My delegation, before addressing this august Assembly, wishes to join with previous speakers in expressing sincere appreciation of the hospitality afforded to the United Nations and, therefore, to the Ethiopian delegation by the Government and people of France.
207. The United Nations, which has just opened the sixth year of its existence at this session, has been devoting its efforts to the furtherance of peace. During this period of five years the United Nations has passed from one crisis to another and many crucial problems remain still to be solved. That may be because the most vital and perplexing problems have been submitted to the United Nations for settlement.
208. The passage of time in itself, or the length of time during which the United Nations has successfully weathered many crises, are not in themselves the cause of satisfaction when the critical issues of the present hour are faced. Rather, the prolongation of a period of crisis is the cause of anxiety. For patience, be it that of individuals or nations, unless mitigated, has always an inevitable point of rupture. It is certainly the profound desire of all representatives, by all means within their power, to prevent the straining of those pressures and tensions which might produce that point of rupture.
209. Notwithstanding the darkened atmosphere of our meeting, we feel that the United Nations, convening in the sixth session of the General Assembly, disposes now of forces which will render its contribution towards the maintenance of world peace more efficacious than in the preceding years.
210. The United Nations has achieved progress in the field of collective security. That is, the United Nations has embarked upon an unprecedented decision to apply military measures for the defence of the Charter. As a representative of a State which is counted among the smaller States, which is making a loyal contribution to the defence of the Charter in Korea by giving a practical example of collective defence at the call of the United Nations, I think it is a matter of encouragement to us all to see this achievement of that collective stand which up to now has been considered an ideal.
211. His Imperial Majesty, our Emperor, when reviewing troops going to Korea, said on 12 April last: “It is but natural that the small nations, who must defend their independence with vigilance, should consider the principle of collective security as the cornerstone of their existence. No small State, no democratic nation, no people inspired with charity for others, could do otherwise.” This expression from the Emperor was an expression of a personal experience.
212. I wish to associate the hope of my delegation with that of others, that the main aim of the decisions of the United Nations to defend the victims in Korea will achieve its basic and ultimate objective, which must be to alleviate the misery of that unfortunate nation whether it is classified as south or north of the 38th parallel. That objective, we hope, will in turn lead to peaceful co-operation among the Koreans themselves.
213. A second element of encouragement in this work of the United Nations is the growth of the role of increasing importance of the small States Members of this Organization. In his annual report [A/1844/Add.1] the Secretary-General, with great perception and reason, has drawn the attention of the General Assembly to the emergence during the last six years upon the international and political scene of nearly one-quarter of the people of the world, and to the increasing consideration which must henceforth be given to the political and economic problems, particularly of the Middle East.
214. Small States also have strategic locations and strategic resources. It is to be hoped that their potentials may be properly evaluated in the cause of world peace. In this respect I wish to cite, by way of illustration, the situation of the country which I have the honour to represent here. Notwithstanding the devastation of war and the initial disadvantages, Ethiopia has made, under the wise guidance of the Emperor of Ethiopia, outstanding progress in several fields.
215. Today, according to a report published recently by the Food and Agriculture Organization, Ethiopia is by far the most important source of cereals and foodstuffs in the Middle East. Ethiopia’s problem is not, therefore, one of margin of subsistence, but that of pushing ahead the frontiers of the economic and social well-being of the people. Here a vast programme of public instruction is an essential prerequisite. To this we have consecrated the bulk of our national revenue. However, it should be apparent that, as elsewhere, there can be no turning back on the road of progress and that — with people everywhere growing in consciousness — unless the programme of economic and social assistance being pursued both within and without the United Nations can be achieved, political as well as social and economic grievances, leading to expressions of discontent, will inevitably follow. In no other region of the world is this more true than in the case of Africa and Middle Eastern countries. Their strategic and economic potentials cannot be ignored. Self-sufficiency is not the prerogative of a State, and least of all of the smaller States. The burden of rearmament, therefore, becomes transcendent in the sense that it curtails the amount of cooperation and assistance based on mutual goodwill. For this reason it becomes particularly important to resolve the world crisis, with its accompanying armaments race, in order to devote all efforts to raising economic and social standards — not alone in the Middle East but also in other parts of Africa, Asia, America and even Europe.
