YouSaid · the spoken record

Alladaye

lines on the record: 282
first: 1973-09-24
most recent: 1979-09-24
sittings or episodes: 6
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“If the Assembly followed my train <of thought it will have noticed that everywhere international peace and security are sorely tried and that wherever this is the case one can see the hand of one or both super-Powers and that they stop at nothing when it comes to exercising their power and sabotaging the efforts of the Organization for international peace and security. The question therefore arises, if the situation continues, whether all the members constituting the Assembly will continue to allow the Organization to be weakened at the behest of the super-Powers. 131. My delegation thinks that times have changed since the San Francisco Conference, which was essentially concerned with dividing up the world into hegemonic zones.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“If my country unreservedly supported the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, it nevertheless feels that if those weapons were not such as to endanger the very existence of the countries possessing them, the Organization would never have taken up the problem and sought to limit their scope. It is thus hypocritical frantically to seek for a limitation of weapons which can upset the tranquility and the development of the great Powers while doing nothing to reduce the manufacture of conventional weapons or the sale of those weapons to others, encouraging them to seek confrontation among themselves. 130.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“It is now time for the Assembly to Clarify its position, which, in any event, must be one of seeking the restoration of the rights of the Royal Government of National Union, which is still headed by Prince Norodom Sihanouk, whose forces still control almost all of Cambodian territory. The Assembly must render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and exclude the representatives of the Lon Nol clique. 129. One corollary of the persistence of zones of tension is the proliferation of weapons and the need of the industrialized countries to find outlets for their arms industries. My delegation thinks that we should denounce that competition in the sale of weapons which is taking place all over the world now following the energy crisis.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“In other words, if one of the parties calls into question the existence of that force, the Assembly must take measures enabling the withdrawal of the so-called United Nations forces from Korea in order to ease contacts between the two parties. And we must do everything possible to avoid jeopardizing the reunification desired by the two parties. 128. In Cambodia, an intolerable situation continues, enabling a clique which actually represents nothing to continue to claim to speak on behalf of the Khmer people and to occupy Cambodia's seat in the General Assembly.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“The main cause of this situation lies in the presence of foreign forces based on the territory of one of the parties. When we realize that that so-called United Nations force; which was once composed of troops from a number of countries, now consists solely of troops from one country, it can easily be understood that the decision of the Organization in setting up that force is no longer in effect and that the last bastion of the so-called United Nations force should also leave Korea. In any event, if a force is to take refuge under the United Nations flag, it can only be with the consent of the parties concerned.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“Thus in Viet Nam, after the international community learned with relief of the conclusion of the Paris Agreement, which was supposed to lead that country towards peace by making possible the establishment of a democratic regime, war continues because a clique in foreign pay has been unwilling to respect the terms of that Agreement. 127. In Korea, the fact that the Truce Commission scuttled itself following contacts between South and North made it easier for the twenty-eighth session of the General Assembly to adopt a consensus text.9 By that consensus the Assembly invited the two parties to continue their dialog with a view to finding a solution enabling them to reach their objective of peaceful and democratic unification. Unfortunately, since the last session no progress has been made in the direction desired by the General Assembly.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“But all that matters to them is their interests and their rivalries. My delegation feels, however, that despite the reservations raised by the interference of the great Powers in this matter, the proposal, supported by my Government, that there be an international conference attended by members of the Security Council, the parties concerned and the non-aligned States should be given close attention. This solution is not ideal but is nevertheless one way of seeking to restore peace and constitutionality to that tormented island. 126. In the IndoChina peninsula the situation remains tense; international peace and security continue to be sorely tried.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“In acting so lightly, those remote-controlled foreign forces which have underlain the Cypriot tragedy since 15 July demonstrated a very shortsighted view, in that their acts have fostered the division of the island into two distinct communities and have seriously jeopardized constitutional law and the self-determination of the Cypriot people. 125. For the super-Powers this has been a fine opportunity for mutual outbidding. If they had at least taken the trouble to think first and foremost of the sufferings of the displaced populations before waging war, that would have been easier to understand. If they had left it to the competent authorities of the Organization in this particular case, the Security Council to settle the problem in fairness and justice, we would not be where we are today.