Gabon, 1969

77. Madam President, I should like, in my turn, to associate

myself with the moving tributes paid by previous speakers

to the memory of our former President, Mr. Arenales,

whose premature death cast us all into deep sorrow, and to

renew to the Guatemalan Government and to the family of

Mr. Arenales the deep condolences and sympathy of the

Government and people of Gabon.

78. I should next like to express my great satisfaction at

seeing so eminent a diplomat as yourself at the head of this

Assembly and to convey to you, on my delegation’s behalf,

our warmest and most sincere congratulations on your

well-deserved election. No doubt your natural modesty

would incline you to think that the choice is the result of

the strict application of the principle of geographical

distribution. In our view, however, it results from loftier

considerations and has a double significance: first, a

unanimous desire to demonstrate to your country the

esteem of all the Governments represented here for its

unswerving loyalty to the ideals of the Organization and its

tireless efforts to protect them; and also the desire to

entrust the guidance of this new and important session to a

person whose demonstrated ability and high qualities of

intelligence, of courtesy coupled with firmness, are a sure

guarantee of the effectiveness and full success of the

session. That is why your election, which is an honour to

the entire African continent, was received by Gabon with

deep satisfaction and pride, for you, Madam President, are

the brilliant proof of what African womanhood can

accomplish. This desire to succeed must continue to be our

primary concern, and you may rest assured that my

delegation will co-operate to the full in assisting you to

carry out successfully the heavy and delicate mission

entrusted to you.

79. If in some circumstances, and sometimes with reason,

observers have criticized the academic nature of our work

and expressed some scepticism about the value and scope of

our activities, the time has come, I consider, to dispel their

doubts and to convince them, by the realistic nature of our

decisions, of the major and decisive role that the United

Nations can and should play in the settlement of world

affairs. From the success of our undertakings, hope and

confidence, the reserves of which have admittedly been

somewhat depleted during the past few years, may be

reborn; but the failure of those undertakings would be

regarded as an abandonment of the just and the innocent

and as a tacit sanctioning of the triumph of dark and evil

forces.

80. The time has therefore come for all of us to accept the

truth, even if its image is not always welcome to behold,

and to abandon the easy course of evasion and sterile

hesitation. This awareness becomes an urgent necessity, for

since 26 June 1945, when our Charter was signed, the first

enthusiasm has gradually been lost and, if the sacred flame

which burned so brightly at San Francisco has not yet been

extinguished, too many ashes have dimmed its glow.

81. It is true that in joining the Organization, the Member

States have undertaken to respect the code of honour that

it has laid down and to promote a policy of brotherhood

and justice on earth. But the mere acceptance of a rule of

morality is not sufficient to defend it. Like cities, ideas

need soldiers to protect them. It is our duty to act as these

soldiers. If that were not our vocation, we should be

witnessing the worsening of an already disturbing situation

and a generalization of the despotic and degrading practices

which formerly governed relations among men, and some of

which have again become current.

82. One of the most important decisions taken by young

States of the third world on their accession to independence

was to request admission to this body. This haste was

not, as some may have thought, the expression of a hollow

desire for prestige, but was explained by the vital need to

find among friendly and experienced countries the necessary

understanding and the solidarity required for the

growth of the young States. Such haste was also a mark of

the confidence that these newly-born States placed in the

great world Powers which, having endured for five years the

most terrible ordeal of history, could not, in their view, fail

to aspire to peace and to the rediscovery of their past wisdom.

83. Unfortunately, experience has shown that the

promises of the early days have not always been kept and

that those who were themselves the promoters of our life

of international conduct are often those who show the

greatest reluctance to follow it. We new countries, which

are late-comers to this community of nations and which

had placed so much hope in the faithful and generous

application of the principles of the Charter, are thus greatly

disappointed. But our disappointment does not mean

discouragement. Even if temporarily forgotten, the principles

adopted at San Francisco remain, and so long as they

are not officially denounced, there are still grounds for

hope and a chance of salvation. It sometimes suffices for

only one hand to hold high the torch for the darkness to be

illuminated and for the lost to see the light again.

84. In the face of tyrannies of all kinds, is it not the duty

of small countries like ourselves to gather together in a

common struggle and to oppose, by our cohesion, the

recrudescence of violence and oppression which threatens

our existence? Undoubtedly the road will be hard, but

faith can move mountains and the moral force of nations is

not measured by the size of their armies or the strength of

their economies.

