Ghana, 1982

It is with particular pleasure that I join

previous speakers in congratulating Mr. Hollai

most warmly, on behalf of the Government of

Ghana, on his election to the presidency of the

thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly.

His election is a fitting tribute to his many

fine qualities, which allow him to bring to this

difficult task wide experience and wisdom, from

which we shall no doubt stand to gain. We

therefore have every confidence that, with the

collective support of all delegations, he will

skillfully lead the session to a productive

conclusion. My delegation assures him of its full

co-operation at all times. I should like to take

this opportunity to pay a tribute to his

predecessor, Mr. Kittani, and express to him our

deepest appreciation for his excel¬lent

achievement in steering a difficult thirty-sixth

session to such a successful conclusion. I should

also like to place on record the profound

appreciation of my delegation for the competence

invariably displayed by the Secretary-General and

his able and dedicated staff in promoting the

business of the General Assembly.

108. Since the thirty-sixth session, the

international political scene has continued to be

worrying and efforts to find durable solutions to

many burning issues have only been met with

frustration. The Palestinian question, the war

between Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran,

the escalating arms race, the prob¬lems of

colonialism and racism and the ever-widening

economic gap between the North and the South—all

have increased in complexity. As we meet at this

thirty- seventh session, our skills,

inventiveness and good faith will be fully taxed

in our quest for a better world.

109. In drawing attention to the explosive

situations around the globe today, I should like

to touch upon the Middle East, because it is one

single issue which has gravely disturbed

international peace and security. In the wake of

some bold steps taken both within and outside the

United Nations system, one would have thought

that a significant improvement would by now be

discernible in the Middle East situation.

Unfor¬tunately, that situation has been further

complicated by the recent tragic devastation of

Lebanon. The callous Israeli invasion has

resulted in the loss of thousands of lives; it

has rendered hundreds of thousands homeless and

without shelter; it has ravaged towns and

villages, wantonly destroyed property and

demolished Palestinian refugee camps—and the

entire world has just looked on as though it was

all to be expected and all too normal.

110. It is inadmissible that after 35 years of

hostility and warfare no durable solution has

been found to the Palestinian question, which is

undeniably the crux of the Middle East dilemma.

The Palestinian people have suffered for far too

long. The international community and certain

Governments in particular must abandon their fear

of embarking on new policies which alone can

ensure that the Palestinians have a home. The

least that can be done is to implement fully

relevant Security Council and General Assembly

resolutions dealing with the fundamental and

inalien¬able rights of the Palestinians as

defined and elabo¬rated in General Assembly

resolutions 3210 (XXIX) and 3236 (XXIX). Those

two resolutions were again emphasized in Assembly

resolution ES-7/2. Ghana very strongly urges a

final solution of the question in terms of these

resolutions. We stand our ground and reaffirm the

principles underlying them, the most important of

which are: the right of the Palestinian people to

return to their homes and property in Palestine

from which they have been forcibly displaced and

uprooted; the right of the Palestinian people to

self-determination without external interference;

the right of the Palestinian people to establish

their own independent and sovereign State in

Palestine; the right to territorial integrity and

national unity—which must apply to all States in

the area; and the right of the PLO, the

representative of the Palestinian people, to

participate on an equal footing in all efforts,

deliber¬ations and conferences on the question of

Palestine and the situation in the Middle East

within the frame¬work of the United Nations.

HI. We cannot pretend that the legitimate

aspira¬tions of the Palestinians will die with

the arrogant use of force. The yearning of a

people for a home can never die, as the Israelis

must know. We call upon Israel to withdraw from

ail Arab lands it has occupied. Until Israel

heeds the conscience of mankind, it will continue

to create conditions for its isolation.

112. Another source of grave concern is the

ongoing war between Iran and Iraq, two developing

countries which require all the human and

material resources with which they are so richly

blessed to surmount the shackles of

underdevelopment and help their less fortunate

brothers of the third world. There is no point in

continuing this war, and we should like to

counsel our brothers in Iran and Iraq to seek the

road to peace.

113. My delegation is equally concerned about

the unsettled regional conflicts in Cyprus,

Afghanistan and Kampuchea. The early solution of

these conflicts will help brighten the

international horizon and replace fear with

confidence in the future, thus enhancing the

chances of our winning true peace for all

mankind. My delegation would like to support the

call for the withdrawal of all foreign troops

from those crisis areas and for respect for the

sovereignty and territorial integrity of all the

States therein. The solution of these conflicts

will not be possible, however, except within the

context of a comprehensive settlement of the

conflicting interests of all the parties involved.

114. The United Nations has, over its 37-year

history, scored a number of successes in the

areas of decoloni-zation, development assistance

and humanitarian work. The record, however, is

rather dismal in the resolution of conflicts and

the removal of the under¬lying factors that

engender them. The irony of the situation is that

all parties involved in the conflicts are

signatories to the Charter and all are thus

legally and morally enjoined to settle disputes

by peaceful means.