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“Those unfamiliar with international politics might find it at least incomprehensible, if not inadmissible, that right under the very nose of the United Nations force, whose mission was to watch over peace between the two communities and to protect constitutional legality, a coup d'etat should have taken place without that force being able to come to the assistance of the constitutionally elected head of government, Archbishop Makarios. But if one bears in mind "the limits of the Organization and the more-or-less openly avowed determination of the super-Powers to demonstrate their hegemonic strength, one will easily understand the political and strategic motives that impelled the instigators of the coup to jeopardize the very existence of that sovereign State and Member of the Organization. 124.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“Thanks to the efforts of the mediator sent by the Secretary-General, a solution was found which, for the moment, appears to rule out any possibility of a resumption of hostilities, provided, of course, that lose truly responsible so wish and that the peoples of those countries understand that it is not in their interest to continue killing each other. 123. In Cyprus, the situation created by hot-heads remote-controlled from one knows not where was obviously intended to discredit the Organization, to the extent that it nearly shook its institutions.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“It is at that price, and at that price alone, that the Geneva Peace Conference can be moved off dead-center and that the Organization can make a positive contribution that will help spare the Middle East a further flare-up of violence. 122. What I was saying a moment ago about the attitude of the super-Powers is further illustrated in the conflict that flared up between Iraq and Iran. One had only to listen to the statements of the representatives of the parties to the dispute before the Security Council and to recall the inability of that organ to any decision to realize that a situation had arisen for which the two countries were not really responsible. And yet there were casualties on both sides.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“But if a just and lasting peace is to be restored to that part of the world, my delegation feels that it must not be at the expense of the aspirations of the Palestinian people; for that people, deprived of its land and reduced to a nomadic existence, and whose national identity has been completely flouted, also has the right to a homeland. That is why my country has supported the inclusion in the Assembly's agenda of the item entitled "Question of Palestine" [item 108}. Indeed, the time has come for us to stop deceiving ourselves; we must insist on speaking the language of truth. The parties concerned must come before us and tell us their thoughts so that the delegations here may determine their attitudes advisedly.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“It is therefore urgently necessary, first of all, that Israel withdraw from all occupied Arab territories and, secondly, that, rather than freezing the situation, those principally responsible and those actually involved should find a formula that will make possible an early resumption of the Geneva Peace Conference on the Middle East with a view to restoring a just and lasting peace in the region. It is the interests of the peoples of that area that are at stake. It is the interests of the international community too that are at stake, to the extent that that Conference will help safeguard peace and security in the Middle East. 121.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“It is indeed painful to note that, despite the many resolutions of the Organization, relative peace has prevailed in the Middle East only when th? superPowers have decided it should, thus demonstrating that, when they see fit to cease their rivalry, areas of conflict in the world can disappear once and for all. In these circumstances, and in view of these facts, which speak for themselves, how could we fail to hold them responsible for all the wars that periodically flare up here and there? 120. In the Middle East, the guns are now temporarily silent, but there is no guarantee that the fighting will not start again.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“Everyone here knows that the General Assembly was able to complete the work of its twenty-eighth session on 16 September last only because of the conflict that shook the Organization as a result of the resumption of hostilities last October in the Middle East. Thanks to the wisdom of the parties concerned, and above all because the super-Powers understood the danger to the world of the perpetuation of such a situation, a disengagement agreement was concluded, first between Egypt and Israel and then between Syria and Israel, thus for the time being averting any resumption of hostilities. Although it is not yet possible to say that all danger of war has been eliminated, the maneuvering of the great Powers in the region has clearly shown their standing concern to prove to the world that the controls are still in their hands. 119.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“Following the repeated efforts of the Secretary-General, under the instructions of the Security Council, to settle the problem amicably with the apartheid regime, and taking into account the obvious bad faith displayed by the South African Government, my delegation thinks that our Assembly Should Once again take up the problem of Namibia as a whole with a view to finding the urgent and immediate solution that is necessary. I need hardly emphasize that such a situation, should it long continue, might become a grave threat to international peace and security, if the Assembly does not give it all due attention in good time. 118.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“It is high time the Organization at last applied Article 6 of the Charter to excise this gangrenous growth from its body. 116. My delegation feels the time has come for our Assembly to take energetic measures against that Government. It is all the more important to do so because that Government, in defying the decisions of the Assembly that took from it the Trusteeship of Namibia and the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice declaring illegal the presence of South Africa in Namibia, sees fit to carry into that Territory which is henceforth under the authority of the United Nations Council for Namibia its policies of apartheid and bantustanization. 117.