66. First of all, Mr. President, I should like to offer you, on behalf of the delegation of Cameroon, my warmest congratulations on your brilliant election as President of the twenty-first session of the General Assembly. I take even greater pleasure in doing so because I have been privileged to know you for a number of years. During this time I, like others, have admired your great intelligence, the power of your imagination and your keen analytic mind, your ability to perceive all aspects of a problem and your genius for compromise — all qualities that predisposed you quite naturally to face the tasks that will fall to you during the consideration of the items on the agenda of this session. There is no doubt that, armed as you are, you will be able to guide our work, in a spirit of justice, fairness and respect for law, to constructive solutions acceptance to all.
67. My delegation would also like to express its great pleasure at seeing the Assembly welcome a new Member, Guyana, that multiracial and once strife-torn nation, which has just attained independence amid the joy and unanimity of its people. We hope that it will preserve this unanimity so that it may work — independence being only a beginning and a means — in peace and harmony towards its full development, bringing with its youth a new and enriching vitality to our Organization.
68. May I also be permitted to hail another addition to this Assembly—the return of Indonesia. I am indeed fortunate on the occasion of my first return to the United Nations. When I was last here I saw the departure of Indonesia with sadness, a feeling which I am sure was shared by all who were present. Now our satisfaction at its return is as great as was our regret when we saw it leave.
69. The annual meeting of the General Assembly provides the States represented here — which actually amount to practically the whole of the human race today — with the opportunity to assess the relations in our society: in other words, to study the evolution of these relations during the period between sessions to appraise the sources of tension and to seek ways to guarantee conditions for co-existence and cooperation, so that the entire international community may benefit, in accordance with the requirements and the objectives of our Charter. To this end, each of us must come to this rostrum to describe the situation in his own part of the world, as the President of the Republic of the Philippines did so admirably yesterday [1411th meeting], like the characters in La Fontaine's fable Les animaux malades de la peste but without their hypocrisy and prompted only by the genuine intention of the fabulist.
70. It has become an established fact during the past few years that at the opening of each session this Assembly finds itself in the grip of a crisis. Or, to be more precise, it suffers from endemic crises. These are certainly not all alike, nor are they equally grave.
71. A year ago we celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations. At the very solemn observance of this event all men of good will eagerly looked forward — and my delegation candidly expressed this hope aloud at San Francisco — to the rebirth of our Organization, to its revival, to universal compliance with the Charter, to the achievement of the resolute aspiration of each State for peace through respect for the sovereignty of others, to universal agreement to carry out joint resolutions honestly and wholeheartedly, and to commitment to respect for law and justice.
72. Instead of this, what do we see? We are witnessing a disturbing and progressive deterioration of the relations between States, an aggravation of frictions and conflicts, a fresh outbreak of violence and, even worse, a vindication of this violence almost to the point of a repudiation of law in the very international institutions established by laborious common effort to affirm and defend justice.
73. And this is happening throughout the world. In order not to offend anyone, I shall merely outline briefly the present situation in my native continent of Africa, where, all things considered, there are no hotbeds of war, despite the persistent efforts of evil forces to find a favourable ground for all their machinations. This continent, which throughout its history has experienced the most disastrous upheavals and the most cruel humiliations, with countless periods of invasion and servitude, in which the cream of its race was taken from it and its most resistant individuals exported for the enrichment of other lands — this Africa, now valiantly awakened, believed at the start of this decade that the day was at last dawning when after the liberation of most of its peoples, it would be able to devote itself to peaceful development and progress. Africa was mistaken. In the interval between two sessions, very few of the Governments in its many States went untroubled or free from menace. Many of them, even among those reputed to be most firmly established, trembled on their foundations and a great number were actually overthrown. We have only to glance at the map and count these troubled nations to see how widespread this instability is. Not that the elite have failed. On the contrary, it is enough to be familiar with Africa, or simply to cross the continent, to appreciate the contrast between the formidable accomplishments attained in so few years and the long night of stagnation under colonial occupation. Throughout the continent, and almost without exception, the new national Powers have understood their obligation and have resolutely set out to build their States, despite collosal difficulties.
