Mr. President, in voting for you we were convinced that we were once again voting for the very principles of the Charter, of which you are one of the outstanding personifications. Can we forget the action which you have undertaken, with more than one of your colleagues, in order to ensure respect for the right of peoples to self-determination and for the sovereign equality of nations and to prepare the way for the independence of dozens of nations? The wisdom of your advice, the soundness of your judgements and your unflinching loyalty to the ideal of the United Nations allow us to predict that this year, which we enter confidently, will be one of the most fruitful in the life and achievements of this Assembly.
126. This happy portent is confirmed by the facts. Although it has only just started, this session has already witnessed more than one memorable event: the admission to the United Nations of four new Member States, the end of two great international conflicts, one in Africa — the Algerian conflict — and one in Asia, in the neighbourhood of Indonesia.
127. The admission to the United Nations of Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the Rwandese Republic and the Kingdom of Burundi was a source of satisfaction and joy to our Organization.
128. Lebanon's joy is all the greater and its satisfaction the deeper in that thousands of Lebanese who have for generations been living among the peoples of America and Africa and sharing their joys and sorrows have been the admiring witnesses and often the fellow combatants of these peoples struggling for independence and sovereignty.
129. For seven years we have followed Algeria's epic, struggle for independence. There is a place waiting here for Algeria, which has increased in stature as a result of its struggle and of the experience and maturity it has acquired through its ordeal.
130. We must also include France in the brotherly congratulations which we extend to Algeria. The struggle might have been longer and more painful, although there was no doubt about its outcome. It might even, to the prejudice of their interests, have separated two nations which enjoy a common heritage and were made to understand one another and to cooperate usefully. General De Gaulle, the President of the French Republic, who in the eyes of the world and of history already has to his credit the wise policy of decolonization in Africa, understood this and defended it unremittingly until success was achieved.
131. Moreover, the consequences of the Evian Agreement are felt beyond the borders of the two countries. In the Arab and African world, co-operation with France, a country of great civilization, can be pursued in friendship, peace and mutual respect.
132. The reception given by the General Assembly to the agreement between Indonesia and the Netherlands [see A/5170, annex] shows how important it considers the agreement to be, from the point of view both of principles and of the development of relations between two great countries. It will not be forgotten that they were on the brink of war. The result of the settlement of the conflict, thanks to mutual concessions, will be to safeguard peace and to restore friendship. It will make the contribution of the Netherlands and Indonesia to the work of the United Nations and to human advancement all the more effective.
133. Truth obliges us to recognize, however, that to a great extent the life of the United Nations exhibits a disconcerting antithesis. War-like activities, exemplified by the frenzied arms race, are proceeding at an ever-increasing rate, while, to judge by its effects, action to promote the advancement and wellbeing of peoples is far from receiving the necessary impetus. Action on the one hand, quasi-inaction on the other: this is the tragic antithesis of our times, which is fraught with uncertainty for the fate of the world.
134. This life, so full of dangers for us all, this life so unhappy for most of us will this generation see the end of it? Each passing year brings us nearer to the catastrophe which lies in wait for us at the end of the arms race; similarly, each passing year further postpones the day when all peoples alike will enjoy the gifts which God, when He created man, created for all his descendants, without distinction, without discrimination and without preference,
135. For this reason, thirty-six nations, in whose economies an abundance of resources goes hand in hand with scarcity of means, nations of Asia, nations of Africa, nations of the New World, including those which sowed the first seed of corn and domesticated the first animal, invented the alphabet and paper, figures and counting which formulated the basic notions of chemistry and algebra and used the first techniques; which were the first to explore the earth and probe the sky, to measure space and divide time; nations which, however, as far as arms are concerned, invented only the spear and the javelin, Greek fire and gunpowder; these thirty-six nations met peacefully at Cairo, the capital of one of them where they made an inventory of their claims, which are the claims of any feeling and suffering man. Let me hasten to explain that these are not so much unilateral claims as an awareness of the mutual debts between economies, between societies and between civilizations.
136. This Cairo meeting was preceded by the creation, with the assistance of. UNESCO, of centres where cultures and civilizations could meet, at Tokyo, at New Delhi, at Bucharest and in Lebanon, with the noble aim of bringing men together and sowing the seeds of a universal human civilization. Next year, the centre established in Lebanon will be the meeting- place of men placing their gifts and their knowledge at the service of this magnificent task of understanding and solidarity. Thus, in the cultural and economic fields we hope to progress from the stage of claims to the stage of mutual enrichment.