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“That complacent interpretation, far from giving the minority Government of South Africa pause, has merely strengthened it in its inhuman policies based upon denial of the human dignity of black people. In the circumstances, it is impossible for our Assembly to remain indifferent to the defiance that a Member of the Organization constantly flings in our face. If we can still take refuge behind legal quibbles -and for certain of us such a refuge is at any rate highly convenient nevertheless intellectual honesty should make us ask ourselves what this "Member", which systematically refuses to apply either its Charter or its resolutions, is doing among us. Honesty and common sense yes, honesty and common sense alone should long ago have made us expel this, to say the least, peculiar Member.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“This intolerable and inadmissible situation, created by a Member of the Organization, has been the subject of many resolutions which the Pretoria regime has constantly refused to implement. Thus South Africa has placed itself beyond the pale of the Organization, which now has no choice but to assume its responsibilities. What is more, since 1970, our Assembly has continuously rejected the credentials of representatives of the apartheid Government because that Government is not an expression of the aspirations of the entire South African population, white and black. Nevertheless, legal quibbles have always led to the argument that the decisions of our Assembly are serious warnings addressed to the apartheid regime that it should change its policies and act in accordance with the provisions of the Charter. 115.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“The Organization is today entitled to ask of the United Kingdom how long it means to go on perpetuating such a situation despite the conclusions of the Pearce Commission's report.7 Is it not time for the rebel minority regime to be brought to reason and for the administering Power to cease taking refuge behind fallacious pretexts? 114. The case of South Africa also deserves rather close at trillion. Since its creation, our Organization he. continuously been concerned with the situation in South Africa, where apartheid has been made into a political philosophy of government. Everyone knows the lot of black people there, who are not even recognized as human beings.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“That is why we feel that now, more than ever before, the Organization should follow the development of the situation in southern Africa and hold itself in readiness to give material support to those countries, if their independence proves to be threatened. 112. I wish now to speak of the two cancers afflicting Africa, with which that whole continent, and the United Nations itself, must cope. I refer to Rhodesia and South Africa. 113. The first continues to defy the Organization - with, of course, the complicity of the administering Power, which, despite its Pontius Pilate -like reactions, nevertheless bears the (entire responsibility for the situation created in that country , where a white minority deliberately chose to rebel against, the British Crown, stifling the will of an overwhelming black majority.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“111. That is why we in Dahomey think it is still too early to determine when the process of decolonization now being undertaken by the new Portuguese leaders will actually be completed. We cannot demobilize our troops yet; it is too early for us to cry victory while the threats hanging over our brothers are still so grave and their future still almost wholly uncertain. My country is grateful to the Portuguese authorities for their determination to liberate the colonized Territories, but we can do no more until Portugal has settled the political imbroglio and ended the suffering for which it is responsible in those countries.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“If in Portugal itself the progressive forces seem to have the upper hand for the moment, it is none the less true that the forces of evil in that country are still considerable and very active. Those who regret a past that is over and done with will not fail to cherish the illusion of new Portuguese Rhodesia. Certain great Powers will not wish to stand idly by while new nations emerge in strategic locations and endowed with a wealth of strategic resources. There is not the slightest shadow of a doubt that the racist minorities in South Africa and Rhodesia will not fail to take a negative view of the appearance of new black States on their doorsteps, and the active support they give the whites in Mozambique and Angola, who wish to sabotage the new policy of liberation embarked upon by Portugal, is in this connexion highly, significant.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“Yes, the Revolutionary Military Government of Dahomey notes with sympathy the courageous choice taken by the new regime in Portugal henceforth to take the place which is rightfully theirs in the Organization and we encourage that Government to continue along those lines. But my delegation is in duty bounded say that it will not go further for the time being, and Africa should still not lay down its weapons at this stage of the struggle, for if, generally speaking, the progressive world applauded the initiative of the new Portuguese authorities, one cannot help feeling some uncertainty as to the future of the colonies that are now promised their freedom. 110. .What is at stake is certainly complicated, and the imperialist and capitalist interests that are threatened are considerable.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“Turning again to the African countries which are in the process of regaining their freedom, my delegation agrees that the task of our Assembly has been facilitated by the victory of the progressive forces in Portugal itself. The statement made by General Spinola on 27 July last, making public for the first time the firm determination of his Government to grant independence to its former Portuguese colonies, and the statements of Mr. Mario Soares, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the new Portugal, from this same rostrum [2239th meeting], constitute commitments which my Government takes at their face value. 109.