85. Gabon celebrated its ninth anniversary only a few

weeks ago. Thus it still moves with faltering steps and needs

the assistance and friendship of adult countries in order to

come of age. But although my country has not had time to

attain a stable equilibrium and although the many resources

concealed in its soil have not yet all been fully exploited,

there are two resources which our people value above all:

freedom and peace. The motto of our national party is

“Dialogue, tolerance and peace”.

86. You will therefore understand the strength of the links

which bind us to the United Nations and our desire to

preserve its foundations. In carrying out this difficult task,

Madam President, we know that we can count on your

experience, your courage and your outstanding qualities of

heart and mind which will enable you to direct the session

that has just opened with skill, wisdom and dignity.

87. We also know and appreciate, in this search for

success, the important part played by the Secretary-General

and all his colleagues, whose devotion and competence are

in all respects worthy of the noble cause they serve. May

they find in my words an expression of our gratitude and of

our sincere admiration.

88. Among the representatives seated in this hall, some

will perhaps find the criticisms I have just made too severe

and will reproach me for my remarks. But

let them be reassured. Unconditional acceptance of the

truth does not, for my Government, mean dismay and

retreat. I belong to a people who repudiate the deceitful

virtue of euphemism; hence my frankness and my desire to

make a statement of fact rather than an indictment. It is in

knowing the true worth of an adversary that it becomes

most possible to overcome him.

89. We thus have to consider the situation as it is, calmly

but vigilantly, and to choose the best remedy for improving it.

90. We must place on the credit side of the Organization’s

account the great movement of solidarity which, since the

Organization’s establishment, has made it possible to relieve

so much suffering and eliminate so much injustice. All of us

have clearly in mind the impressive list of activities of all

kinds that the organizations or specialized agencies, over

which the United Nations exercises leadership, have carried

out in the past and continue patiently to carry out today.

91. Whether it be the spectacular achievements of FAO in

modernizing agricultural techniques and driving famine

from the earth, the magnificent work of UNESCO in

eliminating illiteracy and enabling the illiterate before long

to attain the joys offered by culture, the charitable mission

of UNICEF in bringing to abandoned children the affection

and moral and material assistance of which they are

deprived, all this excellent work calls for admiration and

testifies to the greatness of man. And if it was necessary,

despite these laudable achievements, to persuade the

detractors or rally the hesitant, it would suffice to remind

them of the names of the great servants who have fallen in

battle to ensure the survival of the generous ideal they were

engaged in defending.

92. But every harvest has its burden of weeds. Thus our

planet, too, seems to us to be full of obstacles which the

enthusiasm of men of goodwill encounters and against

which it is sometimes broken. In some places, entire

populations live under oppression; in others, war prevails

with its heart-breaking sequel of insecurity, fear, famine

and death. Unconcerned about the terrible and fatal

levelling which an outbreak of atomic conflict might bring

tomorrow, the great Powers are engaged, with a terrifying

detachment, in the game sorcerer’s apprentice, devoting the

greater part of their resources to the building of a fantastic

arsenal capable of reducing thousands of years of civilization

to dust in a few minutes. In the face of this deadly

force, other nations resign themselves if they are too weak,

or, if they have some means at their disposal, succumb to

the contagion of this disastrous example and, to protect

themselves, forge in turn their own devastating weapons.

93. Nevertheless, this tumult has not succeeded in stifling

the ever-increasing number of voices raised everywhere in

the attempt to bring this insane activity to a stop. These

voices, whether they are raised in Rome, Geneva, Paris,

Addis Ababa or elsewhere, speak of justice, brotherhood,

human rights and respect for man. But their messages will

remain unanswered unless they are taken up by those who

wield power and dominate the world.

94. My words are therefore addressed to you, the representatives

of the great Powers. Since the beginning of this

century you have twice, in less than 25 years, known the

horror of a pitiless struggle. Tens of millions of your

brothers and friends disappeared in that turmoil. Some of

you have seen your territories devastated, your families

obliterated or dispersed and your wealth dissipated. On the

morrow of this apocalypse, and to avoid its repetition, you

decided to create an international organization founded on

the sovereign equality of all peace-loving States and open to

all nations, great or small. To bring it into being, you

solemnly accorded it a Charter which guaranteed its

existence and defined its purposes. May I remind you of

them: the maintenance of peace and security, the prevention

of threats to the peace, the suppression of acts of

aggression, the peaceful settlement of disputes, the development

of friendly relations among nations based on respect

for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of

peoples, international co-operation, and promotion of and

respect for human rights.

