A/35/PV.83 General Assembly

We have learned with deep regret of the tragic death of the Prime Minister of Portugal, Mr. Francisco Sa Carneiro. On behalf of the General Assembly, I should like to extend to his family and to the Government and people of Portugal our profound condolences. 2. May I invite representatives to stand and observe one minute of silence in tribute to his memory. The members of the General Assembly observed a minute of silence. 3. The PRESIDENT: I call on the representative of Portugal. 4. Mr. FUTSCHER PEREIRA (Portugal): On behalf of the Portuguese Government and on behalf of my delegation, I should like to thank you, Sir, for the expression of sympathy that you have just addressed to us on the tragic death of our Prime Minister, Mr. Francisco Sa Carneiro. My country and my people deeply mourn this untimely death, for it constitutes a very great loss indeed for our nation. 5. Mr. Sa Cameiro and the Minister of Defence, Mr. Adelino Amaro da Costa, who also lost his life in yesterday's accident, were both brilliant, dedicated

The Assembly will now have the honour and pleasure of hearing an address by Mr. Rodrigc Carazo Odio, President of the Republic of Costa Rica. On behalf of the General Assembly, I should like to welcome him to the United Nations and invite him to address the Assembly. 22. Mr. CARAZO ODIO (Costa Rica) (interpretation from Spanish): Two years ago at this rostrum I pro- posed the establishment of the University for Peace, 1 an institution of world-wide scope dedicated to the pursuit of that supreme benefit through education. Thanks to your generous support, the co-operation of the Secretary-General and his staff, the valuable and unfailing support of UNESCO and its Director- General, as well as the work of. the Commission on the University for Peace appointed for the purpose, under the chairmanship of Mr. Rafael Caldera, that seed planted by your hand is now coming to fruition and will soon be placed in the service of all peace- loving men and peoples. At this session the General Assembly, by the resolution it has adopted today, is fulfilling its sacred mission to foster peace through education and is doing honour to my country. 23. On behalf of the Government and people of Costa Rica, I should like to extend my heartfelt gratitude for your goodwill and effectiveness. You may be certain that future generations, for whose sake we strive and dream, will thank you for that decision, " ... since wars begin in the minds of men, It is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed" . 25. Here I am reminded of a memorable thought by a man well fitted to testify to the effects of war, Albert Einstein: "Peace cannot be preserved by force. It can be achieved only through understanding." I should like as well to recall a passage from the Charter of the University for Peace, drafted by the Commission: "Many nations and international organizations have attempted to attain peace through disarma- ment. This effort must be continued; yet facts show that man should not be too optimistic as long as the human mind has not been imbued with the notion of peace from an early age. It is necessary to break the vicious circle of struggling for peace without an educational foundation. "This is the challenge that now faces all nations and all men as the twenty-first century approaches. The decision must be made to save the human race, which is threatened by war, through education for peace..If education has been the instrument of science and technology, there is all the more reason to use it to achieve this primary rights of the human being." [Resolution 35/55, annex, appendix, paras. 3 and 4.J 26. In this forum of world conscience, I reiterate a statement I made here two years ago: "the twenty- first century shall be peaceful, or it shall not be". 2 27. In the year 2000-within 20 years-there will be more human beings alive than the sum of all who have walked the earth since the Cro-Magnon period. What human wealth the future will hold, what untold treasures of intelligence and will if we fashion for them a century steeped in the warmth ofpeace, or what a vast burial ground if we step into the twenty-first century to the drumbeat of war, that is to say, if the world continues to be a gigantic factory producing weapons to destroy the human species in the very season when it could, if it wished, reap its finest harvests. 28. For those thousands of millions of children and young people, no effort, financial or academic, should be spared to infuse mankind's education with the ideas of peace. With this broad historical perspective, I thank you on behalf of future generations for your support in taking this new stride towards the building of peace through education. 