115. From the record of Ghana's participation

in the deliberations of the Organization, there

can be no doubt that my country has supported the

United Nations initiatives for peace. My country

has con¬sistently made troop contributions to

United Nations peace-keeping forces to serve as a

buffer in the effort to contain latent and

potentially explosive disputes. It is a difficult

and sometimes dangerous task which the United

Nations has performed with courage and

dedication, if not successfully on all occasions.

With all its faults, peace-keeping continues to

be a useful and serious undertaking that all

Member States should support. It is therefore

regrettable that countries which are easily in a

position to make contributions for peace-keeping

operations should be in default or refuse

outright to do so. We therefore appeal to all

those countries to honor their commitments in

this regard and make good their assessed

contributions in the greater interest of world

peace and security.

116. My Government is also ready and willing

to support any move designed to review the powers

of the Secretary-General with a view to making

him better able to deal with conflict situations

more decisively. This review is necessary if the

United Nations is not to be further harmed by the

crisis in confidence that now envelops it as a

result of the tendency of certain Member States

to play down its importance in finding solutions

to international problems.

117. A matter of fundamental importance to

world peace is disarmament. The outcome of the

recent second special session of the General

Assembly devoted to disarmament was most

disappointing. The primary responsibility for

controlling the arms race rests with the big

Powers. It is intolerable that they should

continue to endanger the security of all of us in

pursuit of superiority.

118. It is known that the quality of life in

the devel¬oping countries would take on a new

meaning if a portion of current expenditures on

arms were to be released for development

assistance. However, not only are we being denied

that assistance; we stand in danger of being

annihilated as a result of policies we have no

part in shaping. It is a misfortune that no

change of heart is in sight.

119. To have the peace and security in which

harmony and human development can survive is the

fervent hope of mankind. The delegation of Ghana

associates itself with those delegations that

have wel¬comed the proposals for a nuclear freeze

and urges the nuclear Powers to seize this

opportunity and to take those steps which must be

taken in order to rid our¬selves and posterity of

the danger of extinction.

120. It is not an accident of history that the

odious policy of apartheid is practiced with

impunity in South Africa; it derived its

inspiration from the imperialism and the racism

of the industrialized West and it is supported by

certain Governments and transnational

corporations, whatever they may say to the

contrary. The policy of apartheid has been

consciously and systematically nurtured into an

insti¬tutionalized racial bigotry that maintains

that the black man is little more than an object

of labour. He works under unjust and

discriminatory laws, suffers arbitrary

imprisonment and is denied his basic rights and

privi¬leges as a citizen of his own country. The

educational structure for the black population is

organized in such a way as to provide separate

and unequal levels of education appropriate only

to satisfy the labour needs of the white society

and of the transnational corporations.

121. And if those conditions were not

degrading enough, the South African Government's

policy of creating bantust is or independent

homelands has been initiated in order to

eliminate the inter-ethnic cohesion that is

necessary for collective action on the part of

the black majority in defense of their liberty.

122. What is happening in South Africa should

be a matter of concern to the entire world. Those

who gloss over the transgressions of South Africa

for whatever reasons and those who pursue profits

at the expense of human dignity are as guilty as

the bigots who hold power in South Africa.

123. The South African Government's

provocative aggression against Angola and

Mozambique, its inter-vention in Seychelles and

in Lesotho and its threats to other front-line

States show how passivity on the part of the

international community can encourage dangers to

international people and security. South Africa

has seen fit to refuse to comply with United

Nations resolutions and it continues its illegal

occupa¬tion of Namibia. South Africa is a

veritable inter¬national outlaw and it merits the

imposition of punitive measures from the Security

Council now. The longer we wait the greater the

danger that with the develop¬ment of a nuclear

capability in co-operation with other

racist-minded regimes it will be able to hold the

world to ransom.

124. There is no doubt that an oil embargo is

not only feasible but could be effective.

Virtually all South Africa's petroleum

requirements must be imported from abroad and

refined oil is indispensable to South African

transportation and industry, crucial levers of

its economic and military strength. An oil

embargo against South Africa would not have an

adverse impact on international oil companies.

The total interest of the five oil companies that

dominate the South African oil industry

represents only 1 per cent of their global

transactions. Nor is there any major

oil-producing country whose livelihood depends on

oil exports to South Africa. The sanctions

envisaged can be enforced not by adopting the

expensive method of patrolling the South African

coastline but by having recourse to the cheaper

alternative of the withdrawal of transport

facilities for the shipment of oil to South

Africa. We do not endorse the cynical argument

that the black population stands to suffer most

if mandatory oil sanctions are imposed on South

Africa. I believe I echo the views of the black

majority in stating that their plight under the

yoke of apartheid with all its inhumanity and

degradation will come to aspeedier end if

sanctions are imposed on South Africa.

125. We are following with interest and some

disap¬pointment the efforts of the Western

contact group to resolve the Namibian problem.

The linkage being made between this problem and

the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola casts

grave suspicions on the sincerity of some of the

parties involved. Meanwhile, our whole-hearted

support will continue to be given to SWAPO for

the successful liquidation of colonialism and

racism in Namibia.