74. To be sure, the recent accession to independence bears within itself the seeds of disintegration of these newly established entities. We recognize our ethnic and linguistic differences, the impatience of the masses to demand everything at once, as if, as the saying is, Rome could be built here in a day, and the thirst for reform among some members of the elite, which rapidly becomes a thirst for power alone. We are aware of all this and we shall not forget it.
75. The basic problem resides in the fact that Africa has become the object of a far-reaching formal offensive movement which seeks to undermine the freedom won in recent years through courageous fighting. At the same time, the last strongholds of colonialism and racism have grown more powerful as if by magic. Portugal and South Africa can exchange glances of malicious satisfaction at having been able to resist and victoriously to defy a condemnation that was universal only on the surface, but within which tacit and powerful complicity lay concealed.
76. How can anyone be surprised that Ian Smith, emboldened by this situation and secure from the sanctions which the United Kingdom had declared would prove fatal to his regime, has followed the example of South Africa and is calmly establishing a duplicate of that regime? The embargo demanded by Africa has been pushed aside and circumvented. Organized maritime smuggling is being practised. What has happened to the days of maritime expeditions? Perhaps the example of the United States, now a great Power, is the decisive factor which deters the famous navy of the United Kingdom from combating rebel Englishmen abroad with anything but loudspeakers.
77. Even international organs have joined in this battle against Africa. On 18 July 1966 the International Court of Justice delivered its verdict on South West Africa. The unanimous censure which this evoked throughout the world and the rejoicing that followed in South Africa are eloquent testimony and need no comment. Sound justice does not consist in the casuistic declamation of legal mysteries. It lies, rather, in popular acceptance and in the knowledge that the just cause and the good law have been defended. In the circumstances, the verdict may be interpreted as follows: "Ethiopia and Liberia should mind their own business.' South Africa is right in annexing South West Africa! The mode of administration is in conformity with the Charter and its objectives." Over-simplification, the jurists will say! Ire- tort: a translation of scientific subtleties into practical and concrete realities. Besides, it is easy to discuss the legal basis of the decision without being a jurist, for what is at issue is the very future of this Territory, which is under an international mandate and which has never formed an integral part of South Africa. The Charter and the historical Declaration appearing in General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) call for the granting of independence to all countries and territories which are still dependent. How can this future be guaranteed by the verdict of The Hague?
78. This Judgment has demonstrated once and for all, and in the clearest possible fashion, the crisis facing certain organs of the United Nations. Here you have an organ based on the Charter, and this organ hands down a verdict contrary to the Charter! It is quite simple: the law itself is vitiated, and the machinery established expounds the "law" for which it was created. The privilege of the veto enjoyed by some members of the Security Council is a result of this same concept. Why, then, should we be surprised that international problems remain unresolved? Their solution is not considered just unless the great Powers alone are satisfied with it; too bad if it is injurious to the peoples directly involved. This curious subjective morality might be summed up in a single sentence: "Everything is well which is accepted by the great Powers".
79. I have just sketched rapidly the negative side of the contemporary African situation. It would be easy to apply this Judgment to what is going on elsewhere in the world. Why are there so many divided nations: Germany, Korea, Viet-Nam? Why these hotbeds of war? The guns are silent as soon as the "great" Powers have found a modus vivendi acceptable to them, even if it means martyrdom for the peoples directly concerned; the guns begin to thunder again as soon as one of these Powers decides that it is no longer to its liking,
80. This highly explosive and dangerous situation governs even the machinery of our work and the life of the United Nations, so much so that the confusion and lassitude have finally affected our Chief Executive, the Secretary-General himself. The entire world has paid a tribute to the outstanding services which the United Nations owes U Thant. His work bears the indelible mark of his lofty and unique personality. My delegation associates itself, in all modesty, with this work, which will long be remembered by the international community. My delegation, together with all those present here, will regret his eventual departure. Tor this reason, we join in those urgent pleas, already uttered, that he will remain at his post. We are pleased to note that he has already accepted the beginnings of a compromise.
