YouSaid · the spoken record

ROMULO

lines on the record: 501
first: 1957-09-24
most recent: 1994-09-24
sittings or episodes: 17
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

“In his address to the recently concluded meeting of the World Bank Group he said and members of this Assembly should listen carefully to his words: "With the [Official Development Assistance] only half achieved, the poorer nations have almost no hope of attaining the 6 per cent growth target. That will condemn them to so slow an economic advance over the decade that hundreds of millions of individuals within these countries will be able to detect virtually no improvement whatever in their desperately low standards of living. Their per capita incomes will rise by no more than two dollars a year." Those are the words of Mr. McNamara.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“What a vastly different world we would now have if the great Powers had channeled even a modest portion of the immense resources which they expended on the cold war to the United Nations in order to achieve the Charter's aim "to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom", thereby giving substance to the other primary aim of the Charter: "to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small". 179. Is it still possible for the United Nations to have a second chance to fulfill its function of effectively helping to achieve the goals of the Charter? The latest report of the President of the World Bank Group, Mr. Robert McNamara, suggests that it is almost too late.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“When it should be playing a central role in the efforts to achieve one of the primary aims of the Charter, the United Nations has been shunted off to to the periphery of major developments in the field of international security. 177. A great opportunity was missed in the first year of the United Nations, when the great Powers failed to unite in support of the Charter's aims "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war" and "to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained". They indulged, instead, in the dangerous and sterile cold war. 178.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The United Nations, of course, has an immense potential for constructive work in every field of international activity, and it is one of the most lamentable facts of our time that this potential has never been fully used. The great Powers have never given to the United Nations the full measure of faith and support which it needs and deserves in order to attain the great goals of the Charter. During this general debate this Assembly hall has resounded again and again with commendatory references to vital prospects of detente, historic summit meetings, bold initiatives to inaugurate an era of negotiation in lieu of confrontation, and actual agreements on nuclear weapons control. And all of these, sad to admit, have come to pass outside the United Nations auspices.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Thus, it will be remembered, the Philippine delegation last year exerted itself particularly in the effort to develop effective means to end the hijacking of aircraft, and the Republic of the Philippines is at present taking extraordinary measures to meet similar threats at home. To the extent that acts of terrorism are irrational and aberrant reactions to resolved international differences, they should now be excused, and must be condemned. But we must at the same time accept the responsibility of renewing our efforts to solve these disputes. We cannot claim to be blameless until we have exerted ourselves to the utmost to solve these disputes. 176.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Its principal aim will be to bring about integrated action through increased cooperation and co-ordination among the WMO, the UNDP and the United Nations Disaster Relief Coordinator in the field of United Nations natural disaster assistance, particularly the prevention, prediction and control of natural disasters. 174. We hope that this Philippine proposal will attract a good number of other sponsors and that it will merit the unanimous approval of this Assembly. 175. Terrorism is on our agenda [item 92], and rightly so. Criminal acts of individuals or groups of individuals against the innocent can never be condoned by the international society, and every possible resource must be mobilized to end and prevent them.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“I have referred in some detail to the various United Nations agencies that extended assistance to the Philippines in its hour of need, because it illustrates the great constructive potential of the United Nations in assisting countries to cope with natural disasters. The Philippine delegation hopes to enhance this potential with a new proposal, following up the initiative it took at the twenty- fifth session of the General Assembly on the role of the World Meteorological Organization [WMOJ in "discovering ways and means to mitigate the harmful effects of... storms and remove or minimize their destructive potentials". Our new proposal will take the form of a draft resolution entitled "International action on the mitigation of the harmful effects of storms".”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The World Food Program, the Economic and Social Council, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Development Program [UNDP] also rose admirably to the occasion, and the United Nations Disaster Relief Coordinator, Ambassador Farouk Berkol, faced with his first major challenge, acquitted himself in commendable fashion and vindicated the wisdom of the Assembly in establishing his Office last year. The Secretariat staff and many individual contributors, in a spontaneous gesture of sympathy, collected a substantial contribution, which the Secretary-General himself transmitted to the Philippine National Red Cross through the Philippine Mission to the United Nations. 173.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“At this point, I should like to place on record the profound gratitude of the Government and people of the Philippines for the assistance given to the flood disaster victims which we received from all quarters and not only from Governments with which we have diplomatic relations, but also from countries with which we have not as yet established such relations, such as the People's Republic of China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, both of which gave us generous and welcome assistance. 