123. The Ivory Coast delegation and I myself, Mr. Vice-President, were very sad to learn of the accident suffered by the President, Mr. Fanfani, as a result of which he will be temporarily unable to take part in our work. My delegation asks you to convey to him our sincere wishes for his speedy recovery. We also extend to him our warmest congratulations on his election as President of the twentieth session of the General Assembly and we sincerely wish him every success in the performance of his important duties.
124. That is no doubt also the dearest wish in the hearts of men of good will who have placed so much hope in the outcome of the work of this Assembly. We should like the President to know that the members of the Ivory Coast delegation, and I personally, will spare no effort to help towards the accomplishment of his task and will give him our fullest co-operation.
125. My delegation also wishes to welcome to our midst all the newly independent countries: the Gambia — and we are proud to have sponsored its admission in our capacity as African member of the Security Council — Singapore and the Maldive Islands. The Ivory Coast wishes their people happiness and prosperity.
126. It is a happy sign that the twentieth session opens in a mood of concord, profound meditation and determination. It opens in a mood of concord because we have succeeded in agreeing to avoid at this session the pitfalls that beset the nineteenth session. It opens in profound meditation because it has just received the beneficent imprint of the message of peace delivered by His Holiness Pope Paul VI [see 1347th
meeting]. It opens in a mood of determination, because during this year, which the United Nations has designated as International Co-operation Year, each of us must see to it that our actions conform to the basic principles and objectives laid down in the Charter of our Organization.
127. My country, which won independence peacefully but at the cost of great sacrifices and whose foreign policy is directed towards international detente, peace and co-operation, would like, through me, to give evidence here of its modest contribution to the consideration and solution of the present world problems.
128. The first among these problems is that of decolonization. All States Members of our Organization should unremittingly denounce the remaining colonial Powers until they apply to the full the terms of resolution 1514 (XV) — the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples — adopted by the General Assembly on 14 December 1960 and the resolutions of the Security Council on the territories that are still dependent.
129. As we know, the Portuguese Government refuses to grant independence to Angola, Mozambique and so-called Portuguese Guinea, and turns its back on the implacable verdict of history. Such an attitude clearly represents a threat to the peace in Africa.
130. As regards Southern Rhodesia, a conference should be convened in all urgency to draft a new constitution under which the country would attain complete independence; its administration would then be lawfully restored to the African majority — the 4 million Africans — and would never again be in the hands of the white minority. This requires a prior release of all the present political prisoners. A mere readjustment of African representation under the present shabby Constitution can provide no guarantee for the Africans.
131. It is essential that Mr. Smith should not be so imprudent as to proclaim the territory’s independence unilaterally within the framework of the present Constitution. To prevent this, the United Kingdom must use all its power to compel the white minority Government to take the path of wisdom. The United Kingdom must not, directly or indirectly, be the accomplice of another South Africa.
132. South West Africa as it exists today is an unfortunate illustration of the odious policy of apartheid practised in South Africa. We really believe that apartheid not only vitiates the relations between the African peoples and the Government of South Africa but is a permanent threat to security in Africa and in the world. Here, as in Southern Rhodesia, the deterioration of the internal political situation is such that one may fear a bloody struggle which no legal fiction can contain. Such an outbreak of violence would be fraught with incalculable risks and consequences. It is indeed inconceivable that the African nations, which have fought so hard for their independence, would remain indifferent to the fate of several million of their brothers or deaf to their appeals. The growth of an armed conflict in the heart of Africa would not fail to bring about a profound shift in alliances.
133. The people of the Ivory Coast have been unanimous in expressing their unshakable determination to do all in their power to help the oppressed countries to regain independence and dignity. We think it deplorable that the recommendations of the United Nations should have remained a dead letter. In the face of the criminal persistence of Portugal and South Africa in maintaining an anachronistic situation and a historical misdirection, my country has joined with the body of African nations in asking for the necessary sanctions to be decreed and applied. In so doing, the Ivory Coast is consistently pursuing the objectives to which it pledged itself, once and for all, when it unreservedly subscribed to the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the charter of the Organization of African Unity, in the drafting which it participated at the historic Addis Ababa Conference of May 1963.
