It is with particular pleasure that I join
previous speakers in congratulating Mr. Hollai
most warmly, on behalf of the Government of
Ghana, on his election to the presidency of the
thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly.
His election is a fitting tribute to his many
fine qualities, which allow him to bring to this
difficult task wide experience and wisdom, from
which we shall no doubt stand to gain. We
therefore have every confidence that, with the
collective support of all delegations, he will
skillfully lead the session to a productive
conclusion. My delegation assures him of its full
co-operation at all times. I should like to take
this opportunity to pay a tribute to his
predecessor, Mr. Kittani, and express to him our
deepest appreciation for his excel¬lent
achievement in steering a difficult thirty-sixth
session to such a successful conclusion. I should
also like to place on record the profound
appreciation of my delegation for the competence
invariably displayed by the Secretary-General and
his able and dedicated staff in promoting the
business of the General Assembly.
108. Since the thirty-sixth session, the
international political scene has continued to be
worrying and efforts to find durable solutions to
many burning issues have only been met with
frustration. The Palestinian question, the war
between Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran,
the escalating arms race, the prob¬lems of
colonialism and racism and the ever-widening
economic gap between the North and the South—all
have increased in complexity. As we meet at this
thirty- seventh session, our skills,
inventiveness and good faith will be fully taxed
in our quest for a better world.
109. In drawing attention to the explosive
situations around the globe today, I should like
to touch upon the Middle East, because it is one
single issue which has gravely disturbed
international peace and security. In the wake of
some bold steps taken both within and outside the
United Nations system, one would have thought
that a significant improvement would by now be
discernible in the Middle East situation.
Unfor¬tunately, that situation has been further
complicated by the recent tragic devastation of
Lebanon. The callous Israeli invasion has
resulted in the loss of thousands of lives; it
has rendered hundreds of thousands homeless and
without shelter; it has ravaged towns and
villages, wantonly destroyed property and
demolished Palestinian refugee camps—and the
entire world has just looked on as though it was
all to be expected and all too normal.
110. It is inadmissible that after 35 years of
hostility and warfare no durable solution has
been found to the Palestinian question, which is
undeniably the crux of the Middle East dilemma.
The Palestinian people have suffered for far too
long. The international community and certain
Governments in particular must abandon their fear
of embarking on new policies which alone can
ensure that the Palestinians have a home. The
least that can be done is to implement fully
relevant Security Council and General Assembly
resolutions dealing with the fundamental and
inalien¬able rights of the Palestinians as
defined and elabo¬rated in General Assembly
resolutions 3210 (XXIX) and 3236 (XXIX). Those
two resolutions were again emphasized in Assembly
resolution ES-7/2. Ghana very strongly urges a
final solution of the question in terms of these
resolutions. We stand our ground and reaffirm the
principles underlying them, the most important of
which are: the right of the Palestinian people to
return to their homes and property in Palestine
from which they have been forcibly displaced and
uprooted; the right of the Palestinian people to
self-determination without external interference;
the right of the Palestinian people to establish
their own independent and sovereign State in
Palestine; the right to territorial integrity and
national unity—which must apply to all States in
the area; and the right of the PLO, the
representative of the Palestinian people, to
participate on an equal footing in all efforts,
deliber¬ations and conferences on the question of
Palestine and the situation in the Middle East
within the frame¬work of the United Nations.
HI. We cannot pretend that the legitimate
aspira¬tions of the Palestinians will die with
the arrogant use of force. The yearning of a
people for a home can never die, as the Israelis
must know. We call upon Israel to withdraw from
ail Arab lands it has occupied. Until Israel
heeds the conscience of mankind, it will continue
to create conditions for its isolation.
112. Another source of grave concern is the
ongoing war between Iran and Iraq, two developing
countries which require all the human and
material resources with which they are so richly
blessed to surmount the shackles of
underdevelopment and help their less fortunate
brothers of the third world. There is no point in
continuing this war, and we should like to
counsel our brothers in Iran and Iraq to seek the
road to peace.
113. My delegation is equally concerned about
the unsettled regional conflicts in Cyprus,
Afghanistan and Kampuchea. The early solution of
these conflicts will help brighten the
international horizon and replace fear with
confidence in the future, thus enhancing the
chances of our winning true peace for all
mankind. My delegation would like to support the
call for the withdrawal of all foreign troops
from those crisis areas and for respect for the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of all the
States therein. The solution of these conflicts
will not be possible, however, except within the
context of a comprehensive settlement of the
conflicting interests of all the parties involved.
114. The United Nations has, over its 37-year
history, scored a number of successes in the
areas of decoloni-zation, development assistance
and humanitarian work. The record, however, is
rather dismal in the resolution of conflicts and
the removal of the under¬lying factors that
engender them. The irony of the situation is that
all parties involved in the conflicts are
signatories to the Charter and all are thus
legally and morally enjoined to settle disputes
by peaceful means.