172. The International Red Cross and its affiliates, true to an old and honored tradition, responded immediately with emergency aid. So did the United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEFJ with its ready supplies, its action-oriented approach, and its wealth of experience in coping with emergency situations.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“It was in the wake of the widespread material devastation and human suffering caused by that unprecedented flood disaster that the subversive groups in the Philippines intensified their attempts to sow panic and undermine the conditions of law and order indispensable to effective reconstruction work, leaving President Marcos no alternative but to declare martial law. 171.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Over an area in which the average rainfall was 100 inches, 75 inches of rain fell in one single week, and the rainfall lasted for three weeks, flooding almost the entire vast fertile central plain of Luzon, which is known as the "rice bowl" or "rice granary" of the Philippines. Highly productive rice farms, sugar land, fish ponds, houses, infrastructures and industrial complexes- even the metes and bounds of private property were obliterated or damaged to an extent which may set back our development efforts for three to five years. The flood victims numbered more than 2 million persons out of the disaster area's total population of 7 million; but statistical figures alone cannot really measure the immensity of the human cost of the calamity. 170.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The President's immediate purpose was to safeguard the Republic of the Philippines from violent overthrow by subversive groups operating with external support. But he has also seized the opportunity to set in train urgently needed measures to eliminate the inequities in Philippine society by means of a thorough reform and restructuring of social, political and economic institutions that had not been sufficiently responsive to the urgent need for social justice. Significantly, one of the very first decisions was to declare the entire Philippines a land-reform area. 169. The seriousness of the Philippine situation was aggravated by the occurrence last July of the worst flood disaster in Philippine history.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Peace and non-interference by outside Powers these are two of the things beyond price which the developing countries of Asia need today: peace, because in the absence of the danger of aggression we can devote more of our resources to the pressing task of development to fulfill our peoples just desire for a better life; non-interference by outside Powers, because externally inspired and supported subversion is still one of the most serious problems confronting the developing countries in Asia. 168. In the Philippines this particular problem reached a state of extreme gravity last month and impelled President Marcos to invoke the authority vested in him by the Philippine Constitution to proclaim martial law.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Asia is in a state of flux and change, and yet at the very time when there is so much new promise in Asian affairs the region remains beset by enormous problems. The effort to come to grips with both the difficulties and the new opportunities could be raised to a new level, where new perspectives could be brought to bear, in our view, by a meeting of the Security Council in Asia. 167.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The modest achievements of ASEAN are a source of pride to its member countries, which regard them as reassuring auguries of more important future accomplishments; ASEAN's progress could be enhanced and accelerated in the hoped-for climate of peace and stability for Asia to which I have referred. 166. Modest innovations recently undertaken by the United Nations have, in the view of my Government, been worth while. We are referring specifically to the reinstitution of periodic meetings of the Security Council and to the meetings of the Council held in Africa. Occasional such meetings in various parts of the globe can help to highlight and bring new efforts to bear on the problems of the region. In this connexion, the Philippine Government suggests that the Security Council should give consideration to a meeting in the near future in Asia.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Less than six years after its founding, ASEAN is beginning to develop a personality of its own and to exert a modest force in Asian affairs. A few years ago the Foreign Ministers of the ASEAN countries agreed to try to help in mediating the Cambodian conflict. This year the same Foreign Ministers, in a move expressive of their deep concern over the war in Viet-Nam, proposed a formula which the parties to the conflict could consider as a means of breaking the impasse in current negotiations. We shall do so again, taking into account the objections voiced by the parties principally concerned, in the belief that the Asian voice is not irrelevant in a war being fought on Asian soil which causes a grievous toll in Asian lives. 165.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The five member countries rely on ASEAN and will do so in the future to a degree which none of them had anticipated. Unless the international economic situation improves markedly for the developing countries, the members of ASEAN will feel increasingly that the maximum opportunities for co-operation with the rest of the world could best be achieved through regional rather than individual national efforts. Looking towards this possibility, ASEAN has begun exploratory conversations with the European Economic Community with the objective of improving the deteriorating market for its export commodities. 164. Thus, ASEAN is proof that the habit of co-operation can be fruitfully developed, even among countries with diverse traditional backgrounds.