81. If, however, U Thant, to our dismay, remains steadfast in his decision, my delegation earnestly hopes that the Organization will find a worthy successor to him. But in that case, we utter an immediate warning: the same causes will always produce the same effects. Another Secretary-General, with a different temperament but a no-less inspired outlook, served the United Nations until his supreme sacrifice: Dag Hammarskjold, whom we remember with sorrow. One cannot help comparing these two terminations of office and finding some similarity in them; one man fell and the other is leaving us. In both cases, their work remained unfinished,
82. The international community must rapidly, on pain of self-delusion, become sensible of this loss of most gifted men. If the present Secretary-General has become convinced of his powerlessness, it is hard to believe that, as long as the world situation and the United Nations machinery remain as they are today, a successor would not be confronted with the same invincible obstacles.
83. For the last few years, the small and medium sized Powers have constantly denounced this situation. The concept of a United Nations designed to prevent war only between the great Powers must give place to the concept of one designed to prevent any war. For war always begins with small nations. This happened in 1914, for the First World War, at Sarejevo, and again in 1939, for the Second World War, in Ethiopia and Spain. That is why what is going on in Viet-Nam is dangerous and is liable to develop into a wide-spread conflict. As the Secretary-General so aptly put it;
"... the pressure of events is remorselessly leading towards a major war, while efforts to reverse that trend are lagging disastrously behind" [A/6400].
84. The advances of space science have admittedly brought with them the possibility of open sky espionage by means of observation by satellites and according to the most highly qualified strategists this lessens the danger of total war. But the danger of escalation remains real, because it can bring into the conflict both China, which is close by, and the Soviet Union, which is not very far away. Ever since 1939, Viet-Nam — whether North or South — has been engaged in war and has been suffering martyrdom. It is obvious that Viet-Nam owes this situation solely to the fact that it is so close to the giant nation of China. Indeed, every small country in the vicinity of China — Korea, Laos, Cambodia and the rest — is a prey to the same insecurity.
85. What the United Nations must do, therefore, is reverse the trend; it must adapt its structure in order to prevent war between small Powers. This would destroy the evil at its roots, remove sources of temptation for the great Powers to intervene, in short, protect these latter Powers against themselves. For the danger of power and force lies in the demon of expansion. The possession of power breeds the temptation to use it. If you take away the opportunity to use a weapon, it can be discarded.
86. Only in such an atmosphere will it be possible to talk of disarmament, when the United Nations, having once again become a dynamic and active force and being no longer in its present state of passivity, will have convinced all mankind of the uselessness of armaments. Why should the great Powers — for only they are involved-disarm? They live in a perpetual state of war through local conflicts introduced in small countries. That being so, they must continue to improve their weapons, since a final direct confrontation is not impossible. But that event must be anticipated and in the meantime the enemy must be forced to expose himself more and more by displaying his successive innovations on the various trial battlefields.
87. Why be surprised, then, when our diplomats gather at Geneva and "chat" endlessly, while here and there sub-machine guns open fire and sow death? It is surely a grave error for some to minimize these so-called "small" wars. They are the sporadic and localized manifestation of a greater tension, of a more menacing psychosis reflected elsewhere in the arms race and in nuclear and thermo-nuclear tests. Thanks to the Moscow Treaty, this competition has now shifted from the atmosphere to below ground and into laboratories. Are we then to be reassured by the knowledge that our air is less contaminated? Not at all, for now the laboratories are preparing the death ray. We thus continue to live in a state of perpetual suspense, at the mercy of an incident that can trigger the earth's destruction. There is also the arms stockpile, which constitutes a permanent threat, and no progress towards an agreement on its destruction is yet in sight.
88. Fortunately, it is not only these signs of despair and universal suicide that we perceive. Throughout the world greater and greater forces of good will are gathering. The determination of peace-loving men is appearing, is rising and is already echoing on high. This voice, louder than thunder, will eventually drown the clamour for war.
89. This voice was heard in Africa last April, at Dakar, during the vast, unique and significant gathering of the First World Festival of Negro Arts. It was certainly an exceptional celebration of beauty, a mass of the sublime, an exaltation of Negro culture. The peoples of the Negro race who met there had no intention of creating — as others had done — a cult or adoration of a racial concept based on some notion of superiority. Quite the contrary; I have only to quote the inspired organizer of the festival, Mr. L. Senghor, President of the Republic of Senegal, who stated in his opening address;
"We feel deeply honoured to welcome here, at this First World Festival of Negro Arts, so many talented persons from the four continents, who represent the four horizons of the mind. But what honours us above all and what enhances your merit is the fact that you will have participated in an undertaking far more revolutionary than the exploitation of outer space: the elaboration of a new humanism, which this time will embrace all men throughout our planet Earth."