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“Thus, it is with deep emotion that, on behalf of the Revolutionary Military Government and the people of Dahomey, I hail the representatives of this sister State which has suffered so much to gain its freedom. 107. Since I have been given the opportunity, I should also like to welcome the sister republics of Grenada and Bangladesh, which have just joined the great family of the United Nations. Their arrival in our midst is clear evidence that, despite all obstacles, the Organization is proceeding irresistibly towards universality ; To each of these sister countries, I should like to assure the friendship and co-operation of Dahomey. 108.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“But, one year ago, despite our legitimate and genuine joy, despite the striking manifestations of solidarity of peoples throughout the world who love peace and justice, our peoples in Africa were perplexed and pained at the hesitations and the shilly shallying of certain important Members of the Organization which still hesitated to look the truth in the face. Thank Heavens, we are able to recognize now that the wheel of history has turned more quickly than all the sordid calculations and highly selfish interests of those who had become accustomed to remaining insensitive to the sufferings and tribulations of oppressed peoples. That country which yesterday was refused de jure recognition is today sitting among us as a fully fledged member of the international community.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“The valiant fighters of that sister State, by liberating at the price of unheard-of sacrifices almost all of its territory, by proclaiming the independence of Guinea-Bissau, thus took up the challenge which had been flung at fighting Africa and the peace-loving and justice-loving people of the whole world by the Fascist and anachronistic regime of Caetano and company. In doing so they had proved to the world that the course of history is irreversible and that just causes always triumph in the end, regardless of the obstacles placed in their path. 106. The striking and brilliant victory of progressive forces in Portugal a little later and the toppling of the Caetano clique in shame confirm our appraisal of this historic truth.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“President, because after secret negotiations carried out in London, the Partido Africano da Inde-pendencia da Guine e Cabo Verde (PAIGC) reached an agreement with its adversary that your country should be witness of the act whereby Portugal, finally awakened from its chimerical dreams, transferred powers it had usurped for more than 10 years, and more' particularly since last year, to Guinea-Bissau. 105. It will be recalled that on 24 September last, when the twenty-eighth session of the General Assembly had barely begun its work, news reached us of the proclamation of the independence of the State of Guinea-Bissau. That historic act of an African people was welcomed by us with joy, because our sister State had finally won by struggle, with weapons in hand, and regained its dignity and international sovereignty.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“However, you will readily appreciate that the delegation which I am leading at this twenty-ninth session attaches special importance to certain items of capital importance to Africa in particular and for the countries of the Third World in general. These questions deal with the situation of the countries engaged in a struggle for their liberation from domination and foreign exploitation, problems of racism and apartheid, conflicts throughout the world and, of course, problems concerning development in the context of the new world economic order. 104. For several months now Africa has been the scene of one of the most striking events in its history: the beginning of the liquidation of the last bastions of colonialism. You are in a good position to realize this, Mr.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“I personally, on the occasion of his sojourn in Dahomey, had an opportunity to witness the interest that he shows in African problems and his desire - which is markedly increasing -to act in such a way as to ensure that resolutions of the Organization on decolonization, racism, apartheid and racial discrimination are implemented in their entirety. For all of this, he deserves the congratulations and encouragement of the international community. 103. Mr. President, in your introductory statement [2233rd meeting] you very ably sketched the international problems confronting the Organization in the past and today, so there is no need for me to dwell on this.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“To be convinced of this-one need only follow his accomplishments and actions throughout the year. There is everything to show that nothing can daunt this ardent defender of the cause of the Organization when it is a matter of bringing about the triumph of the purposes and principles contained in the Charter. 102. My country rejoices in the fact that we had the pleasure of receiving Mr. Waldheim last March in the course of his brief trip to western Africa, a trip which enabled him to observe for himself, on the spot, the damage caused by the natural disaster of drought.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“The way in which the business of the twenty-eighth session was conducted under his high authority, his courtesy and his knowledge of the practices of the United Nations are evidence that I was not mistaken in my appraisal. Quiring the sixth special session, over which he also presided, Mr. Benites gave us lessons in courage and deyotion which proved—if proof were necessary—-how much he cherishes international peace and security . 101. Dahomey has followed with special interest the activities of our Secretary-General in the course of this year. The dynamism, the patience and the perseverance that he has displayed in confronting the difficult and very delicate problems that have been entrusted to him deserve our praise and make him an exemplary international civil servant, wholly devoted to international peace and security.