95. Your initiative raised great hopes, and people shaken

by five years of folly regained their courage and their zest

for life, and found in their national genius the strength

needed for their rebirth. This good fruit, however, had a

worm of destruction within it. While offering this kingly

gift to mankind, you agreed on a partition of the world and

laid down the boundary stones of your zones of influence.

Thus, the allies of yesterday became adversaries and the

earth was split into two opposing camps.

96. As architects of this partition, it is your responsibility

today to end it. Why can your present leaders not regain

the spirit which was evident in their predecessors at the

Moscow Conference in October 1943, or which, the

following year, inspired your jurists meeting at Dumbarton

Oaks? Do you think that you can bring nearer the day of

universal well-being by maintaining permanent and dangerous

tensions in the four corners of the earth through your

influence or interference?

97. It is true that, by a last-minute stroke of wisdom, your

Governments have so far been able to avoid the worst. At

their instigation, commitments have been assumed and

treaties prepared for signature. But the effort made is still

insufficient. To bring about a relaxation of tension, it is not

enough for a State to propose that its neighbours should

sign an instrument prohibiting the proliferation of nuclear

weapons, while it itself jealously hoards a stock of bombs

less than half of which would be enough to lay waste the earth.

98. There are no two ways to bring about peace and

confidence: that can be accomplished only through total

disarmament and the controlled destruction of existing

stockpiles. It is for you to take the first step. The prestige

of your countries would be enhanced by such a decision

and, at last freed from the fear of annihilation, our world

would experience a new upsurge. You could then have no

misgivings in using freed resources and your powers of

persuasion to promote, not terror, but mutual assistance

and the greater well-being of the developing nations.

99. The physical and moral misery which shackles three

quarters of mankind provides an ideal battleground for

your need to conquer. And if the earth is not large enough

to satisfy your desire for domination, the cosmos now

opens up undreamt of possibilities.

100. In this connexion, we wish to renew our warmest

congratulations and sincere admiration to the people of the

United States for their country’s fantastic exploit in landing

three cosmonauts on the moon for the first time in the

history of mankind. That epic achievement, which covers

all concerned with glory, opens up new horizons in the

conquest of science and technology as well as in that of the

universe. In the light of this prodigious cosmic achievement,

it is only to be hoped that, at the same time as he pursues

the conquest of space, man will harness his energies to the

vast effort still to be made in improving living conditions on

earth, in particular for the developing countries, and will

begin by restoring peace throughout the world wherever

men are destroying each other. We believe that the United

States potential is quite equal to such an effort.

101. Whatever the differences which separate the ideologies

that you defend or the systems that you advocate,

there should be some possibility of finding common

ground. Not long ago, in order to settle their disputes,

leaders responsible for world policy met together to seek

compromise solutions. Is your national pride so demanding

that you cannot revert to that tradition? Sullenness and

threats have never been good methods of persuasion.

Conciliation or arbitration, on the other hand, are still

well-tried recipes.

102. Some will consider this appeal a mere stylistic

exercise. Others will be more generous and see in it a

certain ingenuousness. They should realize, however, that

for us young, small countries, there is no solution other

than agreement among the large nations and the disinterested

assistance they can give us.

103. Ever since it attained to independence, Gabon, like

other States of the third world, has been working with

determination to build a nation. To do so, it must solve the

vital problem of its economic and social development. But

it knows that the: endeavour will be doomed to failure if

tomorrow it were condemned to live in isolation. That is

why it is glad to belong to the great family of the United

Nations and to draw from each session of this Assembly a

renewed sense of encouragement. Even if at times relations

among Members are not totally cordial, it appreciates the

opportunities for contact and dialogue, which constitute so

many bulwarks against misunderstanding and violence.

104. As in previous years, my delegation is therefore

prepared to play its part in an honest and responsible way

and to participate actively in the search for the means of

curing or lessening the evils from which our world is

suffering, and of righting the dangerous situations which

threaten its stability.