And the President added further on:
"... we are aware that the humanism of the twentieth century, which can only be civilization of the universal, would be impoverished if it were to lack a single value of a single people, a single race or a single continent. Once again, the problem is posed in terms of complementarity, of dialogue and exchange, not of opposition or racial hatred. Besides, how could we Negroes reject the scientific and technical discoveries of the European and North American people? For it is thanks to these discoveries that man sees man transforming himself along with nature."
90. We have also witnessed the resurrection of OCAM, the Joint African and Malagasy Organization, which was buried by some before it was dead. We feel it is a good thing that, in a continent as varied as ours, the States between which there are affinities should gather together, form a group and build a common foundation for co-operation. So long as there is no exclusiveness and so long as the organization Is not directed against anyone, this is a positive help towards regrouping and consequently a step towards African unity.
91. This unity must be neither monolithic, uniform nor composed of identical and interchangeable elements. We are well aware of this in Cameroon, a country so diversified that an eminent African has called it the microcosm of Africa. It is varied in its physical conformation as well as in its inhabitants, among whom Bantus, Semi-Bantus, Sudanese and Nilotic peoples live together. A colonial division of two cultures — English and French — has been superimposed upon these human, ethnic and linguistic differences in a Republic which, by its very nature, has become a federal republic. The fiery emotional temperament of its people soon led some to despair of building a viable and stable State on a foundation of so many and varied opinions and so many political parties.
92. As those who were here in 1959, when the thirteenth session of the General Assembly was resumed in order to settle its future finally well remember, my country caused much concern and even created battles of conscience. But peacefully, through persuasion, without governmental law or decree, the entire country has found itself, and all political parties have willingly and freely held meetings and decided to dissolve and to merge into one great national party: L'Union nationale
camerounaise. On 1 September, only a few days ago, all the people of Cameroon enthusiastically and joyfully celebrated this great victory over themselves. Announcing the event over our national radio, his Excellency El Hadj Ahmadou Ahidjo, the Head of State, declared:
"Thus 1 September 1966, five years after reunification, marks the advent of the Cameroon National Union; this is another 1 September, rich with meaning, which will be both an example and a symbol in the eyes of future generations... .
"What audacity and self-effacement all we Cameroonians have required! How much enlightened patriotism and clear-sightedness, savoir faire and tenacity, and what a keen sense of conviction we have needed to accomplish together so many difficult tasks!"
93. On 21 August, at the closure of the congress at which the Union Camerounais, the majority party of French-speaking East Cameroon was dissolved, the Head of State declared:
"On 1 September next we shall have won a great battle. Instead of passing a law in the National Assembly, in Parliament, in order to create a single party, although since independence we have enjoyed a comfortable majority, if not unanimity, in Parliament, we have succeeded, through free discussion and consent, in gathering all Cameroonians into one great united national party."
94. Apart from exerting a healthy influence on the political atmosphere, this genuine internal revolution, peaceful and fruitful, constitutes a mobilization factor for our people at the very moment when we are launching our second five-year plan. In the report of our Head of State to the National Assembly, we read the following:
"This plan entails a total investment sum of 165.0 million francs CFA, or an average of 33.0 million per annum, which represents a substantial effort on our part when one considers that investments in 1963-1964 amounted to 19,000 million francs. The distribution of these investments by broad sectors is as follows:
1.4% for education. 2 (In thousands of millions)
45.6% for production. 75.5 (In thousands of millions)
35.1% for infrastructure and transport. 60 (In thousands of millions)
15.8% for social services. 26 (In thousands of millions)
2.1% for administrative services. 3.5 (In thousands of millions)
This five-year plan is obviously ambitious. That is why political unification was hailed here with indescribable enthusiasm as a contribution to peace and stability, for a nation cannot be built amid disorder.