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Although these areas of cooperation were and are important in themselves and have proved a great practical benefit to the region in such diverse fields as the development of tourism, the utilization of available technology and cultural exchanges, the economic agreement recently concluded is bound to be regarded as the hub of ASEAN activities. It is perhaps sanguine to speak of a common market in connexion with South-East Asia at this point in time, but the complementation plan drafted with the help of the United Nations may correctly be viewed as the fore-runner of an important scheme for regional economic integration. If it succeeds, it will doubtless become a landmark in Asian economic cooperation and it will have its particular contribution to make to the world economic situation. 163.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“There have been significant shifts in orientation in the two most important regional groupings of which we are a member. In the Asian and Pacific Council there is fresh emphasis on economic development, brought about by new developments in Asia, principally by the developing detente and the consequent realignment of forces in the area. In ASEAN, more decisive initiatives are being undertaken to promote closer regional collaboration. Early this year ASEAN took a giant step forward in its co-operative endeavors. It approved a plan for the liberalization of trade on a selective basis and another plan for industrial complementation on a similar selective basis. 162. Heretofore ASEAN had been a collection of separate co-operative endeavors.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“There is no assurance that Asia can soon achieve the conditions of peace and stability which it so sorely needs and which found poignant expression last year in the Declaration issued at Kuala Lumpur by the Foreign Ministers of the countries members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations [ASEAN] - Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand - that their countries were "determined to exert initially necessary efforts to secure the recognition of and respect for South-East Asia as a zone of peace, freedom and neutrality, free from any form or manner of interference by outside Powers". 161. In the last several years the Philippines has increasingly emphasized its participation in regional groups organized in accordance with the Charter, most notably in the sphere of economic, social and cultural co-operation.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“China and Japan have reached agreement on the establishment of diplomatic relations, a step of far-reaching significance. But the tragic war in Indochina continues, with no just end as yet clearly in sight. Great Power moves to fill expected vacuums of power in the Asian region persist.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“These are struggles to which the Philippines, with its own experience of nearly four centuries of colonialism and of exploitation by foreign Powers, cannot remain indifferent; indeed we have time and again manifested our solidarity with our African friends on these fundamental issues, which touch the very heart of the United Nations Charter. 160. What of our own region of Asia? In Asia, too, signs of detente have been detected. An auspicious beginning has been made towards a peace settlement between India and Pakistan. Bangladesh has been recognized as an independent nation by many countries, although, regrettably, it has not yet been admitted into the United Nations. South Korea and North Korea are embarked on a fateful dialog that could conceivably lead to the agreed and peaceful reunification ardently desired by the Korean people.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“We have noted the developing detente in Europe, but what of other regions peace being all the more indivisible now in our ever more tightly interdependent world? 158. Latin America is in the throes of a social revolution which is unfolding within the framework of its deeply ingrained sense of solidarity, its cherished traditions of justice and responsible order and its strong desire to make its full contribution to international peace and well-being. 159. Africa continues its uncompromising struggle against apartheid and other forms of racial discrimination, hand in hand with its struggle, no less uncompromising, against the remaining strongholds of colonialism.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Nor have the sales and supplies of arms to the combatant countries been stopped. This is a factor worth pondering in connexion with the proposal, laudable in its avowed purpose, for the non-use of force in international disputes. Does this proposal simply mean that the great Powers should refrain from attacking one another directly? Should it not, rather, be carried a step further and taken to mean that the great Powers should not abet the use of force by lesser Powers through the convenient device of selling or supplying arms to them? In other words, is it not about time that the great Powers, unable to attack one another directly without mortal danger to themselves, ceased to practice wars by proxy, by using the third world as a cockpit for their persisting ambitions for regional or global hegemony? 157.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Yet nuclear proliferation continues in Europe, and one of Europe's leading countries has persisted in conducting nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific Ocean in disregard of the United Nations ban on nuclear testing in the atmosphere and under water and in defiance of world public opinion and the indignant protests of the countries in the area, which rightly argue that, if such nuclear tests are as harmless as they are claimed to be, there is no reason not to conduct them in the Atlantic Ocean, or for that matter, off the famous Riviera, where they might serve as an additional tourist attraction. 156. Next door, in the Middle East, not only has peace remained out of reach but the jockeying among the great Powers for positions of advantage and influence in the continuing crisis has not abated.