126. When one looks at the present world

economic situation characterized, on the one

hand, by record levels of unemployment,

recession, budget deficits, high interest rates

and other constraints in the de¬veloped world,

and deteriorating terms of trade, record budget

deficits, huge debt burdens and declining rates

of growth in the developing world on the other,

it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the

crises in the political sphere have their

parallel in the economic realm as well and that

one can hardly be considered without the other.

127. In this generally dismal landscape the

con¬spicuous plight of the non-oil-producing

African countries, many of whom have long been

among the poorest of the poor, is nothing short

of desperate. I need not remind the Assembly that

many African countries have actually been

experiencing negative rates of growth at the very

time when they are under¬going a population

explosion. For them poverty has become a way of

life.

128. The fact that the whole world economy is

in a general state of disequilibrium and that

even the most efficient and frugal countries are

faced with serious economic difficulties should,

in our opinion, once more underline the point

many of the developing countries have reiterated

almost nanseam; that the economic, recovery of

the developed countries of the North is

inexorably linked to the economic prosperity and

progress of the developing countries of the

South. The whole world economy, in other words,

is so interlinked and interdependent that the

prosperity and well-being of each country is a

necessary pre-condi¬tion for the prosperity of

all. No one country or group of countries can

today pursue economic policies of a narrow,

self-centered nature without risking economic

disaster for itself in the long run. For that

reason policies of economic blockade outside the

framework of a United Nations sanctions policy

are as outdated and reactionary as the gunboat

diplomacy of times past.

129. The old order—which is now facing a grave

crisis—in which the developing countries supply

abundant raw materials at cheap prices determined

by the markets in the West and are then forced to

buy manufactured goods at expensive prices

determined by the same markets, must give way to

a more equitable system in which the benefits of

economic activity accrue to all who create the

wealth of the world and not only to a small

minority of nations.

130. We reaffirm that the realignment of

international economic relations, as envisaged in

the Declaration and the Programme of Action on

the Establishment of a New International Economic

Order, adopted by the General Assembly in 1974 ,

is a necessity if the world economy is to

overcome its present malaise.

131. It is in this context that my delegation

deeply regrets the failure of the strenuous

efforts made to arrive at a suitable basis for

the launching of global negotiations on

international economic co-operation for

development. We believe that the urgency of the

situation requires that this issue should occupy

a central position on the international

community's agenda for the immediate future.

Without the prospect of general economic recovery

there cannot be genuine political stability and

without political stability there cannot be

peace. As long as millions of people continue to

go to bed hungry, as long as thousands starve to

death while some nations can afford to spend over

$600 billion a year on refining the apparatus of

destruction, there will be no peace. The

responsibility for this will rest squarely with

the industrialized countries, particularlyin the

West.

132. Ghana stands ready to join in any

meaningful initiatives to resolve outstanding

differences so that the way may be cleared for a

serious attempt to address the economic

imbalances and injustices of the past and present.

133. While the North-South dialogue has made

disap¬pointing progress, Ghana is pleased to note

that the developing countries have made

substantial efforts to increase co-operation for

development among them¬selves. We are

particularly pleased that a significant number of

sectoral meetings have taken place this year in

connection with the implementation of the Caracas

Programme of Actions for economic co¬operation

among developing countries, and we are determined

to give full support to every move in the

direction of collective self-reliance, not as a

substitute for global economic reform but as a

com¬plementary effort. Ultimately, the third

world must look to itself to reverse the

exploitative economic relationships fostered by

colonialism and imperialism. This calls for a far

greater level of political con¬sciousness than

the leadership of many a third world country

would allow or would be allowed by those who

stand to lose. It is found to be more convenient

to be content with a neo-colonial relationship

that is beneficial to the class to which the

leadership belongs but which is damaging in the

long run to the interest of the masses. The

Government of Ghana does not intend to be found

wanting in the effort, co-operation and sacrifice

that are necessary for the salvation of the

underprivileged nations of the third world.

134. The adoption on 30 April 1982 of the

Conven¬tion on the Law of the Sea by the Third

United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea

represents a momentous event in the life of the

Organization. It demonstrates the capacity of the

United Nations to forge legally binding

instruments for peace, security and development.

The Convention itself is a unique blend of old

and new concepts in international law: the

concept of freedom of the seas on the one hand

and the modem and novel concepts of exclusive

economic zones and the common heritage of mankind

on the other.

135. The delegation of Ghana is firmly of the

view that the United Nations Convention on the

Law of the Sea will provide, upon its entry into

force, the only form of legality in regard to the

oceans which is known to the world community. Any

unilateral action intended to preserve the

privileges of the few in the exploitation of the

resources of the seas must be resisted by the

international community.

136. As we meet at the present session of the

General Assembly, it would be useful for us all

to bear in mind that we represent peoples of a

world in which the clear majority is yearning for

peace, security and development; we must also

remember that we play our respective diplomatic

roles in a world that has become interdependent

to a great degree. The situation calls for

abandoning selfish national interests and making

a moral commitment to the betterment of the

inter¬national community. The delegation of Ghana

hopes that this session will help generate that

moral commitment.