95. We have mentioned at this rostrum the fortunate evolution taking place in Cameroon because it represents a test that proves at its level that African unity — and perhaps even world harmony — is possible in diversity and not necessarily in uniformity. That is why, faithful to the joint African and Malagasy Organization, we also remain faithful to the Organization of African Unity. We have attended all the meetings of the latter organization, even those at which certain problems of the hour had provoked defections, for, just as the best is the enemy of the good, so the search for unanimity at all costs is very often the surest way to prevent a large majority.
96. Along with the signs provided by national events or by the actions of groups of States, the growing tendency of eminent world figures to take the initiative can be cited as a positive contribution. Foremost among these is His Holiness Pope Paul VI, whose illustrious voice still resounds in this hall. The echo still rings within each and every one of us of the Pope's homily for the cause of peace [1347th meeting], his condemnation of war, his impassioned appeals to the wealthy to turn with heart and reason towards the solidarity they owe their fellow men. And has he not, in his paternal solicitude, just bid all believers offer up a novena, imploring God to bring peace to Viet-Nam?
97. It is with great pride that I recall, too, the recent visit, just last week, of our Chief of State to His Holiness Pope Paul VI. In defining the full significance of this visit, the Pope himself said:
"We ourselves like to think of your visit as a solemn tribute to the spiritual values upon which all civilization rests. We have, moreover, appreciated the sympathy with which you foil owed developments in the Oecumenical Council by being officially represented at the opening and at the closing of that solemn conclave, from which a wave of love and admiration has surged over the modern world. It was likewise with joy that we ourselves recently approved the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Federal Republic of Cameroon and the Holy See. We recognize this with pleasure as an additional contribution to harmony and understanding among nations, and hence, an additional milestone along the road to peace among all men."
98. This was indeed the purpose of the visit: to place another milestone along the road to peace among men. In his reply to the Pope, our Chief of State concluded:
"We bring to Your Holiness the fervent wishes of our people for your personal health, and for the spiritual strength necessary in order to continue with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to watch over the Church of Christ; and we trust that we can contribute effectively at all times to your efforts to establish an era of peace and brotherhood among all men."
The same fervent wishes are, of course, shared by my delegation.
99. The political problems which we have just outlined from the viewpoint of our own Government are significant only in the light of our common will, the will of the Members of the United Nations to create a harmonious international community from which injustice has been banished, where the man of the twentieth century will find the conditions necessary for his full development. But this desire, you will surely agree, cannot possibly be realized as long as the disparity in living conditions is part of the basic structure of the modern world. We shall never grow weary of repeating that the lofty ideals of peace, justice and brotherhood solemnly proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations will remain a dead letter and a pious wish until adequate solutions are found to the distressing problem of under-development, and until the majority of men, the victims of particular historical conditions are given the chance of a fair share in the material and moral riches of this world, which today more than any other time are our common heritage.
100. The disparity in living conditions within the international community is thus a major problem, if not the most important one, which the United Nations must study and solve if it is to remain true to its task. It is therefore gratifying that this question occupies the prominent place it deserves among the major concerns of the United Nations. Evidence of this is the present Development Decade, which has raised so many hopes. The Decade was proclaimed in 1961 [resolution 1710 (XVI)], and now, after five years, it would seem that enough perspective has been gained to enable us to evaluate the results attained thus far. The guiding principle of the United Nations Development Decade, as is self-evident, is that under-development can be conquered only through a close combination of the efforts of the developing nations themselves with both bilateral and multilateral international co-operation.
101. People in a hurry or seeking to salve their conscience have always minimized the gigantic struggle waged by our countries against underdevelopment. We thus derive some satisfaction from the words of the Secretary-General, who declared in this connexion to the Economic and Social Council:
"The World Economic Survey, 1965 rebuts the arguments of those who have contended that the developing countries have done little in the last five years to mobilize their domestic resources. It shows that in the first half of the Development Decade, despite disappointments and failures, the developing countries did succeed over a broad front in increasing their own contribution to their development."
We quote this text with satisfaction, not in order to draw from it the illusion that the development struggle can be won solely through the efforts and resources of, the developing nations, but in order to indicate more clearly where the responsibilities lie. It is generally agreed that despite the efforts of the developing countries themselves and despite the progress recorded here and there, the goals of the Decade will be reached by 1970 only if the developed countries abandon what the Secretary-General calls their "immediate and relatively narrow interests", and are prepared to give a vigorous and unqualified impetus to international co-operation.