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The great hope of the poor countries, repeatedly expressed in this Assembly over the years, that a substantial part of savings from disarmament should be committed to development aid thus remains a remote, if not indeed an illusory, hope. The link which the developing countries have sought to establish between the two major undertakings of the United Nations in the 1970s the Disarmament Decade and the Second Development Decade remains tenuous at best. 155. The welcome detente in Europe has undoubtedly reduced international tensions on that continent, one which has the dubious distinction of having produced two world wars and still has the potential to ignite a third one in this century.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“General debates have traditionally been occasions for stock-taking, for reflecting upon the state of the world and of the United Nations, and for giving voice at this universal forum to the needs and aspirations of mankind. As we approach the end of this particular general debate, we find the balance sheet a sobering blend of hope and concern. 153. The two super-Powers have taken an important step to control the nuclear armaments race by agreeing to quantitative limits on strategic nuclear weapons. Yet their competition for qualitative supremacy in nuclear weaponry continues, precluding substantial reductions in their armament budgets. And while expectations of progress towards disarmament are prominently projected, there is a significant silence on the use of the immense savings that would accrue from disarmament. 154.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“And it is most fitting that this twenty-sixth session of the General Assembly, which may be the last that U Thant is attending as Secretary-General, should salute him as one of the immortals of the United Nations.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Finally, I would like to pay a tribute to our modest, loyal and highly esteemed Secretary-General, U Thant. He has had the unprecedented responsibility of leading the United Nations Secretariat through an entire decade of grievous trials and crisis. And he has discharged this heavy responsibility so admirably that he could, if he wished, command unanimous support for continuing to occupy his eminent position. Much of his work for the preservation of peace, the promotion of human rights, and the attainment of a better life for all mankind has been accomplished by quiet diplomacy, an art in which he has few equals. A place of high honor is assured for him in the history of our time.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Starting as an emergency operation, it has with admirable flexibility adapted its work to the changing requirements of the developing nations and is now involved in vital aspects of development concerning mothers, children, youth and the family. It deserves a special tribute for a quarter-century of devoted service to mankind under the direction of that distinguished humanitarian, the late Maurice Pate, and his worthy successor as Executive Director, Mr. Henry Labouisse. The United Nations Children's Fund has merited our gratitude for having projected across national and ideological frontiers during the past 25 years the profound concern and compassion of the United Nations for the new generation of children and youth, who will have the responsibility of building a better world. 108.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“This impressive progress has been achieved through far-sighted planning, sound operational methods, including the application of pre-investment aid in the vital sectors of national development programs, and effective response to the keenly felt needs of the developing nations. The United Nations owes Mr. Hoffman an inestimable debt of gratitude for his work in building up UNDP to its present size and its enhanced potential for service towards the accelerated development of the poor countries. 107. My second tribute is to the United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF], which is observing its twenty-fifth anniversary this year. Supported entirely by voluntary contributions, UNICEF has rendered invaluable service to countless mothers and children in needy countries throughout the world.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“And now permit me to conclude my statement with three expressions of well-deserved tribute. The first is to Mr. Paul Hoffman, the exceptionally able Administrator of the United Nations Development program [UNDP], who is about to retire after some 12 years of devoted service to the cause of that indispensable component of lasting peace: economic and social development. Under Mr. Hoffman’s inspired and dedicated leadership, UNDP has become the largest operational agency of the United Nations in the field of development with good prospects of doubling its operational funds to $500 million by 1975.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“In moving from the era of frozen polarization into a new period of pluralization. it is essential to accept that the first requirement is for a flexible common instrument through which that pluralization can be constructively and creatively expressed. But although *hat instrument already exists in the United Nations, its full utility as the focal point for forging collective decisions has yet to be realized. "Foreign policy" in this sense is becoming obsolete. Nations now hold collective responsibility for r, non- divisible world. The policy-making emphasis will be more and more toward joint problem-solving for planetary development and management. Only in such a context can the security and freedom of nations and peoples be assured and the great promise of our earth for the well-being of mankind be realized. 106.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“One major Power concerned has announced that it will contribute an "important" sum to help cover past United Nations financial deficiencies; other Powers equally concerned, however, have remained silent. 104. The present international trade and monetary crisis has simply dramatized the central dilemma that has afflicted the United Nations since its inception. The Member States, particularly the great Powers with the special responsibilities inherent in their status as permanent members of the Security Council, have never quite accepted the requirement, implicit in the Charter, to subordinate narrow national interests to the general well-being of mankind, or-as last year's Conference on Human Survival so aptly put it-to recognize that "human sovereignty transcends national sovereignty". 105.