115. From the record of Ghana's participation
in the deliberations of the Organization, there
can be no doubt that my country has supported the
United Nations initiatives for peace. My country
has con¬sistently made troop contributions to
United Nations peace-keeping forces to serve as a
buffer in the effort to contain latent and
potentially explosive disputes. It is a difficult
and sometimes dangerous task which the United
Nations has performed with courage and
dedication, if not successfully on all occasions.
With all its faults, peace-keeping continues to
be a useful and serious undertaking that all
Member States should support. It is therefore
regrettable that countries which are easily in a
position to make contributions for peace-keeping
operations should be in default or refuse
outright to do so. We therefore appeal to all
those countries to honor their commitments in
this regard and make good their assessed
contributions in the greater interest of world
peace and security.
116. My Government is also ready and willing
to support any move designed to review the powers
of the Secretary-General with a view to making
him better able to deal with conflict situations
more decisively. This review is necessary if the
United Nations is not to be further harmed by the
crisis in confidence that now envelops it as a
result of the tendency of certain Member States
to play down its importance in finding solutions
to international problems.
117. A matter of fundamental importance to
world peace is disarmament. The outcome of the
recent second special session of the General
Assembly devoted to disarmament was most
disappointing. The primary responsibility for
controlling the arms race rests with the big
Powers. It is intolerable that they should
continue to endanger the security of all of us in
pursuit of superiority.
118. It is known that the quality of life in
the devel¬oping countries would take on a new
meaning if a portion of current expenditures on
arms were to be released for development
assistance. However, not only are we being denied
that assistance; we stand in danger of being
annihilated as a result of policies we have no
part in shaping. It is a misfortune that no
change of heart is in sight.
119. To have the peace and security in which
harmony and human development can survive is the
fervent hope of mankind. The delegation of Ghana
associates itself with those delegations that
have wel¬comed the proposals for a nuclear freeze
and urges the nuclear Powers to seize this
opportunity and to take those steps which must be
taken in order to rid our¬selves and posterity of
the danger of extinction.
120. It is not an accident of history that the
odious policy of apartheid is practiced with
impunity in South Africa; it derived its
inspiration from the imperialism and the racism
of the industrialized West and it is supported by
certain Governments and transnational
corporations, whatever they may say to the
contrary. The policy of apartheid has been
consciously and systematically nurtured into an
insti¬tutionalized racial bigotry that maintains
that the black man is little more than an object
of labour. He works under unjust and
discriminatory laws, suffers arbitrary
imprisonment and is denied his basic rights and
privi¬leges as a citizen of his own country. The
educational structure for the black population is
organized in such a way as to provide separate
and unequal levels of education appropriate only
to satisfy the labour needs of the white society
and of the transnational corporations.
121. And if those conditions were not
degrading enough, the South African Government's
policy of creating bantust is or independent
homelands has been initiated in order to
eliminate the inter-ethnic cohesion that is
necessary for collective action on the part of
the black majority in defense of their liberty.
122. What is happening in South Africa should
be a matter of concern to the entire world. Those
who gloss over the transgressions of South Africa
for whatever reasons and those who pursue profits
at the expense of human dignity are as guilty as
the bigots who hold power in South Africa.
123. The South African Government's
provocative aggression against Angola and
Mozambique, its inter-vention in Seychelles and
in Lesotho and its threats to other front-line
States show how passivity on the part of the
international community can encourage dangers to
international people and security. South Africa
has seen fit to refuse to comply with United
Nations resolutions and it continues its illegal
occupa¬tion of Namibia. South Africa is a
veritable inter¬national outlaw and it merits the
imposition of punitive measures from the Security
Council now. The longer we wait the greater the
danger that with the develop¬ment of a nuclear
capability in co-operation with other
racist-minded regimes it will be able to hold the
world to ransom.
124. There is no doubt that an oil embargo is
not only feasible but could be effective.
Virtually all South Africa's petroleum
requirements must be imported from abroad and
refined oil is indispensable to South African
transportation and industry, crucial levers of
its economic and military strength. An oil
embargo against South Africa would not have an
adverse impact on international oil companies.
The total interest of the five oil companies that
dominate the South African oil industry
represents only 1 per cent of their global
transactions. Nor is there any major
oil-producing country whose livelihood depends on
oil exports to South Africa. The sanctions
envisaged can be enforced not by adopting the
expensive method of patrolling the South African
coastline but by having recourse to the cheaper
alternative of the withdrawal of transport
facilities for the shipment of oil to South
Africa. We do not endorse the cynical argument
that the black population stands to suffer most
if mandatory oil sanctions are imposed on South
Africa. I believe I echo the views of the black
majority in stating that their plight under the
yoke of apartheid with all its inhumanity and
degradation will come to aspeedier end if
sanctions are imposed on South Africa.
125. We are following with interest and some
disap¬pointment the efforts of the Western
contact group to resolve the Namibian problem.
The linkage being made between this problem and
the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola casts
grave suspicions on the sincerity of some of the
parties involved. Meanwhile, our whole-hearted
support will continue to be given to SWAPO for
the successful liquidation of colonialism and
racism in Namibia.