102. The record of international co-operation for this first half of the United Nations Development Decade is somewhat disappointing. The first thing to be pointed out is the inadequacy of financial resources made available to the developing nations by the developed countries. Not only have these funds not reached the volume expected, but also the terms on which they are granted have become more stringent and hampering, thereby causing an increase in the balance of payments deficit of the developing countries which is detrimental to their development.
103. It is urgent — need we reiterate — that steps be taken to alleviate these difficulties. The developed nations have approved the principle and goals of the Development Decade, and it does not seem beyond their means to set aside 1 per cent of their gross national product to assist in the development of the less prosperous countries. The proof of this is that certain developed nations, such as France, have already reached this minimum objective, and that others, such as Japan, are not very far from doing so. While we do not wish to underestimate the problems of reforming the international monetary system and creating new liquidity, it would seem that it is not the means that the developed nations lack, but rather, we are forced to say, the political will to root out under-development from the structures of the modern world.
104. This lack of will is also evident from the difficulties encountered by the developing nations in international trade. We had the right to expect that the developed countries, all more or less advocates of the very respectable maxim "Trade, not aid", would give us the opportunity to find in this area, through a rational, stable and equitable organization of world markets for our main exports, the additional resources necessary for our economic growth. It was with this in mind that we enthusiastically hailed the new United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, whose primary goal, after all, is precisely to malm the international community aware of the decisive impact of international trade and development.
105. The experience of UNCTAD, although limited in time, hardly suggests that the developed nations have resolved to open up their markets to the products of the developing nations at remunerative and stable prices. We need not say how much we regret the failure of the United Nations Cocoa Conference which the under-developed countries cannot help but consider as a test of the effectiveness of UNCTAD. In the interests of the international community, it would be dangerous to sow the suspicion among these countries that the developed nations prefer direct aid, which can be politically manipulated and easily maintained at a desired level, rafter than a market organization which is based on mutual interests and which would give the developing nations a large measure of security for their development policies. We would personally see nothing wrong in each of the developed nations choosing the form of aid best suited to its national genius and most in keeping with its individual capabilities. What seems to us altogether outrageous is the permanent deficit — in our opinion deliberately maintained — of development aid in relation to our needs and to the lion's share of the benefits obtained by the developed countries from the present structure of international exchanges as reflected in the unequal evolution of prices for manufactures as compared with basic commodities and raw materials. How else are we to interpret this attitude on the part of the developed countries, which are also the principal consumers, with regard to the financing of buffer stocks, the keystone of effective organization of the cocoa market? Only if this financing were exclusively taken over would the under-developed countries be convinced that the developed nations were really determined to make international trade an effective stimulus to their development.
106. The failure of the Cocoa Conference is not the only source of concern we feel as a result of the attitude of developed nations vis-1-vis the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Virtually all of them up to now have paid lip service to the principles set forth by that organ. With his characteristic lucidity and courage, the Secretary-General has not hesitated to indicate where the responsibility lies:
"The slow rate of progress on virtually every recommendation of the first United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, even those adopted unanimously, might also in part reflect a preoccupation with immediate and relatively narrow interests."
107. As of course we are well aware from La Rochefoucauld, self-interest speaks many tongues, and it motivates the actions of States, as of individuals, more often than do the lofty moral principles proclaimed in charters. But how can one help but feel disquiet in the face of this discrepancy between word and deed at such a crucial moment in the history of mankind? We sincerely believe that it is time we learned, all of us, to suit our actions to our words, for the noblest interest is always — as history has amply shown — that of all mankind.