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“Thus, in adding my voice to those very eloquent tones of representatives who have preceded me at the rostrum, I should like above all to welcome in you the worthy son of militant Africa, that Africa which, expunging the record of the severity with which determined colonization tried to smother legitimate aspirations, was able to show, once its objectives had been attained, that it knows how to forget and to pardon. This is our guarantee that throughout the entire session we will be guided by a man of high quality, dedicated to just causes and legitimate aspirations of the peoples which we represent here. 100. Last year, from this same rostrum, I welcomed our incoming President, Mr. Leopoldo Benites, a descendant of that Latin America which has been nourished on the patriotic traditions of Bolivar.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“And since at the present time we are living through a new era of decolonization, how could I fail to touch on the lengthy and difficult process of decolonization in Algeria, which was the result of a glorious revolution of which you are a member of the youngest and most dynamic cadre. The Algerian revolution did not only overthrow an entire system of domination and exploitation in northern Africa. It did more than that: thanks to that revolution it became possible to ensure self-determination and independence for most of our French-speaking countries. Since that time you have been engaged, side by side with your great leader President Houari Boumediene, with rare success in promoting in Algeria a foreign policy worthy of liberated Africa, divested of all forms of subordination between the parties. 99.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“Indeed, your lengthy experience in the workings of the United Nations, which you have more than once sparked with your dynamic participation, the authority and mastery which you have gained throughout your lengthy and brilliant career in the service of the Algerian diplomatic corps, your many and valuable contributions to the cause of the non-aligned countries and that of the Organization of African Unity [OAU], are just so many major trump cards which will not fail to bring their full influence to bear in the discharge of our tasks, above all at a time when the United Nations has entered upon a new historic phase of its existence. 98.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“In so doing it would be difficult for me, however, to fail to discharge the pleasant duty of saying to this brilliant audience how highly appreciative the Revolutionary Military Government of Dahomey is for the wise choice which resulted in your distinguished person being elected to preside over the Assembly and which, beyond question, will be an omen for the successful conduct of the work of this twenty-ninth regular session of the General Assembly. 97.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“Mr. President, after listening to all the tributes addressed to your country, as well as to your own person, it would be tempting to refuse to follow the tradition for fear that, if I did, I might find myself uttering commonplaces and cliches. This temptation is all the more pressing since Dahomey considers that your election to preside over this twenty-ninth session of the General Assembly is as if we ourselves had been elected, not only because your election is the election of Africa as a whole, but also because of the ties of deep friendship which bind our two peoples together. 96.”
1974-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 29 (1974)
“Universal peace is indivisible and there can be no true international detente if imperialism, colonialism, racism and economic exploitation of the weaker by the more powerful are still at the root of relations among peoples. There could be no international peace and security without the total elimination of those scourges from the life of mankind. This is a truth that it is our duty to keep well in mind throughout our work in order that the United Nations may be the true place of understanding and universal solidarity.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“Be they the continuous assaults of the imperialism of the wealthy and colonialist Powers in Africa or elsewhere, of racial discrimination established as a system of government, of the occupation by force of the territory of other States, of peoples divided following foreign interference or economic domination I of one part of the world by another, the third world today stands outside the peace initiatives that the developed world multiplies in favour of international detente. The most pessimistic perhaps are not wrong in detecting in those initiatives a general conspiracy of the "haves" against the "have nots". Because it is to be feared in fact that the settlement of differences between the developed countries may be achieved to the detriment of others.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“In any event, for the great nations that dream is becoming a reality because the progress of science and technology makes it possible to envisage the process that will enable us to improve the quality of life. We want to see in these important changes that characterize our international relations today the proof that international peace and security are ideals, the realization of which can be achieved by nations and men. 116. Over 130 sovereign countries are represented in this forum where for close on a 100 days their plenipotentiaries will review all the burning problems threatening universal peace. I nave touched upon some of those problems, the majority of which have already been the object of numerous discussions and recommendations in this same Assembly.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“The time has come to end this statement. I should like to end on a note of hope, the hope that is aroused in all hearts by the noble purposes of the Charter governing our Organization. 115. We see in the happy initiatives of peace and cooperation between the great Powers in general and the European countries in particular, a concrete realization of the objectives set by the nations that met in San Francisco at the end of the Second World War. The progress achieved lately along the path of general and complete disarmament leads us to believe that we were not dreaming when we advocated that one day mankind could live without confrontation born of conflicts of interest and influence and could pass on to an era of general solidarity where peoples would be happy and free and respect each other and each other's rights.