134. The last of the colonial Powers, recognizing the dangers to which they expose the world, should henceforth follow the path of universal reason. Then a new era will drawn, an era of construction of a multiracial community in Africa, in whose destinies all free African peoples, all nations, will participate actively on a basis of equality and mutual respect. Then we shall be able to speak of the unity of the African continent and fruitful co-operation among all nations: a unity which is the first step towards a glowing political and economical future, the role of an Africa which to become great must remain neutral, completely neutral, a peaceful and confident Africa, folly open to all discussion, to all constructive ideas, to the contacts and dialogues which are the surest guarantee of true conciliation and lasting peace.
135. When, in 1945, at the close of an inhuman conflict, the great Powers of the world resolved, in the face of such horrors, to ward off the threat of a war which could be fatal to us all, only three African countries — Ethiopia, Liberia and Egypt — were among the nations represented. Since then, not a year has gone by without one or more countries achieving independence and today thirty-six independent African States are seated in this Assembly. Consequently the need has arisen to adapt the structures of the Organization to the changes that have occurred in the World since 1945.
136. The Ivory Coast accordingly joined with all the developing countries in appealing to the great Powers to enlarge the membership of the principal organs of the United Nations, particularly the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council, so that the geographical representation of the nonpermanent members should be more in accord with the political realities of the world of today and better adapted to its requirements. It is therefore with great satisfaction that we welcome today the adoption of this reform in the structure of the United Nations. This development, which was necessary in many respects, is a further proof of the viability and vitality of the Organization and should enable it to discharge its difficult tasks more effectively by giving the young States an equal share in its responsibilities.
137. Regarding the representation of the People’s Republic of China, the position of the Ivory Coast is well known. We consider that tolerance is one of the essential conditions for the maintenance of peace. In Africa each country has chosen the political regime and economic System best suited to the temperament of its people and most likely to ensure their well-being. The objective of the regime chosen, which is to raise the level of living of the African people, demands scrupulous respect and the cooperation of all Governments. The People's Republic of China, on the pretext that conditions in Africa are ripe for revolution, is fostering subversion in our countries. Perhaps it respects the Governments it likes, although these Governments are beginning in their turn to pay the price of its underhand, pernicious and bellicose activities. But it pays murderers and trains them to seize power by assassination and to overthrow the Governments it does not like. Our attitude in the matter is governed by these considerations. Accordingly, this year, as in the past years, our position on this question remains unaltered.
138. I must now take up another burning question of our time, disarmament. It is hard to comprehend why this modern era, which is one of progress and should therefore be one of human well-being and happiness, should carry in it the threat of man’s destruction.
139. The moment we accept the idea of nuclear armament, we must also accept the fact that the existence of our planet and of its inhabitants may be threatened by the countries which are prosperous enough to afford costly armaments. To give up all hope of a general denuclearization is to admit that behind the fiction of a peace imposed by the balance of power, a peace which incidentally seems illusory to us, a possible and probable* upsetting of that balance could unleash those forces, and it is hard to see how they could be contained. To give up this hope is also to give free rein to inordinate ambitions, to coercion and to the ideological or economic imperialism of a few militarily superior Powers.
140. Faced with a situation whose outcome seems to become more hazardous each day the peoples who have neither the means nor the* desire to undertake or engage extensively in atomic research for military purposes, but yet feel themselves directly concerned by the threats of devastation which hang over all mankind, raise their voice on behalf of mankind, the majority of which they represent, and appeal to the strong and weak alike to see that every possible means is used to bring about a genuine agreement for the control and destruction of existing armaments, both conventional and atomic, and to convene a world disarmament conference as soon as possible.
141. These States, the non-nuclear Powers, whose only weapon is their good will, their weakness and their desire to live, have never ceased to exert moral pressure, both inside and outside the United Nations, in order to make the voice of reason heard. The spontaneous accession of more than ninety Governments to the nuclear agreement is eloquent proof of their desire to live in peace. They can only hope that the same desire will be sincerely shared by the nuclear Powers.
