contact and dialogue, which constitute so
many bulwarks against misunderstanding and violence.
104. As in previous years, my delegation is therefore
prepared to play its part in an honest and responsible way
and to participate actively in the search for the means of
curing or lessening the evils from which our world is
suffering, and of righting the dangerous situations which
threaten its stability.
105. This declaration of intent leads me quite naturally to
the last part of my statement and to a declaration of my
Government’s views on the grave problems of the times. In
doing so, I shall refer to the principle enunciated in
Article 1 of the Charter, which will provide the main theme
of our debate, namely, the maintenance of peace and
security, respect for human dignity and for the right of
peoples to self-determination, and international solidarity.
106. Although, during the past year, the two super-Powers
have found a modus vivendi in peaceful coexistence, despite
their desperate struggle at the ideological level and in the
economic sphere, no armistice has yet put an end to
existing conflicts.
107. There is conflict in some African countries still under
the colonial yoke: Mozambique, Angola and Guinea
(Bissau), where armed liberation movements are fighting
the Portuguese occupier.
108. That is also the case in the Middle East, where far
from abating, the conflict which broke out two years ago is
becoming more serious from day to day and is threatening
the security of neighbouring countries, which despite
themselves are drawn into this whirlwind of death and
destruction.
109. The same is happening in the Far East, where fighting
is still raging and negotiations between the opposing sides
have not led to any definite settlement.
110. Finally, this is the sad reality in Biafra, where one of
the most appalling fratricidal wars has turned a prosperous,
well-populated and dynamic country into a land of desolation.
111. The United Nations has not remained inactive in the
face of this wave of violence and hatred. Whenever possible,
it has come to the aid of the victims and has never ceased to
offer its. good offices and to renew its appeals for
conciliation and arbitration. But goodwill is an ineffectual
weapon when the belligerents themselves refuse to use it.
Nevertheless, our Organization’s mission is to restore
harmony on this earth. That is a long-term task which calls
for great coolness and perseverance. It is our duty never to
lose heart, to display infinite patience and unceasingly to
seek formulae that might prove acceptable to the adversaries
of the moment. Moreover, here and there, certain
signs are somewhat timidly emerging that may perhaps be
the harbingers of better days.
112. In Viet-Nam, for instance, the decision to suspend
the deadly bombing of the towns in the north and the
progressive repatriation of United States soldiers are measures
likely to favour the restoration of peace. It is, however,
important that the opposing camp should not consider this
de-escalation as a sign of weakness and that it should in its
turn agree to meet its opponents half-way.
113. Millions of old people, women and children have
been waiting too long for their nightmare to be over. It is
time to put an end to the futile subtleties and to the
jousting which are paralysing the work of the delegations
meeting in the Majestic Hotel in Paris. The people now have
the floor, those who are primarily concerned and who alone
have the right to determine their destiny. It is therefore
urgent that the blind destruction should cease and that
those responsible for this fearful slaughter should agree to
organize elections, the authenticity of which would be
guaranteed by the presence of neutral observers and
through which the inhabitants could at last make their
choice known.
114. This recourse to self-determination should also make
it possible to put an end to abnormal situations born of the
last world war or of subsequent conflicts. I am thinking in
particular of Germany and Korea, whose absence from this
Assembly is an affront to the international conscience and
whose artificial division, far from corresponding to a
political need of our times, is a permanent source of tension
and misunderstanding. The facts seem to suggest that this
situation must be considered as irrevocable and definitive.
Even were that so, it would be morally unacceptable in so
far as it continues to be imposed by force and is not based
on a democratic decision resulting from consultation of the
entire German people and of the entire Korean people.
115. The problem is different in the case of Israel and the
Arab countries, but there too the solution depends on the
honest application of a fundamental principle of the
Charter of the United Nations, namely, that of the peaceful
settlement of disputes.
116. Ever since the establishment of the State of Israel,
the United Nations has spared no effort to restore peace in
a part of the world which is in a state of constant fever. It
dispatched a supervision mission as early as the first
confrontation; it set un an international emergency force in
1956; it is still mobilizing the common goodwill and
pursuing tireless efforts in all parts of this building to seek
some way out of the impasse and to achieve that easing of
tension upon which future negotiations depend. Be that as
it may, nothing solid can be built so long as the parties
involved remain intransigent. It is for them to silence their
weapons and accept the reciprocal concessions which might
lead to a compromise. One camp must abandon the
narrow-minded position in which it has locked itself and
recognize the other’s right to existence and dignity. This
presupposes that the Arab Governments will abandon all
xenophobia and undertake, after direct negotiations, to
recognize secure and lasting frontiers for the Hebrew State
and the rights accorded to it by international law. In return,
the other party, Israel, should learn how to master its
victory to avoid offending national or religious sensibilities;
and it must withdraw from the occupied territories.