137. The General Assembly has had the happy though belated inspiration of launching the United Nations Development Decade [resolution 1710 (XVI)]. How will the next ten years be able to advance this project, which consists, as the Secretary-General has said, in mobilizing, "the accumulated experiences and resources of mankind in a full scale and sustained attack on poverty, disease, hunger and illiteracy" [A/5201/ Add.l, p. 3]?
138. According to the results of an inquiry made by the commissions established for this purpose, the world population is roughly divided as follows: 1,000 million people are well fed, 1,000 million are underfed and 1,000 million are hungry. Each of us knows where he stands in this sad classification.
139. Will the United Nations Development Decade manage to bridge the gulf of poverty which separates the well-fed peoples from the hungry peoples? This aim was already embodied in the 1942 Declaration by the United Nations. It appeared in the United Nations Charter in 1945. Will the Development Decade, like the two previous texts, be no more than a historic document?
140. The Cairo Conference wanted to give it life. I need scarcely point out that the aim of this conference was not, as had been feared, to draw up an indictment against the various existing economic organizations; on the contrary, what it had in view was co-operation with those organizations on fair terms. Indeed, did it not decide to appeal to the United Nations not only for co-operation within the Organization and its competent agencies but for the convening of a conference at which co-operation would be the keynote and which would be open to all countries of the world?
141. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [see A/5219] and the Economic and Social Council both proposed the convening of a world economic conference. The General Assembly has combined the two proposals, which are directed towards the same end.
142. World economic and social co-operation, whether proposed by Cairo, Moscow or Geneva, is consistent with the objectives of the United Nations, objectives to which so far relatively little attention has been paid. All efforts, from whatever quarter they may come, should be combined to ensure that the proposed conference meets as soon as possible with a programme drawn up in advance and a firm will to succeed.
143. If the industrialized countries are called upon to change their economic institutions in order to adapt them to the needs of a new world economy, the countries with primitive or young economies wish to develop their economic institutions organically. Their aim is to make rapid strides towards an industrial economy that can meet their essential needs and raise their level of living rapidly.
144. If this aim is to be achieved, it is essential to begin with that world markets should not be closed to the manufactured goods of the countries in process of industrialization. The European Common Market, the British Commonwealth, the COMECON formed by the socialist Republics, and large economic entities such as the United States must not deny entry to the products of the small-scale industry of the developing countries; or to their agricultural products. Nor must they multiply the barriers to these countries exports.
145. The members of the Commonwealth expressed their grave concern on this subject, with a voice that resounded throughout the world, when the Government of the United Kingdom applied for membership in the European Common Market. The same concern is felt by all the other developing countries, not only with regard to the Common Market but also with regard to the Commonwealth itself, and to any economic group showing the tendency to close itself into its giant shell.
146. The basis of economic relations, like that of political relations, is equality. In economic life, this equality is called the balance of trade or the balance of payments. Such equality must be the goal — or ideal — to be attained. There are no major problems in this respect so far as the COMECON countries are concerned, since trade with the socialist States is balanced on the basis of bilateral clearing agreements. The United States has just enacted legislation offering good prospects for the liberalization of trade. We shall have to wait to see how that legislation operates in practice. The European Common Market system provides for negotiations, and non-member countries are entitled to expect such negotiations to take place.
147. Having said this, I realize that this is not the time to go into greater detail on the programme of the future conference. It will suffice that I have stressed the importance of balanced trade, which can unquestionably do much more to promote development than economic aid or technical assistance.
148. Nevertheless, I must here and now draw attention to one pitfall which might jeopardize the results hoped for. The purpose of economic development, in the final analysis, is to raise, as equally as possible, the standard of living of peoples. Must we assume that this objective can be attained only by restricting the growth of population? That would be a profound mistake.
149. Economic development depends on two factors: a material factor and a human factor. How, then, can an economy be developed while at the same time one of its component elements is destroyed? Far from ensuring prosperity, birth control leads to economic decline. That was the case, for example, with a great European country, whose economy stagnated when its birth-rate was the lowest in Europe, but which began to prosper as soon as its birth-rate rose and its population increased.
150. May I venture to cite my own country as another example? Lebanon is one of the most densely populated States in the world: it has almost 200 inhabitants per square kilometre of territory. Yet, its per caput income is $400, a figure markedly higher than that of most countries in the world. Yet, Lebanon is not a rich country so far as natural resources are concerned. The rise in its level of living, therefore, has been due not so much to the volume of its material resources as to human effort, the multiplication of which has in turn multiplied the country's wealth. Additional factors have been the freedom allowed to individual enterprise and the facilities made available to international co-operation. For Lebanon's institutions have always been based on commercial, economic, financial, cultural and political freedom; and thanks to that freedom, capital, persons, enterprise and ideas circulate without hindrance in Lebanon and between Lebanon and foreign countries.
