The delegation of the Upper Volta wishes to add its own congratulations and compliments to those already addressed to you from this rostrum on the splendid election which has made you President of the eighteenth session of the General Assembly, a session which some approached hopefully and which started its work quite serenely —unlike many other past sessions, the announcement and opening of which had been marked by the use of such terms as anxiety, nervousness, tension and scepticism.
178. Indeed, after the agreement on the emergency telecommunication link between the capitals of the two great nuclear Powers; after the acceptance of a number of basic principles on disarmament; after the decisions taken by the United States of America and the Soviet Union to extend cultural exchanges, to cooperate in outer space, and to co-ordinate their efforts with a view to diminishing the Cuban crisis; after all these manifestations of goodwill, admittedly somewhat limited in scope, a new development, of considerably greater substance as a generator of hope, has supervened to clear the threatening sky appreciably. All the preceding speakers have already described this development very eloquently; and I must take good care, in reverting to it, not to claim the time and attention of this august Assembly unreasonably. I refer to the Treaty banning nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and under water. The Upper Volta signed this Treaty at once, because, as I said, it is a generator of hope. It also signed the Treaty because, the greater the number of countries placing confidence in those who initiated the Treaty, the more will the latter be morally encouraged and committed —perhaps even compelled— to view the partial nuclear test ban simply as a milestone and not as the millennium, as President Kennedy so well expressed it.
179. We pay unanimous tribute to the efforts of all who worked to achieve this first practical result. We take note of the addresses recently delivered from this rostrum by the President of the United States of America [1209th meeting] and by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union [1208th meeting]. But at the same time we say, to all the men of goodwill who have helped to give us this foretaste of international "détente", that they are far from the end of their labours. Not only does the ban still have to be completed and every possibility of war eliminated by means of a thoroughgoing destruction of nuclear and conventional weapons, but a genuine reconversion having the immediate effect of allocating to peaceful needs the resources released by abandonment of the myth that one must at all costs possess the most improved and therefore the most destructive machinery of war has still to be undertaken. For mankind's vocation, that which has always constituted the beauty of its mission on our planet, is not destruction —everybody knows that— but rather all the patient endeavours and operations to ensure for man ever-increasing prosperity and the full development of his whole self.
180. In this context the Upper Volta, a weak country which is not yet developed and is far from cherishing dreams of hegemony, wishes to pay a tribute to the United Nations for having decided to place development problems at the centre of its concern.
181. The meeting to be held at Geneva early next year represents one of those efforts which cannot but open up encouraging prospects for the developing countries. The preparations for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, which will start on 23 March 1964, are already, if not completed, at least well advanced. And in 1965 the twentieth anniversary of the United Nations will be graced with the fine emblem of the United Nations Development Decade.
182. Indeed, it is essential for the sufficiently developed, secure and favoured nations to understand that man's real reason for living has never been the cult of egoism. They must realize that the aid granted to the developing countries is neither an encouragement to laziness, unconcern and waste, nor alms to be distributed in a resigned, indifferent, ill-tempered, suspicious or mocking mood.
183. To aid the poor countries is an act of faith in the destiny of mankind. All mankind is one; and no part of mankind can either boast of for ever carrying alone the torch of the advances achieved by all peoples together, or presume that it alone can ensure the slow increase in our common patrimony. Attacked by imperceptible but quite irresistible and persistent erosion, a forest which today is flourishing, full of vitality and teeming with life will in the end slide slowly but irrevocably down the slope of gradual degeneration and annihilation. At that moment a seed, casually cast, it may be, on this wild and apparently unfruitful land, will sprout unexpectedly, grow vigorously and succeed to the declining forest. And life will go on.
184. Thus all mankind, which willy-nilly is in the same boat, has a duty to show foresight by caring equally for distant lands and for the small family garden. It is a question of the optimum development of the human condition. It is a question of human dignity in general. The United Nations should use its force and influence to popularize throughout the world principles whereby all the organizations concerned, all countries and all levels would see to it that those with excess food shared it with their hungry brothers, those with surplus medicine considered those dying for lack of care, and those with "brain capital" enabling them to fiddle-faddle in some intellectual sector clearly more superfluous than essential realized that illiteracy ruled elsewhere and that immense resources remained unexploited for lack of educated people.
185. A man becomes ridiculous and contemptible when he is self-satisfied and proud of himself while another, made in his own image, struggles desperately in physical poverty and intellectual bankruptcy, his dignity flouted daily. If this man is responsible for or accessory to the infliction of such poverty and the continuance of such bankruptcy or flouting of dignity, he becomes a monster.