142. Yet at the time when these young nations were not yet represented in the United Nations, the originators of the Organization, who adopted the Charter and who are also the great Powers, pledged themselves to divert only a minimum of the world's human and economic resources to armaments.
143. There is something preposterous about the fantastic sums of money and the extraordinary efforts expended on devising ever more powerful means of destruction.
144. With one half of mankind desperately trying to raise itself out of poverty, the other half has embarked on a course whose possible outcome is the annihilation of everything and everyone. And what means have we to prevent this from happening? We have an international organ whose powers are limited by the Charter, which approaches the problems of disarmament with timidity; we have agreements prohibiting the use of nuclear weapons which are not only powerless to stop or even to slow down the arms race but have serious gaps both as regards the spatial limits of tests and the production of propulsion devices and as’ regards stockpiling, we have a body of proposals and resolutions which often remain without effect and which condemn but never settle anything, even when the resolutions are adopted unanimously; we have, lastly, a majority which paradoxically is powerless to ward off the danger.
145. How can we look calmly to the future when universal anguish, the fear of destruction and the threats and pressures which we feel with each lessening of tension and each crisis-wondering if it will be the fatal one — impel the poorer nations to acquire means of destruction at the cost of their development?
146. When we examine the record of the past twenty years, we note, that, despite the efforts that have been made, the results achieved, however encouraging they may appear, fall far short of the objectives that might have been obtained. The inescapable conclusion seems to be that ultimately the real solution lies in a world-wide recognition of the problem and in constant and appropriate contacts based on mutual respect and mutual concessions, on an understanding which we must build up patiently and resolutely, for the truth is that the road to wisdom is long and difficult.
147. In these circumstances let us consider what methods might be used to settle conflicts. Action to control, reduce and destroy the most terrifying weapons can have no real meaning unless it is buttressed by a genuine and universal determination to suppress the conflicts which break out here and there in the world. Such upheavals are doubly inhuman and injurious because they often pit the poorest countries against each other, causing them to spend their last forces on an action which, being hostile and fratricidal, is profitless. All of us, members of the third world, feel concerned for two reasons: first, because the situation entails risks for international peace and secondly, because it means, an erosion and weakening of the political and economic forces of the third world as a whole. The proliferation of such conflicts can only play into the hands of those who, for obscure reasons,’ secretly desire the perpetuation of a situation which threatens to ruin our prestige and perhaps even our future. Others see in it a convenient means of gaining a foothold amid the disorder or of experimenting on handy battlefields with weapons which, though conventional, are none the less formidable. We must put an end to this wave of disturbances, which may at any time spread and degenerate into one vast chaos in which our dearest hopes would quickly founder.
148. Confronted with this immense problem which hangs over the world — the problem of peace — it is our duty to make a constructive effort at co-operation, not only in the technical sense of the term but also, and above all, at the human level, by initiating and developing complementary ideological and cultural trends, by pooling our aspirations and our faith.
149. With that in mind, let us now consider what we mean by co-operation between developed and under-developed countries.
150. Malnutrition, low incomes, extensive underemployment, ignorance, bad health conditions — in other words, general poverty — and the economic and sometimes political subordination which result from them, create a vicious circle which deprives the developing countries of any hope of ever achieving prosperity through their own resources.
151. In many cases these countries, although poor, are not lacking in agricultural or industrial raw materials. The best proof of this is that their natural wealth has been, and still is in some cases, the prize competed for by the great colonial Powers. Neither are they lacking in men of courage, for in most cases the limited use they make of their human resources is due, not to the refusal of local communities to become part of the process of modern living and to accept its consequences and responsibilities, but to traditional economic and social structures that are utterly unsuitable.
152. Today it is, of course, commonplace to say that a country is poor because it has not enough roads, factories and schools and yet cannot build all these things because it is poor. This trite description of frightful poverty nevertheless offers a terrible threat to the prosperity and peace of the entire world. If these factors of instability are to be corrected and this great threat removed, the richest countries, in order to preserve their very existence, must cooperate in this great humanitarian work of fighting poverty and suffering.