105. This declaration of intent leads me quite naturally to

the last part of my statement and to a declaration of my

Government’s views on the grave problems of the times. In

doing so, I shall refer to the principle enunciated in

Article 1 of the Charter, which will provide the main theme

of our debate, namely, the maintenance of peace and

security, respect for human dignity and for the right of

peoples to self-determination, and international solidarity.

106. Although, during the past year, the two super-Powers

have found a modus vivendi in peaceful coexistence, despite

their desperate struggle at the ideological level and in the

economic sphere, no armistice has yet put an end to

existing conflicts.

107. There is conflict in some African countries still under

the colonial yoke: Mozambique, Angola and Guinea

(Bissau), where armed liberation movements are fighting

the Portuguese occupier.

108. That is also the case in the Middle East, where far

from abating, the conflict which broke out two years ago is

becoming more serious from day to day and is threatening

the security of neighbouring countries, which despite

themselves are drawn into this whirlwind of death and

destruction.

109. The same is happening in the Far East, where fighting

is still raging and negotiations between the opposing sides

have not led to any definite settlement.

110. Finally, this is the sad reality in Biafra, where one of

the most appalling fratricidal wars has turned a prosperous,

well-populated and dynamic country into a land of desolation.

111. The United Nations has not remained inactive in the

face of this wave of violence and hatred. Whenever possible,

it has come to the aid of the victims and has never ceased to

offer its. good offices and to renew its appeals for

conciliation and arbitration. But goodwill is an ineffectual

weapon when the belligerents themselves refuse to use it.

Nevertheless, our Organization’s mission is to restore

harmony on this earth. That is a long-term task which calls

for great coolness and perseverance. It is our duty never to

lose heart, to display infinite patience and unceasingly to

seek formulae that might prove acceptable to the adversaries

of the moment. Moreover, here and there, certain

signs are somewhat timidly emerging that may perhaps be

the harbingers of better days.

112. In Viet-Nam, for instance, the decision to suspend

the deadly bombing of the towns in the north and the

progressive repatriation of United States soldiers are measures

likely to favour the restoration of peace. It is, however,

important that the opposing camp should not consider this

de-escalation as a sign of weakness and that it should in its

turn agree to meet its opponents half-way.

113. Millions of old people, women and children have

been waiting too long for their nightmare to be over. It is

time to put an end to the futile subtleties and to the

jousting which are paralysing the work of the delegations

meeting in the Majestic Hotel in Paris. The people now have

the floor, those who are primarily concerned and who alone

have the right to determine their destiny. It is therefore

urgent that the blind destruction should cease and that

those responsible for this fearful slaughter should agree to

organize elections, the authenticity of which would be

guaranteed by the presence of neutral observers and

through which the inhabitants could at last make their

choice known.

114. This recourse to self-determination should also make

it possible to put an end to abnormal situations born of the

last world war or of subsequent conflicts. I am thinking in

particular of Germany and Korea, whose absence from this

Assembly is an affront to the international conscience and

whose artificial division, far from corresponding to a

political need of our times, is a permanent source of tension

and misunderstanding. The facts seem to suggest that this

situation must be considered as irrevocable and definitive.

Even were that so, it would be morally unacceptable in so

far as it continues to be imposed by force and is not based

on a democratic decision resulting from consultation of the

entire German people and of the entire Korean people.

115. The problem is different in the case of Israel and the

Arab countries, but there too the solution depends on the

honest application of a fundamental principle of the

Charter of the United Nations, namely, that of the peaceful

settlement of disputes.

116. Ever since the establishment of the State of Israel,

the United Nations has spared no effort to restore peace in

a part of the world which is in a state of constant fever. It

dispatched a supervision mission as early as the first

confrontation; it set un an international emergency force in

1956; it is still mobilizing the common goodwill and

pursuing tireless efforts in all parts of this building to seek

some way out of the impasse and to achieve that easing of

tension upon which future negotiations depend. Be that as

it may, nothing solid can be built so long as the parties

involved remain intransigent. It is for them to silence their

weapons and accept the reciprocal concessions which might

lead to a compromise. One camp must abandon the

narrow-minded position in which it has locked itself and

recognize the other’s right to existence and dignity. This

presupposes that the Arab Governments will abandon all

xenophobia and undertake, after direct negotiations, to

recognize secure and lasting frontiers for the Hebrew State

and the rights accorded to it by international law. In return,

the other party, Israel, should learn how to master its

victory to avoid offending national or religious sensibilities;

and it must withdraw from the occupied territories.