151. In any event, the world population, according to information published in 1960 in the United Nations Demographic Yearbook is growing at the rate of 1.7 per cent annually. Is that to be regarded as a catastrophic rate of growth, when we consider that according to a well-known scientist’s estimate there is at present enough land available to feed, at a level equivalent to the American standard of living — an idea which we all find attractive — a population nine times greater than the existing world population? Thus the Conference on the Problems of Economic Development held at Cairo acted advisedly when it adopted, by the unanimous vote of the thirty-six participating nations, a motion which — after citing, incidentally, the encyclical Mater et Magistra — condemns any illegitimate measures of birth control.
152. It has not been sufficiently emphasized — because the question has never arisen as it does today — that we are all entitled, whoever we may be, to respect for our religious convictions as much as for our liberty, our personality and our political, social and ideological beliefs. Respect for individual rights and respect for international law are two essential conditions for the maintenance of peace. They are contained in the Charter, which is our law: the law of humanity.
153. We must admire the perseverance with which Ireland emphasizes at session after session, the importance of the rule of law, which it would like to see extended to one area after another until it encompasses the world.
154. Last year the countries of Africa and the Middle East held at Lagos a conference of lawyers and scientists which made a notable contribution to our work by stressing the ideal of world peace through the rule of law.
155. The representative of the United States, too, referred to the rule of law [1125th meeting] in speaking of the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice concerning the financial obligations of Member States [A/5161]. My delegation cannot but endorse that opinion, which is based on the law and which emanates from a body symbolizing the rule of law in the world. In accordance with that opinion, the Lebanese Government is determined to discharge its financial obligations with respect to the financing of the United Nations forces in the Congo and in Gaza.
156. So far as the Congo is concerned, we trust, like the States of Africa, whose concern we share, that peace and understanding will be established once and for all in that strife-torn country, so that it can at last devote itself to the task of economic and social reconstruction.
157. We are confident that our Secretary-General, U Thant, will pursue to its conclusion the work he has undertaken in this noble cause, just as we are fully confident that he will continue, during his new term of office, to discharge the mission that the General Assembly has unanimously entrusted to him.
158. As I have said, the Lebanese Government is ready to fulfil its financial obligations in connexion with the forces stationed in Gaza. It is prepared to do so despite the burden it has assumed on behalf of the Palestine refugees, whose numbers amount to 12 per cent of the population of Lebanon and whom it has wholeheartedly welcomed to its territory until such time as they can return to their occupied, devastated or destroyed homes.
159. As regards United Nations security forces in general, I should like to recall that in 1950, in the course of our general debate [288th meeting], Lebanon suggested the creation of an international force. Such a force would not only have ensured the security of the Congo, or of the armistice lines in Palestine; it would also have repelled aggression in the Holy Land, and, particularly, would have protected a territory which is legally under the jurisdiction of the United Nations — the city of Jerusalem, which was internationalized by General Assembly resolution 194 (III) of 11 December 1948. It will never be too late to turn our minds to the fate of that eternal city, which is held sacred by more than one great religion, thus establishing the rule of law by the will of this Organization itself. We have heard appeals, and we shall probably hear others, for negotiations on the problem of Palestine and the Holy Places.
160. The conflicts which are echoed in this hall are numerous, and we all fervently desire to find solutions to them. But those who make such appeals or who support them must not forget that there is no peace without justice, and that our great Organization would be forsaking its principles and abandoning its objectives if it bowed — as did the League of Nations, which brought its death upon itself in doing so — to the fait accompli, which is the embodiment of injustice and the very negation of law. We must not resort to force in the solution of conflicts. But neither must we endorse, through an unjust settlement, results obtained by resort to force. Let us bear this in mind whenever the martyrdom of Palestine is spoken of.
161. It is our fervent wish that none of us should oppose a decision of this Assembly or a decision of the International Court of Justice. The authority of the General Assembly, the authority of that august tribunal of the Court, must be constantly expanded so that right and justice may be substituted, in international life, for force and unbridled violence. The rule of law must be complete; that is, it must be applied everywhere and at all times to all the principles of the Charter, to every sphere of international life and to all fields of human endeavour.
162. If the international situation does not at present permit us to revise the Charter so as to adapt it to the new circumstances engendered by its universal extension, then at least the Charter must be applied without reservation, in both its letter and its spirit. It is the duty of the United Nations, as one of the high places of the human spirit, to endow the international community, this great body which now extends to the uttermost ends of the inhabited world and which is called upon to carry its rule to space, with a soul worthy of it.