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“The present monetary situation hardly enables the developing countries to obtain sure earnings from their exports on the international market. Thus, in the course of the negotiations to be opened shortly to review and appraise international economic relations, special attention must be given to measures designed to confer true advantages on the trade of the developing countries by ensuring in particular an increase in hard currency, the diversification of their economies and the acceleration of their trade. 113. We are profoundly attached to international peace and security. Our efforts aiming at the promotion of the well-being of peoples stems from our conviction that the shortest road to the establishment of durable peace is not war but the economic and social development of the underprivileged. 114.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“However, we believe that the international community must not await natural catastrophes to help peoples that are affected, but rather should arm them so as to prevent those effects, for if it is - good to give fish to someone who is hungry, it is better to teach him to fish. 111. By helping the developing countries to fight the spectre of hunger within the framework of concerted international action, the world community will also liberate human resources which will be able to make a valuable contribution to development. The acceleration of this process in the trade field calls for the stabilization of the price of products from those countries as well as an increase in their export earnings without forgetting, however, the need to eliminate obstacles of every kind that stand in the way of primary products in the developed countries. 112.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“We think, for instance, of the proposal made a few months ago by the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO] concerning international action With a view to ensuring a minimum level of world food security. It deserves careful study in the hope that soon it will be applied in practice. We refuse to accept: "... that in these, the years of the 1970s, our world, with all its scientific capacity and the slow appearance of a spirit of communal action, may allow the persistence of a situation in which human beings depend on rain and good weather for their food." 110. In this connexion, my delegation also welcomes the proposal of the Secretary of State of the United States, Mr. Henry Kissinger, to convene in 1974 a world food conference [2124th meeting].”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“As for international co-operation, everything goes on as if the wealthy countries cannot be moved except in the face of dramas that border on the catastrophic. Lucidity, intelligence and genius seem to be bowed in indifference and hardly troubled by the daily spectacle of hunger, misery and poverty. The generous impetus that in the recent past allowed reconstruction and development in entire continents ravaged by war is stifled in this instance by quibbling and casuistry. 109. There would be reason to despair of human solidarity, were it not that authoritative voices in the United Nations often come to shake the international community out of its torpor.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“Its primary purpose is to nourish men and to make it possible to accumulate, through international trade, capital goods designed to sustain, consolidate and diversify the development process. 107. The tasks that are required to achieve development are quite clear, the methods to accomplish them well known, and yet millions of human beings throughout the third world continue to live an anachronistic life of poverty, when they do not simply die of hunger. 108. It is by living such dramas as those that have befallen the Sahelian countries that one realizes that with the present means available, national development measures are subject to the vagaries of fate beyond the control of the developing countries.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“The Head of State of Dahomey stated in this connexion that "first we must rely on our own forces, on our own resources, on the creative initiative of the masses in our struggle to shake off the yoke of foreign domination, to develop our economy and to give our people the dignity and personality of a free people". But these national measures must be accompanied by measures of international co-operation which, on the whole, tend to improve the quality of human resources in the developing countries by facilitating the training of men and the acquisition of techniques that will make it possible to increase the productivity of those countries. 106. Production is, however, not an end in itself.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social progress and development." 104. By adopting the international strategy for the Second United Nations Development Decade [resolution 2626 (XXV)], the United Nations community once again undertook to create conditions of stability and well-being and to ensure a minimum standard of living consistent with human dignity through economic and social progress and development. 105. To attain the realization of this fundamental condition which is essential to peace and stability throughout the world, two categories of complementary instruments are envisaged in general. First of all there are national measures for mobilizing human and material resources that are controlled by each of the developing countries in their respective territory.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“Thus, it will be understood that the presence of foreign troops in the southern part of the country cannot have our approval. It is for this reason that my country formally demands that United Nations troops stationed in South Korea be withdrawn and that the so-called Armistice Commission be dissolved. 102. One of the fundamental objectives of the policy of the Military Revolutionary Government of Dahomey is the realization of a society where all will live happily because they will have the minimum necessary for a decent life. 103. This aim, which Dahomey shares with many other developing countries, coincides with the purposes pursued by the United Nations. The Charter of our Organization, in fact, in Article 55 of Chapter IX lays down that "the United Nations shall promote...”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)