29. Just as my Government is convinced of the overriding necessity of achieving peace through educa- 30. In the course of the twentieth century mankind has endured three disastrous decades: the First World War, the scourge of the Great Depression from 1930 to 1940 and the harrowing years of the Second World War in the 1940s, from whose ashes was born the promise to wage a struggle against war, unemploy- ment, poverty, racial discrimination and political, economic and social inequality. In the first Allied joint declaration of 1941, as well as in the Atlantic Charter of that same year, the signatory Powers affirmed that they considered that one of the soundest foundations of peace lay in the opportunity for all- men to enjoy economic and social security. The Powers accordingly undertook to establish a world economic order conducive to the attainment of those aims. Those undertakings were reaffirmed in the "Declaration by United Nations" signed in Wash- ington on 1 January 1942 and at the four-Power conferences held in Moscow in 1943, at Tehran in the same year, at Dumbarton Oaks in 1944 and at Yalta in 1945, whose deliberations produced the first outlines of this world organization, the United Nations, with a Charter that lays down as one of its basic aims the pursuit of economic and social development. To that end, a number of international institutions have since been established whose underlying purpose is securing peace through justice. 31. During the years following the Second World War, other concerns and requirements also came to the fore in the third world. Imports of capital goods and of strategic raw materials fell substantially, since war production had been given precedence over industrial activity, while the prices of export products were kept low in order to augment the war effort and avoid inflationary pressures among the Allied Powers. Those causes, together with the Great Depres- sion of the pre-war years, gave rise to a new concept of economic policy in several third-world countries. That concept held that the principles of the improve- ment of living standards proclaimed by the United Nations could not be fulfilled merely by economic reconstruction in the war-affected countries or through a reorganization of the world economy in line with pre-war models. Rather, a persistent effort was required to foster economic development in the underdeveloped areas of the world. In this way, the attention paid to economic problems in the world's less developed areas gradually became the United Nations' central concern; this was encouraged by a number of factors, such as the emergence of new developing countries as a result of decolonization. countries which joined in calling for needed economic and social development and for the solution of the problems which had earlier been faced by the war- devastated countries. The ultimate outcome was relatively speedy recovery and even strengthening of the developed countries, and stagnation and relative deterioration among the developing countries. 34. During the 1970s there was a decline in the rate of growth of the volume of world trade; the volume of exports of the developed countries grew more rapidly than that of the developing countries; non-oil commodity prices were uneven and generally weak; and the prices of commodities exported mainly by developing countries-coffee, cocoa, oils, rubber, copper, tin-experienced severe fluctuations. The average annual price fluctuation for 33 commodities other than petroleum included in the World Bank price index, which was 4.8 per cent in the period from 1961 to 1970, rose to 12.4 per cent in the period from 1971 to 1980. During the 1970s, fluctuations became more accentuated for every group of commodities. The upturn which occurred in l9'/6 and 1977 was largely the result of a sudden increase in coffee prices, amounting to more than 200 per cent in real terms, which followed the frosts of 1975 in Brazil. By 1978 and 1979, commodity prices were once again at unprecedentedly low levels in real terms. 3~. Divergent trends in the prices and volume of exports ofgoods have significantly altered the structure of world trade. Fuels, which accounted for 11 per cent of the value of world exports in 1960, reached 22 per cent in 1979, thus outstripping commodities other than fuel. Moreover, the proportion of exports of those products in the developing countries declined. This decline in the growth of world trade in turn brought about large current account deficits. 36. Since such large deficits could not be sustained in the long term, those countries were obliged to adopt adjustment measures. In 1978 the aggregate deficit of the petroleum-importing developing countries had fallen to $27.1 billion, or 2.3 per cent of their gross national product, but by 1979 it had once again climbed to $43.1 billion, Despite the adjustment measures adopted, the development process in many developing countries lost momentum, and a sizable number of those countries had to cut investments. 37. Symptomatic of the changes that have been occurring in the international economic environment during the last decade is the growing need for developing countries to turn to external financing, thus increasing their indebtedness. From 1971 to 1978 the developing countries' disbursed and outstanding medium-term and long-term indebtedness to public and private sources increased fivefold to $318.4 billion; by late 1979 it had reached an estimated $376 billion. 38. This imbalance in world development, which has taken on tragic dimensions during the last decade, has compelled the developing countries to call for changes in the structure of the world economy. Pro- 39. One expression of this has been the adoption by the General Assembly of resolution ~201 (S-VI) on 1 May 1974, which contains the Declaration on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order based on equity, sovereign equality, interdependence, common interest and co-operation among all States, .. ... which shall correct inequalities and redress existing injustices, make it possible to eliminate the widening gap between the developed and the developing countries and ensure steadily accel- erating economic and social development and peace and justice for present and future generations... " .. Is it possible to develop a more clear and more neces- sary economic and social undertaking? 