153. The conditions for success can be reduced to the achievement of two essential purposes: to produce and to consume. These young countries must first be provided with the means of solving the problems of laying down an infrastructure which will enable them to attain the degree of industrialization required for their launching phase. It is for this purpose that the technical co-operation of the developed Countries is essential to them. They must then be given access to commercial markets for their raw materials and manufactures on conditions which enable them to restore the balance of their terms of trade and to form national capital, because the effectiveness of the assistance provided by co-operation in the form of equipment and technical experts is to a large degree dependent on the application of certain parallel and complementary measures designed to stabilize the prices of primary products from the less-developed countries. In fact, the gap between the rising cost of manufactures and the prices of raw materials is constantly growing, to the detriment of the primary producers. The inevitable result of this unfavourable situation of the terms of trade between the developed countries and the developing economies is a series of problems all of which affect the process of capital formation.
154. The developing countries, unable to cure their chronic balance-of-payments deficits, are finding it increasingly difficult to repay their debts and loans, the alternative being to resort to foreign public or private investment which, by its very nature, often has serious political implications and sometimes involves the risk of remaining in or reverting to a position of economic subordination similar to, and quite as evil as, colonialism. Hence, paradoxically, the under-developed countries are reluctant to accept unconditionally certain forms of investments or loans, either because they might endanger the balance of their economic structures or because they are accompanied by conditions which are incompatible with their idea of independence.
155. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development brought to the forefront a number of phenomena .and concepts the truth and rightness of which were formerly disputed. The Conference was the occasion of a new mutual awareness among the richest and the poorest countries, which, working together, assessed their common needs and interests and recognized that mutual international aid was not so much a charity as a matter of justice.
156. In their resolute but long and difficult advance from a subsistence economy to a market economy, the youngest and least fortunate nations need more markets and additional resources every day, as the traditional framework, no longer strong enough to contain their youthful vitality, disintegrates. It is because they are young and weak, because the balance and freedom which they are seeking are often fragile, that they place higher hopes than others on the establishment of firm economic relations among peoples for the purpose of fruitful international co-operation.
157. The real role of the United Nations is to coordinate a process of genuine and disinterested cooperation among all countries, to intensify it and plan it on a world scale. The Geneva Conference marks the first important step in that process. International solidarity was manifest throughout, in the fixing of quantitative targets for imports, in the willingness of some nations to facilitate access to their markets for primary or manufactured products from the developing countries, and in the elimination, of quantitative restrictions and discriminatory tariffs.
158. Nevertheless, population increase, on the one hand, and the decline in the terms of trade, on the other, are creating an ever-growing gap which it has hitherto proved impossible to bridge. The trend towards disproportionate wealth and poverty is becoming more marked and increasing the suffering and impatience of the needy countries. The gap between the prosperous nations and the nations that are hungry continues to grow, while material resources are diverted from their useful purposes and directed to the destruction of human resources.
159. Stable market prices, which have already been achieved for products such as rubber and tin, should be extended to all other products. This method represents the only reliable protection against the collapse of international market prices and the only one which could ensure fair and remunerative prices.
160. Yes, an important first step has been taken but we must consider the immensity of the task that remains to be done. This is not, of course, to minimize the genuine and very courageous efforts which have been undertaken but to throw even greater light, if possible, on the terrible effects of poverty, which reflect the disparity between the needs and the means of relieving them.
161. In this context, any waste or diversion has particularly dramatic repercussions. In the era of thermo-nuclear energy and space flights, we cannot but be proud of the steady progress of science, but to those who are hungry and cold and who suffer, the need for any effort which is not directed towards relieving their poverty and suffering is secondary. If the choice has to be made between happiness and reaching the moon, are those to whom poverty has taught the wisdom of unhesitatingly choosing the first to be blamed? If the greatest and wealthiest wish to arm themselves against men, another section of humanity claims the sacred right to arm itself against poverty.