117. Instead of this, the conflict has reached a stage where

the positions of the belligerents are farther apart than ever

and where deadlock seems to have become total. On the

one hand, Israel agrees to implement Security Council

resolution 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, but only on

condition that direct negotiations with its opponents

guarantee it secure and lasting frontiers. On the other hand,

the Arabs are divided into two camps: those who do not

even wish to hear of a State of Israel and who think only in

terms of its pure and simple disappearance; and those who

advocate an enlarged Palestinian State in which the State of

Israel would be merged and in which the Israelis would

simply form a community of citizens enjoying the same

rights as all the Arabs. It is easy to understand that, faced

with these alternatives, Israel should react with the force of

despair and that, with the bitter memory of similar

experiences in the past, it should not be willing to go

through them again. How can there be any escape from this

inextricable situation except through faithful implementation

of the resolution of 22 November 1967? That at least

is our view.

118. Since each year we have to revert to the problem of

the two Chinas in the context of international security, we

should like to reiterate Gabon’s position in that respect. We

do not deny that the admission of the People’s Republic of

China to the United Nations is considered by many to be an

essential element in the easing of tension and the furtherance

of peace in the world. But the Government of Gabon

considers that this is an important question, the implications

of which are too serious to be dealt with lightly. As

we already stated here last year [1677th meeting], Gabon

views this admission with apprehension because of the

positions taken by the Peking leaders, their belligerent

attitude and their intolerance in ideological matters. They

leave us sceptical about their ability to work for peace and

the solidarity of peoples regardless of their form of

government. Therefore, and since no new element has come

to light to cause us to change our position, the Government

of Gabon will continue to support the Republic of China,

which is moreover a founding Member of the United

Nations and whose actions in the service of peace and the

solidarity of peoples are exemplary.

119. The constant search for peace that actuates all the

members of this Assembly and the Governments they

represent is not entirely disinterested. The energy with

which we try to extinguish the conflagrations that periodically

break out in other people’s territories is partly

explained by our fear that they will spread to our own

territory. But over and above this primitive instinct, a

higher motive determines our action: the certainty that, of

all the riches in the world, man is the most precious and the

most sacred of all. It is therefore our imperative duty to

preserve that legacy and to prevent any infringement of

man’s inalienable right to exist. A year ago, from this same

rostrum, I had the honour of elaborating on this thought.

In the interests of conciliation, I expressly refrained from

mentioning Biafra. by. name, because at that time there was

still hope that agreement might be reached in the coming

months. But that has not yet come to pass.

120. Because of its proximity, Gabon is in a position to

appreciate the frightful reality of the miseries accumulating

from that pitiless struggle. Apart from the 2 million dead in

Biafra itself, victims of guns and cannons, of hunger and of

the diseases resulting from hunger, during the period of

more than two years that this war has been in progress,

starving children are continuing to arrive in their thousands

in the camps we have set up for their shelter and assistance.

Many unfortunately never recover from their physical

collapse. In Biafra at this hour, about 2 million people are

crowded on a strip of land a few kilometres square, living

on three scanty meals a week. This tragedy has aroused a

great charitable movement throughout the world. Welfare

organizations and men of goodwill are thronging from all

parts to lavish help and save thousands of innocent people

from destruction. Airmen take off nightly at the risk of

their lives to transport tons of food-stuffs and medicines.

All of them—UNICEF representatives, Red Cross personnel,

members of Caritas Internationalis, pilots, doctors, nurses

— deserve the highest praise.

121. This humanitarian activity is, however, only a palliative.

If the root of the evil is to be extirpated, there must be

a political solution. The African Heads of State, particularly

those who were appointed members of the Consultative

Committee on Nigeria of the Organization of African

Unity, presided over by His Imperial Majesty Haile

Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia, have exerted untold efforts

to find a solution. The resolution adopted on 9 September

by the last summit meeting of the Organization of African

Unity at Addis Ababa marked an advance on the earlier

resolutions, the first adopted at Kinshasa in September

1967 and the second at Algiers in September 1968, because

it invited the two parties to the conflict to cease hostilities

and to engage immediately in negotiations to find a

solution which would being peace to Nigeria as soon as

possible. The resolution made the mistake, however, of

again setting as a prior condition the acceptance of Nigerian

unity by Biafra.