126. When one looks at the present world
economic situation characterized, on the one
hand, by record levels of unemployment,
recession, budget deficits, high interest rates
and other constraints in the de¬veloped world,
and deteriorating terms of trade, record budget
deficits, huge debt burdens and declining rates
of growth in the developing world on the other,
it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the
crises in the political sphere have their
parallel in the economic realm as well and that
one can hardly be considered without the other.
127. In this generally dismal landscape the
con¬spicuous plight of the non-oil-producing
African countries, many of whom have long been
among the poorest of the poor, is nothing short
of desperate. I need not remind the Assembly that
many African countries have actually been
experiencing negative rates of growth at the very
time when they are under¬going a population
explosion. For them poverty has become a way of
life.
128. The fact that the whole world economy is
in a general state of disequilibrium and that
even the most efficient and frugal countries are
faced with serious economic difficulties should,
in our opinion, once more underline the point
many of the developing countries have reiterated
almost nanseam; that the economic, recovery of
the developed countries of the North is
inexorably linked to the economic prosperity and
progress of the developing countries of the
South. The whole world economy, in other words,
is so interlinked and interdependent that the
prosperity and well-being of each country is a
necessary pre-condi¬tion for the prosperity of
all. No one country or group of countries can
today pursue economic policies of a narrow,
self-centered nature without risking economic
disaster for itself in the long run. For that
reason policies of economic blockade outside the
framework of a United Nations sanctions policy
are as outdated and reactionary as the gunboat
diplomacy of times past.
129. The old order—which is now facing a grave
crisis—in which the developing countries supply
abundant raw materials at cheap prices determined
by the markets in the West and are then forced to
buy manufactured goods at expensive prices
determined by the same markets, must give way to
a more equitable system in which the benefits of
economic activity accrue to all who create the
wealth of the world and not only to a small
minority of nations.
130. We reaffirm that the realignment of
international economic relations, as envisaged in
the Declaration and the Programme of Action on
the Establishment of a New International Economic
Order, adopted by the General Assembly in 1974 ,
is a necessity if the world economy is to
overcome its present malaise.
131. It is in this context that my delegation
deeply regrets the failure of the strenuous
efforts made to arrive at a suitable basis for
the launching of global negotiations on
international economic co-operation for
development. We believe that the urgency of the
situation requires that this issue should occupy
a central position on the international
community's agenda for the immediate future.
Without the prospect of general economic recovery
there cannot be genuine political stability and
without political stability there cannot be
peace. As long as millions of people continue to
go to bed hungry, as long as thousands starve to
death while some nations can afford to spend over
$600 billion a year on refining the apparatus of
destruction, there will be no peace. The
responsibility for this will rest squarely with
the industrialized countries, particularlyin the
West.
132. Ghana stands ready to join in any
meaningful initiatives to resolve outstanding
differences so that the way may be cleared for a
serious attempt to address the economic
imbalances and injustices of the past and present.
133. While the North-South dialogue has made
disap¬pointing progress, Ghana is pleased to note
that the developing countries have made
substantial efforts to increase co-operation for
development among them¬selves. We are
particularly pleased that a significant number of
sectoral meetings have taken place this year in
connection with the implementation of the Caracas
Programme of Actions for economic co¬operation
among developing countries, and we are determined
to give full support to every move in the
direction of collective self-reliance, not as a
substitute for global economic reform but as a
com¬plementary effort. Ultimately, the third
world must look to itself to reverse the
exploitative economic relationships fostered by
colonialism and imperialism. This calls for a far
greater level of political con¬sciousness than
the leadership of many a third world country
would allow or would be allowed by those who
stand to lose. It is found to be more convenient
to be content with a neo-colonial relationship
that is beneficial to the class to which the
leadership belongs but which is damaging in the
long run to the interest of the masses. The
Government of Ghana does not intend to be found
wanting in the effort, co-operation and sacrifice
that are necessary for the salvation of the
underprivileged nations of the third world.
134. The adoption on 30 April 1982 of the
Conven¬tion on the Law of the Sea by the Third
United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea
represents a momentous event in the life of the
Organization. It demonstrates the capacity of the
United Nations to forge legally binding
instruments for peace, security and development.
The Convention itself is a unique blend of old
and new concepts in international law: the
concept of freedom of the seas on the one hand
and the modem and novel concepts of exclusive
economic zones and the common heritage of mankind
on the other.
135. The delegation of Ghana is firmly of the
view that the United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea will provide, upon its entry into
force, the only form of legality in regard to the
oceans which is known to the world community. Any
unilateral action intended to preserve the
privileges of the few in the exploitation of the
resources of the seas must be resisted by the
international community.
136. As we meet at the present session of the
General Assembly, it would be useful for us all
to bear in mind that we represent peoples of a
world in which the clear majority is yearning for
peace, security and development; we must also
remember that we play our respective diplomatic
roles in a world that has become interdependent
to a great degree. The situation calls for
abandoning selfish national interests and making
a moral commitment to the betterment of the
inter¬national community. The delegation of Ghana
hopes that this session will help generate that
moral commitment.