216. The kind of progress in social and economic development which I have tried to describe above may appear rather small by other standards. Yet such progress required the marshalling of all the energy that such an African State could muster. With all the goodwill in the world, it is inconceivable that the great industrialized nations which have a programme of rearmament to follow, at the expense of the risk of lowering the standard of living of their own peoples, should be expected, on however advantageous terms, to render, effectively, their co-operation in the cultural, economic and social development of the less-developed countries.
217. The purpose of mentioning Ethiopia’s efforts is merely to indicate the conditions which Ethiopia has in common with African and Middle and Far Eastern countries, and the necessity for peaceful conditions for the fruition of their vast social and economic programmes.
218. It might be noted that the small States have been making an increased contribution to the activities of the Organization. This is true in regard to the adoption of policies and decisions by the United Nations and, in particular, by the General Assembly. Small States are sometimes farther removed, politically and geographically, from the scenes of problems and, therefore, may be expected to bring to the examination and solution of such problems an element of disinterestedness and objectivity which might otherwise be lacking. It is also true that objectivity does sometimes imply the absence of an acute sense of practical reality, and that this defect may not have been without its influence in some decisions of the General Assembly. However, the combined actions and attitudes of the great and small States Members of the Organization should prove increasingly conducive to the just and balanced solution of all problems. Never were the great States of the world more powerful and more capable of exerting universally their forces for good or evil. Through the United Nations the same should be true of the small States, which enjoy numerical superiority, in the just solution of the problems of the world that affect everyone.
219. There is, finally, yet another cause for encouragement at this time when we are embarking upon our labours in an atmosphere troubled by war crises. All of us have been deeply impressed by the tone of sincerity of the representatives of the great Powers here calling for measures of immediate disarmament. A rise in armaments and in armament expenditures is perhaps, in a way, a symptom and not a cause. As has been said, it is a barometer of international pressures. It seems obvious that until these pressures have been removed, disarmament will not become a reality. Yet it is for this very reason that the almost unanimous appeal for disarmament assumes a force, intensity and sincerity which no one can deny. It is the outward expression of an inflexible resolve, whatever be the obstacles, to cut to the core of the problems that have been threatening the nations of the world, in order to remove those causes which tend to stretch yet further the already over-taut strands of patience.
220. The major Powers have the initiation of a solution of all these problems within their terms of reference under the Charter. Though not yet universally represented, the peoples of the world have met together in this Assembly through their representatives. Thus, perhaps, they could have chosen no more eloquent way in which to give expression to their sincerity and determination to bring to an end this long period of tension which threatens to nullify all their efforts to achieve peaceful progress.
221. Such a consideration, we believe, will lead to the end of the armaments race and enable attention to be directed to economic and social programmes which the United Nations is best fitted to undertake, namely those programmes which are set out in the terms of Article 55 of the Charter: “With a view to the creation of conditions of stability and well-being which are necessary for peaceful and friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, the United Nations shall promote: (a) Higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social progress and development; (b) Solutions of international economic, social, health, and related problems; and international cultural and educational co-operation...”
222. My delegation will be happy to lend its support to the agenda of this sixth session of the Assembly, always bearing in mind the positive aspects of the Charter which I have tried to indicate above.
223. In summing up, I beg to express the hope that, since it is the manifest desire of all to see conditions of peace established — and unity has been achieved by collective defence — the terms of the Charter to which I have referred should be applied as conditions of stability and well-being necessary for peaceful and friendly relations among nations.
224. With resolve and goodwill by all representing both great and small States, it is reasonable to hope that this sixth session of the General Assembly will achieve its high mission by putting an end to the causes of anxiety and by bringing about a new era of peace and understanding among men everywhere.