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Meanwhile, the flow of trade and investments, as well as the supply of arms, that sustain the practitioners of apartheid continue, hardly abated by United Nations sanctions against that universally condemned policy. Remnants of classical colonialism, which is also a form of racial oppression, likewise continue to exist in its last strongholds, particularly in Africa, in defiance of the United Nations Charter and of the repeatedly expressed will of the international community. 103. Every year, references are made to the need for a stronger support for the United Nations. Yet this same Organization has been permitted to reach the brink of financial bankruptcy.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“In other major fields if United Nations concern, the glaring discrepancies between principle and practice, between the felt needs of the international community and the limited action permitted by national ambitions and interests, are also apparent. 101. Despite the welcome signs of growing detente in Europe, to which I have referred, peace in the Middle East continues to hang by the thread of a cease-fire tenuously maintained amidst a mutual escalation of armaments. 102. In this International Year for Action to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination, no substantial progress has been achieved in the struggle against apartheid.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“The Philippine delegation feels that the time has come for the United Nations to discharge fully its duties under paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 1 of the Charter with respect to international co-operation in the economic and social fields. It should henceforth be one of its urgent major concerns to help devise means of protecting the poor countries from the adverse effects of international monetary and trade crises concerning which these poor countries have little or no say but which could ruin them financially or set back their development efforts for years with disastrous economic and social consequences for their peoples. We must arrest the present accelerating drift towards a new age of domination based on economic advantage. 100.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“In other words, the promotion of economic diversification, of a fair and rational international division of labor, and of the progressive industrialization of the developing countries, goals which are accepted in principle in the United Nations, are in fact being impeded if not actually negated in practice. 98. Nor is the sombre situation limited to manufactures. The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization, Dr. Boerma, has called attention to what he has described as tlkD "completely unbalanced" state of world agriculture, warning that if this condition is allowed to persist, it might provoke intensified trade war. 99. There is something fundamentally wrong in an international economic order under which such things can happen.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“McNamara’s own report contains the following sad and ominous admissions: “The developing countries have justifiable grounds for complaint that they are being treated unfairly in their attempts to expand their manufactured exports to those markets [the markets of the richer countries]. On the average, tariffs are higher on the kinds of manufactured goods imported from poor countries as compared to imports from rich countries "Even worse than the absolute level of tariffs is their structure. Tariffs rise with the degree of fabrication ... This ... could well offset the comparative advantages in processing found in many developing countries" He continue.,. "Finally, and perhaps worst of all, non-tariff barriers to trade have proliferated throughout the rich countries in recent years ... They too are more severe for developing countries". 97.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“McNamara said: "Whatever steps are taken to improve the operation of the international monetary system must be such as to permit a continuing increase in capital flows to meet the targets to which the developed countries have subscribed: an increase in public development assistance from $8 billion per year in 1970 to $12.5 billion in 1975". 95. Mr. Schweitzer expressed the hope that the solution of the monetary crisis by the industrial countries would be followed "by an increased willingness in these countries to maintain a steadily improving volume and quality of development assistance and to widen access to their markets". 96. Such is the hope. But what is the reality? Mr.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“He said: “I am particularly concerned about the impact of the current situation on the developing countries. Inflation and balance of payments difficulties in the industrial world ... The present exchange rate uncertainties add a new and serious impediment to the development efforts of these countries, which also must contend with the effects of the U.S. import surcharge and the cuts in U.S. aid. All this is not an auspicious beginning for the Second Development Decade, when developing countries have the task of finding new avenues of productive employment for their growing populations. 93. Both officials stressed the need to take into account the plight of the poor countries in the search for a solution to the international trade and monetary crisis. 94. Mr.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“In the introduction to his address to the World Bank's Board of Governors on 27 September, he declared and these are very important words: "It is clear that we are in for a difficult period of basic readjustments in international monetary and trade arrangements and that the repercussions may continue for some time. Although the solution of these problems is not the responsibility of the World Bank, We are deeply concerned with the manner of their resolution because of the impact it may have on the external trade of the developing countries, and on the resource Rows to them". 92. Mr. Pierre-Paul Schweitzer, Chairman of the Executive Board and Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, was even more explicit in his statement of the same date.