40. The new development strategy and subsequent negotiations have become distilled in the North-South dialogue. It could be sensed from the outset that it would prove difficult to arrive at specific agreements on the issues that divided the developed and the developing countries. Yet, some headway has been made on certain aspects, while on others differences have been slightly mitigated and a certain willingness to compromise is appearing. Specifically, the broad outlines of a formulation concerning the indebtedness of the poorest developing countries has emerged, and agreement has been reached with regard to the content of binding codes of conduct for the transfer of tech- nology and for the regulation of transnational corpora- tions. Agreement has also been reached on a common fund to stabilize commodity export prices by means of separate international commodity agreements and the financing of research and development activities in commodity-producing countries. 41. Nevertheless, the r': ."ping countries have not concealed their sense ( zration and discourage- ment at the lack of tal'elt.1.~ results. The failure to achieve such results at the Conference on Interna- tional Economic Co-operation, held in Paris from 16to 19 December 1975 and from 30 May to 2 June 1977, cast its shadow over subsequent meetings, such as the thirty-fifth session of ESCAP, held in Manila from 5 to 16 March 1979, and the Third General Conference of UNIDO, held in New Delhi from 21 January to 9 February 1980, on industrialization. In Geneva a procedural dispute has held up the Diplomatic Con- ference and the Revision of the Paris Convention on industrial property. Also in Geneva, negotiations to establish a common fund for the stabilization of prices of agricultural products are now under way. 42. In view of the slow progress noted, the President of the World Bank, Mr. McNamara, proposed in January 1977 that an informal commission be formed to examine world economic problems and recommend appropriate measures for adoption by countries of the North and the South. Subsequently, the Independent Commission on International Development Issues was established under the chairmanship of Willy Brandt the result of which is a programme for survival. The 48. We should not forget that the poor countries bear the brunt of rising petroleum prices and of recession, as well as of the defensive measures adopted by the rich nations against that increase. Recession exacerbates pressures upon the poor countries by reducing the prices of their products and the volume of ] North-South: A program for survival; report of the Independent Commission on International Development Issues, under the chairmanship of Willy Brandt (Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MIT Press. 1980). 53. The new decade, the threshold of the twenty- first century, thus places before us the eternal problem of justice. Coexistence is impossible between rich peoples, numerically in the minority, and the ever more numerous but increasingly impoverished poor peoples. The conclusion spells tragedy. The question IS not one of generosity, for the international climate does not point in that direction, but rather one of justice. Development is not a gift of the rich to the poor. It is necessary that the rich countries make a sacrifice which, combined with the poor countries' determination to develop, can avert disaster. That sacrifice can be made in the area of the arms race. In other words, what we are asking is not a sacrifice of development but a sacrifice in the art of war. The measures we call for would not detract from any one's life or prosperity; they would detract from death and destruction. The new international order is not only economic; it is fundamentally moral. 54. Article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that: 58. Every day that passes gives added force to the view expressed by Arthur Koestler: "From the dawn of human conscience to 6 August 1945, man had to live with the idea of his death as an individual. From that day when the first atomic bomb eclipsed the sun at Hiroshima, all mankind has had to live with the idea of its extinction • • '1'1 as a species. 59. It is all well and good that man should undertake excellent, painstaking studies for the fashioning of a new international economic order. The idea will none the less remain Utopian so long as the brutal day-to-day reality of the arms r-ce persists. Unfor- tunately, the facts concerning the untrammelled momentum of the arms race are of such tragic dimen- sions that men tend to fall back upon one of the most reiiable defences-evasiun and indifference-in order not to grapple with them or act as they would dictate. Therefore it is necessary for us to repeat those facts desperately and to the point of exhaustion. Someday we will make an impression. 60. Every year $500 billion is spent on arms, that is, $1 million per minute. Meanwhile, there are in the world 2 billion human beings who are homeless, 200 million who are illiterate, and more than 1 billion who are undernourished. In 1978, 15 million children died of hunger. As has been noted by the distinguished recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Lord Philip John IJ'