122. It is inconceivable that a people which has been

fighting courageously for more than two years to guarantee

its security within a social framework of its own choice and

which has sacrificed 2 million lives in that cause could

accept a pre-condition tantamount to unconditional surrender.

Furthermore, such a pre-condition does not seem to

us indispensable, inasmuch as the Biafran authorities have

clearly indicated that, although they cannot accept such a

provision in the text of the resolution, they are nevertheless

ready to discuss the political future of Nigeria during

negotiations. We believe that the unity of Nigeria, which

remains a point of fundamental disagreement between the

two parties when posed as a pre-condition, could embrace a

variety of unitary systems among which the two camps

might, after negotiations and with a little goodwill, find one

upon which they can agree.

123. All that remains to be done therefore is to encourage

the two parties to cease hostilities immediately and to start

negotiations. We believe that the moment has come for the

United Nations to take up the matter and to exert pressure

on the belligerents. The Organization cannot evade this

obligation by claiming that this is strictly an African

problem, requiring an African solution, since it has been

proved that the continuation of this war is largely due to

the intervention in the conflict of Powers foreign to Africa

which are delivering arms to both camps.

124. We have already said elsewhere that if the Nigerians

want at all costs to preserve the unity of their country

through war, they could no doubt ultimately succeed in

doing so. But then they must resign themselves to the

inevitable consequence, which is as paradoxical as it is

unthinkable: the total extermination of the Ibos, who have

resolved to die to the last man rather than continue to live

within the present Federation. Then territorial unity will

have been maintained only through the complete elimination

of one of the human elements from which it derives

its interest and its value, that is to say at the price of an act

of genocide which may not be deliberate, but is accepted as

a condition of final victory.

125. We do not think that the Nigerians see things in this

way. Let them then decide to cease hostilities and negotiate

with the Biafrans, without any prior conditions. That is the

only reasonable position.

126. In the same context of the right of man to freedom

and dignity and the right of peoples to self-determination, I

explained a year ago from this rostrum Gabon’s attitude to

the situation in some parts of Africa which are still under

colonial domination, and to the policy pursued by white

communities in some other areas where they rule by force

black communities with which they are compelled by the

vicissitudes of history to live together for ever.

127. At that time, I did not fail to express my pessimism

regarding the effectiveness of the methods used to bring

about a change in those regions, a change favourable to the

aspirations of the African peoples who want to see their

human dignity and the primacy of their rights as the natural

inhabitants of this continent respected. A year later, I am

bound to conclude that my pessimism at that time was

fully justified. The facts show that there has been no

evolution favourable to our desires. During the last year,

the situation has remained stationary where it has not

deteriorated, as it has ever since we have been resorting to

the same methods of action, such as loud condemnations

made from this rostrum or elsewhere, inflammatory

speeches or threatening resolutions against those who, in

our opinion, can only be brought closer to our point of

view through a fundamental change in their outlook.

128. In these circumstances, we think that a new strategy

should be contemplated in order to attain our objectives

and that it is high time to give up methods which have

proved manifestly ineffective in order to bring about this

change of outlook which will make it easier for the other

side to reach an understanding with us, especially since

there are groups among them with opinions similar to ours,

with whom we might consider new forms of action.

129. Therefore, until we join together to work out and

implement this new strategy, Gabon no longer intends to

associate itself with the vote on any resolution which is

submitted to the Assembly on the subject and which is

bound to remain a dead letter.

130. Ideological, racial or religious considerations are

sometimes — as we have just seen — at the root of present

conflicts. But the main cause of insecurity in the world is

above all the economic and social inequality separating the

well-provided countries from the developing countries. This

flagrant injustice leads to bitterness and jealousy among the

“have nots” and carries with it the risk of an explosion,

with unforeseeable consequences.