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“It adopted for the first lime an International Development Strategy which would serve as the program of action for implementing the Second United Nations Development Decade [resolution 2626 (XXV)]. Today the international trade and monetary crisis, which is still unresolved, threatens to undermine that Strategy and casts a pall of uncertainty over the prospect of attending the goals of the Development Decade itself. 90. By far the most deplorable aspect of this crisis is the plight of the developing countries. Innocent bystanders, with no role either in precipitating me crisis or in its solution, these poor countries stand to suffer the gravest injuries from its consequences. 91. The predicament of the developing countries has been recognized by the President of the World Bank Group, Mr. Robert S, McNamara.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“91], He correctly states that the creation of such new bodies "should be viewed by the membership as an appropriate response to the ever new challenges of our world" [ibid.]. 88. Should we fail to endow the required efforts with the requisite resources or authority, then, of course, we shall have nobody but ourselves to blame if the unwanted conditions persist. Our hopes are high that the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, to be held at Stockholm in 1972, and the projected conference on the law of the sea will take the first major steps toward meeting the issues involved at the level and on the scale necessary to be effective. 89. Only a year ago this Assembly made an historic decision.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“In the course of the current general debate, some countries, particularly Iceland [1945th meeting] and Fiji [1951st meeting], referred to the question of archipelagos in connexion with the conference on the law of the sea in 1973. My Government expects that in the forthcoming conference this problem with other related issues will be settled along the lines demanded by the progressive development and codification of international law affecting peace and stability in ocean space. 87. In his report, the Secretary-General calls our attention to the fact that to deal with, such global issues it may be necessary, "in the near future, to envisage new subsidiary organs or substantive departments in the United Nations" f A]8401lAdd.l, para.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Yet nuclear tests, with their concomitant danger of contaminating the air and the seas with their radio-active emissions, continue in disregard of the expressed wishes of the peoples affected. The Philippine Government has repeatedly protested the testing of nuclear weapons in the Pacific Ocean, which washes its eastern shores, but these protests have gone unheeded. 85. A second major subject of global scope concerns the utilization of the resources of the sea-bed beyond national jurisdictions as the common heritage of mankind and the elaboration of an international regime for that purpose. 86. My country, which is an archipelago, is vitally affected by this problem.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Nothing can serve to illustrate more vividly than the problems of environmental pollution the common destiny of mankind, the profound, global ramifications of local actions and the urgent need for a unified, integrated approach to economic and social development. Air and water are the first lifelines of space-ship earth. If they are anywhere impaired the total system is to that extent impaired. Most specific pollution problems can and must be dealt with locally, but that does not absolve the international community from the ultimate responsibility to see to it that they are resolved. 84. The time is past for mere lip-service in this vital matter. For instance, we continue to hear pious protestations of grave concern over the pollution of the human environment.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Thus will begin the redeeming of a vital promise made to the world's peoples a quarter of a century ago. 83. Rather suddenly, the United Nations is faced with a number of new issues having global aspects beyond the possibility of resolution by the efforts of individual States alone. Foremost among these is the question of the deterioration of the human environment. Under the auspices of the Stanley Foundation, this important subject was discussed in depth at the Sixth Conference on the United Nations of the Next Decade, held at Sinaia, Romania, last June, by world statesmen, and a report on the conference proceedings was submitted to the Secretary-General.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“It will be recalled that the Government of the Philippines advanced some preliminary suggestions in this regard during the twenty-fifth General Assembly.4 We will return to these proposals at an appropriate time. 82. Meanwhile' we would suggest that any world disarmament conference should either be held under the auspices of the United Nations or be organically related to it. Thought should be given to the activation, for this purpose, of the Disarmament Commission, that body of the whole which has not been utilized in recent years. The present new opportunities may make it possible, for the first time since the founding of the United Nations, to move beyond "non-armament" measures to measures providing for actual, concrete steps towards the reduction and destruction of armaments.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“are not always up to expectations, the work of the Committee is characterized by a high degree of seriousness, commitment and competence. It may be necessary, however, to reconstitute the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament in order to secure the participation of those additional countries which should be taking part in its deliberations. 81. A world disarmament conference would be a major step towards giving meaning and substance to the Disarmament Decade, now running concurrently with the Second United Nations Development Decade. In two years the Assembly has not succeeded in taking any other new initiatives on a scale or of a content sufficient to justify the designation “Disarmament Decade", or adequately to emphasize the interdependence between a Disarmament Decade and the Second Development Decade.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)