The positions of delegations regarding the various recommendations of the Second 93. In order to save time and for orderly procedure, I shall invite explanations of vote after the vote on all draft resolutions and draft decisions recom- mended by the Second... Committee under agenda item 61, which are contained in parts Il , Ill, IV and V of its report [A/35/592/Adds.J-4J, which means, in short, that all explanations of vote will come after the vote on all the parts which are before us in the report. 94. May I now invite members to turn their attention to the recommendation of the Second Committee under agenda item 61 (a), concerning the International Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade. This is contained in paragraph 6 of document A/35/592/Add. I. 95. The draft resolution was adopted in the Com- mittee without a vote. May I consider that it is the wish of the General Assembly to adopt it in the same manner? The draft resolution was adopted (resolution 35/56).

May we now turn to the report of the Second Committee under agenda item 61 (b) and (c), concerning, respectively, the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States, and trade and development [A/35/592/Add.2]. 97. There are seven draft resolutions recommended in paragraph 45 of that report. 98. I first put to the vote draft resolution I, entitled "Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States". A recorded vote has been requested.

Draft resolution VI, entitled "Reverse transfer of technology", was adopted also without a vote in the Second Committee, and I assume that the General Assembly would like to follow that example. Draft resolution VI wa5 adopted (resolution 35/62).

Draft resolution VII is entitled "Restrictive business practices". The admin- istrative and financial implications of that draft resolu-

I shall now call on those representatives who wish to explain their vote. 114. Mrs. SIKRI (India): I should like to make a brief explanation of our vote on draft resolution 11, entitled"Special action related to the particular needs and problems of land-locked developing countries". In the Second Committee there was a separate vote on operative paragraph I of this draft resolution, and the delegation of India voted against that operative paragraph, while abstaining on the draft resolution 6 Quoted in English by the speaker. 119. Mr NANJIRA (Kenya): My delegation abstained in the vote on operative paragraph 1 of draft resolution 11 in the Second Committee. If that operative paragraph had been put to the vote in the Assembly, we would have abstained. 120. Mr. ABDULLAH (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) (interpretation from Arabic): My delegation abstained from voting on draft resolution 11, and had there been a separate vote on operative paragraph 1 my delega- tion would have voted against it. 121. Mr. DIOP (Senegal) (interpretation from French): The delegation of Senegal voted in favour of draft resolution 11, but if a separate vote had been taken on operative paragraph 1 the delegation of Senegal would have abstained, as it did in the Second Committee.

My delegation voted in favour of draft resolution II, but if a separate vote had been held on operative paragraph 1, we would have ab- stained. as in fact we did in the Second Committee.

In the Second Committee. when operative paragraph 1 of draft resolution 11 was put to the vote. the Chinese delegation abstained. Had that paragraph been put to a separate vote here. we would again have abstained, although we support the draft resolution as a whole.

My delegation voted in favour of draft resolu- tion 11. but if operative paragraph I had been put to the vote separately, as occurred in the Second Com- mittee. my delegation would have acted similarly here. that is, it would have abstained.

My delegation voted in favour of draft resolu- tion 11 but, had operative paragraph 1 been put to a separate vote, we would have abstained, as we did in the Second Committee. 131, Mr. OULD SID' AHMED (Mauritania) (inter- pretation from Arabic): Had there been a separate vote on operative paragraph 1 of draft resolution 11,' my delegation, for the reasons given in the Second Committee, would have abstained in the vote on that operative paragraph while voting in favour of the draft resolution as a whole.

My delegation voted in favour of draft resolu- tion 11. but if operative paragraph I had been voted on separately we would have abstained, as we did in the Second Committee.

My delegation abstained on operative paragraph I of draft resolution 11 in the Second Com- mittee, in conformity with the position we have taken on the subject. Had that operative paragraph been put to a separate vote in the Assembly we would have abstained again. 134. Mr. GOK<;E (Turkey): Regarding draft resolu- tion 11. we should like to state for the record that had operative paragraph 1 been put to a separate vote, we would have abstained, as we did in the Com- mittee.

Like those who have spoken before me, I should like to reaffirm the position my delegation adopted in the Second Committee regarding draft resolution 11. We abstained in the vote on opera-

My delega- tion voted in favour of draft resolution n as a whole. However, if operative paragraph 1 had been put to a vote, we would have abstained, as we did in the Second Committee. 139. Mr. ANOMA (Ivory Coast)(interpretationfrom French): As regards operative paragraph I of draft resolution 11, the Ivory Coast voted in favour when it was voted on in the Second Committee. On reflection and after analysis, in the plenary meeting we would in fact have abstained had that paragraph been put to a separate vote. My delegation voted in favour of the draft resolution as a whole. 140. Mr. de ALMEIDA (Angola): Concerning draft resolution 11, my delegation voted in favour of the draft resolution as a whole and against operative paragraph I.

My delegation voted in favour of draft resolution 11 but if operative para- graph I had been put to a vote we would have abstained, as we did in the Second Committee.

As regards draft resolution 11, Gabon voted against operative paragraph 1 in the Second Committee and abstained on the draft resolu- tion as a whole. We wish to reaffirm our vote.

Regarding draft resolution 11, my delegation voted in favour, but as regards operative paragraph I we would have reaf- firmed our position in the Second (;ommittee, where we abstained. 144. Mr·. TANTEMSAPYA (Thailand): My delega- tion voted for draft resolution 11 as a whole but had operative paragraph I been put to the vote, we would have maintained our position in the Second Committee.

My delegation voted in favour of draft resolution 11 as a whole, but we would have abstained on operative paragraph 1 as we did in the Second Committee, had that operative para- graph been put to the vote.