186. That naturally brings us —although the preceding speakers have already discussed this problem very ably— to the ideas persisted in by Portugal and the Republic of South Africa, which lead those countries to treat men as if they were not men or as if they were less than other men.
187. As we in the Upper Volta prefer to believe that Portugal and South Africa are not peopled by monsters who take pleasure in maintaining poverty and intellectual bankruptcy and in flouting human dignity, I shall not repeat what has been said about Portuguese colonialism and about apartheid, these problems having already been excellently dealt with by other speakers. Nor shall I repeat what has been said concerning Southern Rhodesia, for this problem too has been eloquently discussed here. Moreover the United Kingdom, which has always displayed realism and a spirit of appropriateness, will —I am sure— listen attentively to the voice of wisdom and opt for the solution which will establish in Southern Rhodesia, at the same time as independence, the best forms of true democracy and the law of the genuine majority.
188. The Upper Volta Is fully confident that the influence of the United Nations, and of all nations having some hold on Portugal and South Africa by reason of strategic, economic or other interests, will bring to an end as soon as possible the conditions under which our brothers of Angola, Guinea, Mozambique and South Africa now live. The Upper Volta will unconditionally support any action designed to satisfy at long last the aspirations of our 50 million brothers who, with every justification, are asking for their fair share of freedom and dignity.
189. Why should Portugal not learn from nations such as France, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands, which in bygone ages also had their "conquistadores" and were proud of them, but came to realize that their best course was to abandon the magic of the past and to learn to live with their century? Why should the present leaders of the Republic of South Africa not learn from the Government of the United States of America, which has deliberately chosen a "fight to the finish" against backward elements steeped in outworn prejudice, even though the Government's popularity should suffer, in the struggle, from the desperate thrusts and pressure of certain groups? The colonialist spirit and the segregationist spirit, which are in grave violation of the spirit of the United Nations Charter, must be banished for ever not only from Africa but from everywhere else, for they are lasting threats to world peace and harmony.
190. The Upper Volta is therefore deeply concerned, not only about the Portuguese colonies and the practice of apartheid In South Africa, but about the Congolese problem, which is connected with these vestiges of colonialism still defacing Africa's soil. It cannot reasonably be contended that the United Nations should brutally cut off its benevolent assistance before stability, so greatly desired by all in the Congo, has been achieved. A report by the Secretary-General recently raised the problem of the termination of United Nations action in the Congo on 31 December 1963. The Congolese Government earnestly requested the maintenance of this United Nations effort until the end of June 1964, so as to facilitate the conduct of the elections to be held at the beginning of the year.
191. The Upper Volta considers that the United Nations presence should be maintained as long as the Congolese leaders deem it necessary, in order to avoid endangering the relative calm which has been so early secured. How distressing is the sight of these countries torn by hatred and chaos, divided against themselves, and even divided in fact.' The United Nations, supported by the goodwill and the good works of various countries, has succeeded in countering the process which, by a chain reaction, would have ended by turning the Congo into a place which nobody would have wanted even to imagine.
192. Why, then, is the problem of Germany's reunification presented to us as insoluble? Why should it not be possible so to act that we have but one China, whereas it has now become a sort of rite —not to say a dogma— to bring up the question of the two Chinas at each session of the General Assembly? How can we agree that the question of Palestine and the Arab refugees could be frozen, or set in a mould, for ever? And what can we say about divided Korea or divided Viet-Nam?
193. No, the United Nations —the supreme forum in which both great and small countries can come to an understanding, the concrete realization "par excellence" of everything that the words "negotiation" and "dialogue" mean— should be able to do something. And each one of us, who have pledged full and reasoned support of the United Nations Charter, should make his contribution. We can do this individually, or —certainly with greater effect— we can do it in groups. A sincere, devoted and dynamic helper of the United Nations —that is what each of our countries should strive to be.
194. That is what makes the independent African States' recent decision to combine in the Organization of African Unity so commendable. Is it not true that "together we stand, divided we fall", and that what cannot be done by one person alone becomes remarkably easy when all combine and bring their separate wills and efforts into line? The Organization of African Unity, set up at Addis Ababa in full harmony with the Charter, is a valuable auxiliary for the United Nations, since it can lighten and facilitate the Organization's task in many respects.