131. The United Nations immediately understood the

danger of such a situation and, to correct it, has adopted a

policy of international understanding and solidarity. It has

established many specialized agencies and bodies to assist

the third world and, as early as 1962, instituted the United

Nations Development Decade [General Assembly resolution

1710 (XVI)]. Later, the consolidation of the former

Special Fund and the Expanded Programme of Technical

Assistance [General Assembly resolution 2029 (XX)] has

made possible, through a more unified management, the

institution of a vast multilateral pre-investment assistance

programme. At the same time, the establishment in 1966 of

the United Nations Capital Development Fund and the

stress laid at that time on the need for industrialization as a

basis for economic and social progress have given rise to

great hopes among under-developed countries.

132. Gabon has already received appreciable support

which, together with that granted it by the European

Development Fund, and above all the French Fonds d'aide

et de coopération (Fund for assistance and co-operation),

has enabled it to make a start on the process which should

result in full economic independence and completion of the

infrastructural projects provided for in its first plan.

However, despite this promising beginning, it is still

conscious of the precarious state of its economy which, like

that of other young States, is dependent on exports and

consequently subject to the hard law of a market characterized

for several years by a constant deterioration of the terms of trade.

133. All attempts so far made to check this disastrous

trend have met with only moderate success. The first

session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and

Development ended in near failure, since the great Powers

refused to grant the under-developed countries the advantages

which would have enabled them to meet international

competition. The second session of that Conference

merely confirmed the same selfish attitude, the representatives

of the rich nations having shown only slight interest in

the programme worked out by the representatives of the

third world a few months before at the meeting of the

“Group of 77“. More recently, UNCTAD’s work has

ended in an admission of failure, since the parties involved

have been unable to reach agreement on measures to

improve their co-operation.

134. It is to be feared that this situation will further

deteriorate during the coming months. One of its main

causes lies in the difficulties now facing the industrialized

countries because of the spread of inflation and the

resulting disorganization of the international monetary

system. At first, inflation works to the advantage of the

developing countries because it results in increased demand

for the raw materials and tropical products they supply.

But its illusory nature becomes quickly evident. It forces

Governments to adopt restrictive measures, to limit the

convertibility of their currency, to make budgetary economies;

often to the detriment of financial assistance, and to

retreat into a narrow protectionism which slows down

demand and is highly prejudicial to producing States. This

policy of “each for himself” is gaining more and more

adherents as each country seeks to export more and import less.

135. The gap between the living conditions of the well-

provided and ill-provided countries is thus broadening

alarmingly. Every day uncertainty about the future, and the

ensuing anxiety, are more deeply felt. That anxiety was

proclaimed with courage and lucidity in a statement made

by His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Ethiopia on the

fifteenth anniversary of the International Labour Organization,

when he said:

“Such strife, disparities in wealth, inequalities among

members of the same human family and stark injustice

can only breed bitterness and ill-feeling which, if left

unchecked, may explode with incalculable consequences.

“The reason for a plea for a concerted supreme effort

and sacrifice towards the realization of a saner and less

self-seeking socio-economic global structure in the

interests of mankind at large, when seen within its proper

perspective must, therefore, be self-evident.

“...Then, and then alone, will we have courageously

arisen in concert to the supreme challenge and abundant

opportunity of our times.

“It is then alone that we will be entitled to claim that

our actions and our endeavours will be justified before

history and posterity as having served the paramount

cause of world peace and the well-being of mankind.”

136. To recapitulate, the sum of the objectives set out in

the programme of our Organization, aimed at building an

era of justice, peace and happiness in the world by

promoting the establishment of institutions and activities

designed to ensure the protection and respect of the human

individual in his dignity and rights, solidarity among men

and co-operation among peoples, is far from having been

attained.

137. Despite the accumulated difficulties, despite the

failures, there is, however, an element of consolation and

reassurance: there is still a resolute will to work for these

objectives on the part of organizations, both international

and inter-African, and on that of Member States particularly

enamoured of peace and animated by philanthropic

sentiments and a co-operative spirit. It is this will which

inspires action to restore peace in the Middle East,

Viet-Nam and Nigeria, to fight colonialism, imperialism and

neo-colonialism in order to liberate all the territories still

under colonial domination, to eliminate racism and racial

discrimination from human society. It is the same will

which underlies the action to develop and encourage the

spirit of solidarity among men and of co-operation among

peoples. It is this will which is being exerted to ensure the

success of the Second United Nations Development Decade

in order to eliminate economic inequalities between

nations. So long as this will remains active, mankind can

still hope for a better future.