My delegation supported draft resolution 11. However, had operative paragraph I been put to a separate vote, we would have abstained.

Although the Egyptian delegation voted in favour of draft resolution 11 as a whole, we would have abstained on operative paragraph I had a separate vote been taken on it, because we do not believe

I should like to state for the record that had there been a separate vote on operative paragraph I of this draft resolution my delegation would have abstained, just as it did in the Committee. 153. Mr. AL-SHANFARI (Oman) (interpretation from Arabic): We abstained in the vote on operative paragraph I when it was put to a separate vote in the Second Committee. Had that paragraph been put to a separate vote in the Assembly, we would have adopted the same attitude and abstained. 154. The PRESIDENT: Before continuing our work this morning, I should like to make a suggestion -although, of course, the General Assembly is master of its own procedures. 155. Similar cases may arise in the future when we vote on draft resolutions on which delegations have taken specific stands in the Committees. It might be helpful and would certainly save time if we were to have a separate vote on paragraphs of draft resolu- tions such as the one on which we have just heard explanations of vote. 156. We come now to the report of the Second Committee on subitems (d), (e), (g) and (h) of agenda item 61 concerning, respectively: industrialization; science and technology for development; food problems; financial, monetary and related matters [A/35/592/Add.3]. The drajt decision was adopted (decision 35/4/9). 166. The PRESIDENT: I now invite members to turn their attention to the report of the Second Committee on subitems (k), (t), (111), (11) and (0) of agenda item 61, concerning, respectively, the environment, human settlements, effective mobilization and integration of -

Draft resolution IV is entitled "International co-operation in the field of the environ- ment". The report of the Fifth Committee on the administrative and financial implications of that draft resolution is contained in document A/35/704. The Second Committee adopted draft resolution IV without a vote, and I take it that the General Assembly wishes to do the same.

We shall now vote on draft resolution V, entitled "Living conditions of the Palestinian people". A recorded vote has been requested. In favour: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Democratic Kampuchea, Democratic Yemen, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, German Democratic Republic, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guinea, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda. Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Th PR SIDENT' F' 11' h 47 for the New International Development Strategy, 1,76. e E . m~ y, m paragrap h Mr. Naik, for the skill, patience, courage and sense of of ItS .report, the Seco.n~ Com!Dltte~ recommends t e responsibility which he displayed throughout the adoption or a draft declslo?, entitled Lo~g-ter~t~ends negotiations. Thus, he contributed, through his own m. economic development . May I take It that It IS the personal devotion, to the drafting of a text which has WIS~ .of the General Assembly to adopt that draft won the approval of all parties. decision? h d ,Ii d " . d d (d .. 35/420 184. I had the opportunity to emphasize the irnpor- T. e raft eUSLOn was a opte eC1SLOn ). tance which the European Community attaches to the 177. The PRESIDENT: I shall now call on those adoption of the Strategy when draft resolution A/C.2/ representatives who wish to explain their votes. 35/L,59 was adopted in the Second Committee." 178. Mr. SCHELTEMA (Netherlands): In facing 185. The document which we have just adopted the International Development Strategy for the Third [resolution 35/56, annex] appears to us to reflect in a United Nations Development Decade, the world corn- balanced manner the various economic and social munity has had to decide on a number of crucially factors which will enable all the peoples concerned to important issues. As we agree at this moment on a develop fruitfully by ensuring their full participation new text that will guide our development efforts for in the development process as well as an equal share the coming decade, we join in a general consensus of the benefits deriving from that process. It also on the best possible compromise. I am speaking at takes account of the necessary mobilization of human this stage first to express our satisfaction that this resources, of the transfer of resources to developing compromise has been possible. I wish to emphasize countries and of the preservation of the world's natural that now that this Strategy has been adopted my resources. We hope that awareness of those various Government will commit itself politically to the new elements within the context of the development strategy, and I express the hope that all countries of process during the coming Decade will be strengthened the international community will take the same and consolidated by the review and evaluation position. 'machinery which·we have set up. 179. In addition to what the representative of Luxembourg will have to say in the name of the European Community and its member States, I shall mention one specific point where the result is not what my delegation had hoped for. The Netherlands delega- J R Ibid., Thirty-fifth Session, Second Committee. 41st meeting, paras. 40-42, and ibid., Second Committee, Sessional Fascicle. corrigendurn.

In that case, I shall ask the representa- tive of Denmark to continue our explanation of vote on behalf of the European Community at this afternoon's meeting. The meeting rose at /./5 p.m.