108. While we are disappointed with the results attained thus far in the context of the United Nations Development Decade, we cannot deny the importance of the measures to which it has given rise. There is every reason to welcome the establishment of the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, the regional development banks in Africa and Asia, and other organs. But the most positive achievement in the area of international co-operation is, indisputably, the spirit and method which the Decade has brought to international relations. As was emphasized by the representative of Canada during the forty-first session of the Economic and Social Council, the virtually universal acceptance of its goals represents in itself a step forward, and exerts a noticeable influence both on the work of United Nations organs and on the national policy of Governments. It makes the struggle against underdevelopment the responsibility of each and every one of us, a concrete opportunity for experiment inhuman solidarity, and it implies the stimulating idea of the evaluation not only of individual contributions to the common effort to free man from servitude to hunger, ignorance and disease, but also, of the general progress made towards the realization of specific goals.
109. We also hail as a positive step the establishment of the United Nations Organization for Industrial Development. This, we trust, will mark the end of that gratuitous theory that the mission in life of our countries is limited to agriculture and to the supplying of raw materials to industrialized nations. UNOID must help to accelerate industrialization in the developing nations. All progress in those countries — as even the most reactionary economists admit today — is intimately bound up with industrial development, without which there can be no upswing in the economy nor any rapid growth in labour productivity. The very numbers of the institutions which have sprung up during the Decade and are attempting to attain its goals increasingly raise the problem of the co-ordination of United Nations activities in the area of development. We feel that the work of rationalization which has led up to the United Nations Development Programme must be carried on in order to avoid duplication and eliminate all but those organs which meet real needs and have effective means of action.
110. But while co-ordination is desirable, it must not be overdone. Over-centralization might have the effect of allowing the work of the Development agencies of the United Nations to become entangled in a bureaucratic maze instead of progressing smoothly, rapidly and effectively. Whatever the policy pursued, we are convinced of the need to maintain, and even to extend, the autonomy of the regional commissions. The results already achieved by those commissions are, generally speaking, outstanding, Because they are closer to the problems confronting our countries, the commission^ are in a better position to translate our aspirations in the direction of development into concrete programmes and to organize whatever regional co-operation there must be.
111. We believe that regional co-operation can contribute substantially to the growth of national economies. The struggle against under-development requires the co-ordinated efforts of the developing countries themselves to ensure that foreign aid and modern production techniques have adequate underpinning and optimum conditions of effectiveness on which to build, and that these nations can rationalize their industrialization process. With this in mind, we established the Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa (UNDEAC). This institution, which already has encouraging achievements to its credit, will be smoothly incorporated, when the time comes, within the sub-regional structures of Central Africa administered by the Economic Commission for Africa. For we do not wish to organize for selfish purposes, but rather, to enable man's effort everywhere to free him from the bonds of under-development, with the support of a series of increasingly concrete focal points of co-operation.
112. The question of development henceforth concerns us all, collectively and individually, in a world where technical progress is hastening unification at a dizzy pace. It would be a grave error on the part of the developed nations to continue to think we are asking for charity when we appeal for their aid in our struggle against under-development. It is not a question of charity, but of man's responsibility to his fellow man, of solidarity as a supreme duty, for without it there can be no hope for humanity.
113. "Development is peace" said His Holiness Pope Paul VI recently, in a striking and most significant statement. Indeed, world peace is inseparable from the reign of justice, and injustice is incompatible with universal brotherhood, which is the ultimate goal of the United Nations, It is incomprehensible that the great developed nations, driven by an outmoded desire for power, should continue to spend enormous sums on atomic or conventional weapons, or for wars — about which the least than can be said is that they will yield no result — in a word, for destructive purposes, and that they should become apathetic about fulfilling their duty for the development of man, the development "of the total man, and of all men", as Francois Perroux so neatly put it.
114. We are well aware that mankind is not yet morally ripe for a universal tax for development; yet this is the inescapable consequence of our common destiny in the modern world. But how can one resist the temptation of citing to this august Assembly the noble gesture of the Shah of Iran, the ruler of an under-developed nation, who recently offered to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization the equivalent of one day's military expenditure of his Government? The theoreticians of European socialism have repeatedly stressed the moral superiority of the proletariat over the satiated bourgeois of developed societies. Are we to think today that it is the under-developed nations, the proletariat of international society, that must henceforth bear the torch of mankind's most lofty ideals? If this prospect fills us with pride, it is nevertheless a privilege which we would joyfully share with all men of goodwill. For the stake is so important and our destinies so intertwined that we can never overdo our joints efforts to restore hope to mankind. But no matter what answering echo the gesture by the Shah of Iran may evoke within the conscience of men throughout the world, new means must still be found to ensure that the second half of the United Nations Development Decade will be successful and that the majority of human beings may finally glimpse the prospect of a world in which man will fully regain his dignity — a world rid of injustice, hunger, ignorance and disease — the world of brotherly love for which we all most fervently yearn.