117. Instead of this, the conflict has reached a stage where
the positions of the belligerents are farther apart than ever
and where deadlock seems to have become total. On the
one hand, Israel agrees to implement Security Council
resolution 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, but only on
condition that direct negotiations with its opponents
guarantee it secure and lasting frontiers. On the other hand,
the Arabs are divided into two camps: those who do not
even wish to hear of a State of Israel and who think only in
terms of its pure and simple disappearance; and those who
advocate an enlarged Palestinian State in which the State of
Israel would be merged and in which the Israelis would
simply form a community of citizens enjoying the same
rights as all the Arabs. It is easy to understand that, faced
with these alternatives, Israel should react with the force of
despair and that, with the bitter memory of similar
experiences in the past, it should not be willing to go
through them again. How can there be any escape from this
inextricable situation except through faithful implementation
of the resolution of 22 November 1967? That at least
is our view.
118. Since each year we have to revert to the problem of
the two Chinas in the context of international security, we
should like to reiterate Gabon’s position in that respect. We
do not deny that the admission of the People’s Republic of
China to the United Nations is considered by many to be an
essential element in the easing of tension and the furtherance
of peace in the world. But the Government of Gabon
considers that this is an important question, the implications
of which are too serious to be dealt with lightly. As
we already stated here last year [1677th meeting], Gabon
views this admission with apprehension because of the
positions taken by the Peking leaders, their belligerent
attitude and their intolerance in ideological matters. They
leave us sceptical about their ability to work for peace and
the solidarity of peoples regardless of their form of
government. Therefore, and since no new element has come
to light to cause us to change our position, the Government
of Gabon will continue to support the Republic of China,
which is moreover a founding Member of the United
Nations and whose actions in the service of peace and the
solidarity of peoples are exemplary.
119. The constant search for peace that actuates all the
members of this Assembly and the Governments they
represent is not entirely disinterested. The energy with
which we try to extinguish the conflagrations that periodically
break out in other people’s territories is partly
explained by our fear that they will spread to our own
territory. But over and above this primitive instinct, a
higher motive determines our action: the certainty that, of
all the riches in the world, man is the most precious and the
most sacred of all. It is therefore our imperative duty to
preserve that legacy and to prevent any infringement of
man’s inalienable right to exist. A year ago, from this same
rostrum, I had the honour of elaborating on this thought.
In the interests of conciliation, I expressly refrained from
mentioning Biafra. by. name, because at that time there was
still hope that agreement might be reached in the coming
months. But that has not yet come to pass.
120. Because of its proximity, Gabon is in a position to
appreciate the frightful reality of the miseries accumulating
from that pitiless struggle. Apart from the 2 million dead in
Biafra itself, victims of guns and cannons, of hunger and of
the diseases resulting from hunger, during the period of
more than two years that this war has been in progress,
starving children are continuing to arrive in their thousands
in the camps we have set up for their shelter and assistance.
Many unfortunately never recover from their physical
collapse. In Biafra at this hour, about 2 million people are
crowded on a strip of land a few kilometres square, living
on three scanty meals a week. This tragedy has aroused a
great charitable movement throughout the world. Welfare
organizations and men of goodwill are thronging from all
parts to lavish help and save thousands of innocent people
from destruction. Airmen take off nightly at the risk of
their lives to transport tons of food-stuffs and medicines.
All of them—UNICEF representatives, Red Cross personnel,
members of Caritas Internationalis, pilots, doctors, nurses
— deserve the highest praise.
121. This humanitarian activity is, however, only a palliative.
If the root of the evil is to be extirpated, there must be
a political solution. The African Heads of State, particularly
those who were appointed members of the Consultative
Committee on Nigeria of the Organization of African
Unity, presided over by His Imperial Majesty Haile
Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia, have exerted untold efforts
to find a solution. The resolution adopted on 9 September
by the last summit meeting of the Organization of African
Unity at Addis Ababa marked an advance on the earlier
resolutions, the first adopted at Kinshasa in September
1967 and the second at Algiers in September 1968, because
it invited the two parties to the conflict to cease hostilities
and to engage immediately in negotiations to find a
solution which would being peace to Nigeria as soon as
possible. The resolution made the mistake, however, of
again setting as a prior condition the acceptance of Nigerian
unity by Biafra.