195. We wish to warn the Assembly and world opinion generally against the insinuations made by a certain sector of the Press, which has more or less admitted its perfectly obvious aims and recently thought that it could present the Organization of African Unity as a greedy partner, indeed as a dangerous rival against which certain States Members of the United Nations would be forced to unite for the checkmating of some imaginary enterprise hatched by the Organization of African Unity, to give the view halloo and stand shoulder to shoulder in expectation of some pitched battle supposed to be imminent. If we did not take care, this sector of the Press might insidiously contaminate the propitious atmosphere characterizing the opening of the eighteenth session and welcomed by everyone because it may enable us here to move mountains and work miracles.
196. Let there be no misunderstanding: the Organization of African Unity is not an aggressive organization distilling discord and hatred and seeking imaginary enemies as a pretext for making war because it is full of expansionist plans. On the contrary, the Organization of African Unity is at the service of the United Nations to facilitate contacts, approaches and the inevitable negotiations, which it is much harder for a country to effect alone than as a member of a group.
197. The African countries, which deeply appreciate all the achievements standing to the credit of the United Nations, wish to express their gratitude to the Organization and, at the same time, to prove their readiness and willingness to participate in joint action for the greater good of all. For this reason the Upper Volta, which is fully aware of all the good in the United Nations, would like to see it becoming ever stronger, better constructed and more effective.
198. However, if the United Nations is to become stronger and more effective, we must have the courage to envisage changes in its present structure and methods of work.
199. Since 1955, with the increase in the number of African and Asian Member States, there has been growing support for a revision of the Charter with a view to ensuring adequate representation for Africa and Asia in the main bodies of the United Nations — that is, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council— in accordance with the principle of equitable geographical distribution of the seats in the various organs established by the Charter.
200. The achievement of independence by a great number of African States from 1960 onwards, and their admission to the United Nations, have helped to make such revision imperatively necessary, and urgent. The urgency can escape no one, and any delay now would only make the injustice more obvious and the wrong against which the African States have protested even more revolting. If a solution were to be postponed, a quite unjustifiable inequality would be maintained, to the prejudice of the African States.
201. That is why the Upper Volta supports the Economic and Social Council's recommendation regarding the enlargement of its membership, to ensure adequate representation for all geographical regions, and particularly for Africa. This change is justified on logical grounds alone, for its sole aim Is to adapt the membership of these bodies to the growth of our Organization.
202. Because of this impetus towards growth, the Upper Volta believes that any redistribution of the seats without an increase in their number would be unnecessarily difficult as well as ineffective and unjust, and would create resentment which it would be unwise to minimize. It is to the interest neither of the Organization nor of Africa that the participation of some Member States should be restricted to the advantage of certain others. On the contrary, the participation of all States should be increased, so as to provide our Organization with a more rational structure, better adapted to present circumstances.
203. We should like the coming changes to result in the permanent reservation of a definite number of seats for Africa, under a gentleman's agreement taking account of the African States' share in the membership. Thanks to an appropriate system for the rotation of these seats, Africa would be able to appoint to them, every two or three years, whichever States were in the best position to defend African interests.
204. It goes without saying that, if these changes are to be effective, there should —indeed, there must— be an abandonment of the principle of the right of veto, which is a real violation of the principle of the legal equality of Member States and of international justice. The veto was a trophy of victory, a recompense for contribution to the war effort. Our concern, today, is rather to contribute to peace.
205. At this time, the Upper Volta would like to suggest the following for the Assembly's consideration: (1) Let us decide to fix a target-date for the announcement of a review of the Charter. The present slackening of tension in international relations is the best guarantee for the success of such a project. (2) Let us ask the Secretary-General to proceed forthwith to consultations with the Governments of Member States, so as to ascertain their views and wishes and to draw up an exhaustive list of tire Articles which most Member States think should be amended or replaced, and of the new provisions they would consider desirable. Such consultations should enable the Secretary-General to submit a preliminary report in the very near future.
206. I do not want to go into too much detail in the general debate. The Secretariat and the committees are there to perform the task of providing the United Nations with a more suitable structure, with the best tools and with the most rational methods of work; they will do so with the necessary thoroughness, care and competence. We leave it to them.
207. But something must be done to give to the United Nations more strength and vigour, greater vitality and a longer expectancy of life, so as to confound those prophets of doom who say that its days are numbered and cherish the hope of dancing at the funeral of this great and splendid human enterprise, although it has proved, over and over again, that it is needed.