115. These means can emerge only from an honest dialogue within the United Nations. The developed nations will of course have to make increased efforts commensurate with the needs of the Third World. In addition, the rationalization and co-ordination of the economic organs of the United Nations are essential to their effective functioning in the area of development. But perhaps we should now think of giving the Development Decade a basic philosophy such as it must have for its success. Its original targets might be reduced as a result, but its effectiveness would certainly be enhanced.
116. It is far from our intention to try here and now to define such a philosophy. I would nevertheless like to share with you several ideas which we consider fundamental in this connexion. The dispersal of efforts is always armful to any human undertaking. It would seem desirable to apply the funds made available during the Decade to well-defined and limited projects chosen as far as possible in such a way as to have a catalytic effect on the national economies of the developing countries. The United Nations Organization for Industrial Development could play a valuable role in the selection of such projects, inasmuch as these will be primarily of an industrial nature, since industry lends itself best to such ends. We do not, of course, wish to belittle the importance of the other aspects of development, including infrastructure equipment. But in our opinion that should be left to the capital equipment fund, which would handle long-term projects, as opposed to the United Nations development Decade, which should aim at an immediately detectable rise in the standard of living of the developing nations.
117. And since the creation of new liquidity as part of a reform of the international monetary system is now being discussed, we wish to add that this can have no real value unless it is looked upon as a supplementary means of assisting the developing countries in their struggle to break through the vicious circle of under-development. In this connexion, we feel that the new liquidity proposals should serve first of all to finance the capital equipment sector; this would then accelerate an upswing in our economies, and at the same time greatly improve our balance of payments. For the fundamental objective remains the same: to bring about, through appropriate collective efforts, a transfer of real resources from the developed countries generally to the developing nations,
118. I have tried to outline our main difficulties and to diagnose as far as possible the deep-seated ill — the antagonism that exists between the principles of the Charter and the machinery established to carry them out. Thus apartheid continues in Africa; the Republic of South Africa seizes South West Africa by force with the blessing — which no one can understand — of the International Court of Justice; war and violence grow more and more rampant; the Secretary-General resigns out of discouragement and helplessness; the United Nations Development Decade is at a standstill, or rather losing ground; and the economic situation of the smaller countries is not improving at all.
119. Yet a great wave of enthusiasm greeted the observance of the twentieth anniversary of our Organization; for twenty years is sufficient time to allow us to step back and reflect, and judge things dispassionately, Those twenty years clearly show how short people's memories are. In 1966, after a mere score of years, 1941 seems so distant! But in 1941, when the famous Atlantic Charter was proclaimed, the world was divided into two camps: that of law and justice, in a word, of good, and that of racial superiority, brute force and violence, in a word, of evil. It was because of this basic cleavage that the lofty principles of the Charter were formulated, adopted and solemnly written down for posterity. But all this very soon fell into decay as the years passed, and that is why we are faced with our present difficulties.
120. The remedy is nevertheless simple. Let us examine our conscience together; let us once more become imbued with the spirit of the Charter. Let us meditate upon its noble and solemn preamble, which I should like to quote once again:
"We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.
"And for these ends to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and to employ international
machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples..."
121. I know, of course, that every representative here present knows these words by heart. The remedy is in this preamble, for we must recognize today that the machinery set up in its train has had the effect of emasculating its lofty objectives. To err is human; but is it so difficult, once we have recognized the error, to make use of this recognition like a lever, operated according to the eternal principle of Archimedes, to disperse the evils of our century? When that time comes, like the angels in the "Song of the Blessed Spirits", we too shall be able to declaim: "We are blessed spirits come down from our heavenly thrones to show ourselves on earth. Having seen the world a prey to so many evils and waging such a cruel war for such trivial reasons, we wished to show those who have strayed how pleased Our Lord would be if men were to lay down their arms and live in peace."