122. It is inconceivable that a people which has been
fighting courageously for more than two years to guarantee
its security within a social framework of its own choice and
which has sacrificed 2 million lives in that cause could
accept a pre-condition tantamount to unconditional surrender.
Furthermore, such a pre-condition does not seem to
us indispensable, inasmuch as the Biafran authorities have
clearly indicated that, although they cannot accept such a
provision in the text of the resolution, they are nevertheless
ready to discuss the political future of Nigeria during
negotiations. We believe that the unity of Nigeria, which
remains a point of fundamental disagreement between the
two parties when posed as a pre-condition, could embrace a
variety of unitary systems among which the two camps
might, after negotiations and with a little goodwill, find one
upon which they can agree.
123. All that remains to be done therefore is to encourage
the two parties to cease hostilities immediately and to start
negotiations. We believe that the moment has come for the
United Nations to take up the matter and to exert pressure
on the belligerents. The Organization cannot evade this
obligation by claiming that this is strictly an African
problem, requiring an African solution, since it has been
proved that the continuation of this war is largely due to
the intervention in the conflict of Powers foreign to Africa
which are delivering arms to both camps.
124. We have already said elsewhere that if the Nigerians
want at all costs to preserve the unity of their country
through war, they could no doubt ultimately succeed in
doing so. But then they must resign themselves to the
inevitable consequence, which is as paradoxical as it is
unthinkable: the total extermination of the Ibos, who have
resolved to die to the last man rather than continue to live
within the present Federation. Then territorial unity will
have been maintained only through the complete elimination
of one of the human elements from which it derives
its interest and its value, that is to say at the price of an act
of genocide which may not be deliberate, but is accepted as
a condition of final victory.
125. We do not think that the Nigerians see things in this
way. Let them then decide to cease hostilities and negotiate
with the Biafrans, without any prior conditions. That is the
only reasonable position.
126. In the same context of the right of man to freedom
and dignity and the right of peoples to self-determination, I
explained a year ago from this rostrum Gabon’s attitude to
the situation in some parts of Africa which are still under
colonial domination, and to the policy pursued by white
communities in some other areas where they rule by force
black communities with which they are compelled by the
vicissitudes of history to live together for ever.
127. At that time, I did not fail to express my pessimism
regarding the effectiveness of the methods used to bring
about a change in those regions, a change favourable to the
aspirations of the African peoples who want to see their
human dignity and the primacy of their rights as the natural
inhabitants of this continent respected. A year later, I am
bound to conclude that my pessimism at that time was
fully justified. The facts show that there has been no
evolution favourable to our desires. During the last year,
the situation has remained stationary where it has not
deteriorated, as it has ever since we have been resorting to
the same methods of action, such as loud condemnations
made from this rostrum or elsewhere, inflammatory
speeches or threatening resolutions against those who, in
our opinion, can only be brought closer to our point of
view through a fundamental change in their outlook.
128. In these circumstances, we think that a new strategy
should be contemplated in order to attain our objectives
and that it is high time to give up methods which have
proved manifestly ineffective in order to bring about this
change of outlook which will make it easier for the other
side to reach an understanding with us, especially since
there are groups among them with opinions similar to ours,
with whom we might consider new forms of action.
129. Therefore, until we join together to work out and
implement this new strategy, Gabon no longer intends to
associate itself with the vote on any resolution which is
submitted to the Assembly on the subject and which is
bound to remain a dead letter.
130. Ideological, racial or religious considerations are
sometimes — as we have just seen — at the root of present
conflicts. But the main cause of insecurity in the world is
above all the economic and social inequality separating the
well-provided countries from the developing countries. This
flagrant injustice leads to bitterness and jealousy among the
“have nots” and carries with it the risk of an explosion,
with unforeseeable consequences.
131. The United Nations immediately understood the
danger of such a situation and, to correct it, has adopted a
policy of international understanding and solidarity. It has
established many specialized agencies and bodies to assist
the third world and, as early as 1962, instituted the United
Nations Development Decade [General Assembly resolution
1710 (XVI)]. Later, the consolidation of the former
Special Fund and the Expanded Programme of Technical
Assistance [General Assembly resolution 2029 (XX)] has
made possible, through a more unified management, the
institution of a vast multilateral pre-investment assistance
programme. At the same time, the establishment in 1966 of
the United Nations Capital Development Fund and the
stress laid at that time on the need for industrialization as a
basis for economic and social progress have given rise to
great hopes among under-developed countries.
132. Gabon has already received appreciable support
which, together with that granted it by the European
Development Fund, and above all the French Fonds d'aide
et de coopération (Fund for assistance and co-operation),
has enabled it to make a start on the process which should
result in full economic independence and completion of the
infrastructural projects provided for in its first plan.
However, despite this promising beginning, it is still
conscious of the precarious state of its economy which, like
that of other young States, is dependent on exports and
consequently subject to the hard law of a market characterized
for several years by a constant deterioration of the terms of trade.
133. All attempts so far made to check this disastrous
trend have met with only moderate success. The first
session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development ended in near failure, since the great Powers
refused to grant the under-developed countries the advantages
which would have enabled them to meet international
competition. The second session of that Conference
merely confirmed the same selfish attitude, the representatives
of the rich nations having shown only slight interest in
the programme worked out by the representatives of the
third world a few months before at the meeting of the
“Group of 77“. More recently, UNCTAD’s work has
ended in an admission of failure, since the parties involved
have been unable to reach agreement on measures to
improve their co-operation.
134. It is to be feared that this situation will further
deteriorate during the coming months. One of its main
causes lies in the difficulties now facing the industrialized
countries because of the spread of inflation and the
resulting disorganization of the international monetary
system. At first, inflation works to the advantage of the
developing countries because it results in increased demand
for the raw materials and tropical products they supply.
But its illusory nature becomes quickly evident. It forces
Governments to adopt restrictive measures, to limit the
convertibility of their currency, to make budgetary economies;
often to the detriment of financial assistance, and to
retreat into a narrow protectionism which slows down
demand and is highly prejudicial to producing States. This
policy of “each for himself” is gaining more and more
adherents as each country seeks to export more and import less.
135. The gap between the living conditions of the well-
provided and ill-provided countries is thus broadening
alarmingly. Every day uncertainty about the future, and the
ensuing anxiety, are more deeply felt. That anxiety was
proclaimed with courage and lucidity in a statement made
by His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Ethiopia on the
fifteenth anniversary of the International Labour Organization,
when he said:
“Such strife, disparities in wealth, inequalities among
members of the same human family and stark injustice
can only breed bitterness and ill-feeling which, if left
unchecked, may explode with incalculable consequences.
“The reason for a plea for a concerted supreme effort
and sacrifice towards the realization of a saner and less
self-seeking socio-economic global structure in the
interests of mankind at large, when seen within its proper
perspective must, therefore, be self-evident.
“...Then, and then alone, will we have courageously
arisen in concert to the supreme challenge and abundant
opportunity of our times.
“It is then alone that we will be entitled to claim that
our actions and our endeavours will be justified before
history and posterity as having served the paramount
cause of world peace and the well-being of mankind.”
136. To recapitulate, the sum of the objectives set out in
the programme of our Organization, aimed at building an
era of justice, peace and happiness in the world by
promoting the establishment of institutions and activities
designed to ensure the protection and respect of the human
individual in his dignity and rights, solidarity among men
and co-operation among peoples, is far from having been
attained.
137. Despite the accumulated difficulties, despite the
failures, there is, however, an element of consolation and
reassurance: there is still a resolute will to work for these
objectives on the part of organizations, both international
and inter-African, and on that of Member States particularly
enamoured of peace and animated by philanthropic
sentiments and a co-operative spirit. It is this will which
inspires action to restore peace in the Middle East,
Viet-Nam and Nigeria, to fight colonialism, imperialism and
neo-colonialism in order to liberate all the territories still
under colonial domination, to eliminate racism and racial
discrimination from human society. It is the same will
which underlies the action to develop and encourage the
spirit of solidarity among men and of co-operation among
peoples. It is this will which is being exerted to ensure the
success of the Second United Nations Development Decade
in order to eliminate economic inequalities between
nations. So long as this will remains active, mankind can
still hope for a better future.