A/42/PV.29 General Assembly

9.  GENERAL DEBATE Mr. HAZOUME (Benin) (interpretation from French): It gives me great pleasure and true joy that you, Sir, have assumed the presidency of our annual Assembly session. By your unanimous election you have been asked to perform functions in which your ability and undeniable qualities as a statesman and diplomat will, I am convinced, be a great asset in the proper and successful conduct of our deliberations. We congratulate you and are happy to see you, the representative of a country with which Benin shares the same aspirations to progress, peace and social justice, assume the presidency of this session of the General Assembly of our unique and irreplaceable Or~anization. You have taken over from your predecessor, our eminent colleague from Bangladesh, Mr. Rasheed Choudnury, to whom I express the appreciation of my delegation and country for the authority, skill and competence of which he gave such brilliant proof in guiding the forty-first session of the General Assembly. The Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, through his devotion and very lofty vision of international public service, also merits my delegation's encouragement and admiration. The challenges that await him are still ilrunense, the crises of the international society are still many and dangerous to world peace and stability, for the establishment of which Benin reaffirms our full solidarity and support. I am not performing a ritual or carrying out an off icial duty, speak. ing after so many brilliant and talented representatives, when I say that the picture of the world, the state of the international society, the unrest on our beautiful planet, inspire and compel us to speak and voice our proposals clearly and with conviction. In sUbscribing to the principles of our Organization's Charter, all nations, great and small, rich and poor, agree tha~ in compl~te equality and full sovereignty we should work together, despite our differences and our cultural and ideological sensitivities, in this challenging endeavour to establish peace throughout the world and harmony among nations. This endeavour, despite its noble nature and the statements that magnify it, is still starkly incomplete and very precarious. It is for us to emphasize the deficiencies and point out the limits and our daily failures, so that we may all in this forum go beyond the beauty and rhetoric of our statements from this rostrum and find practical ways to establish understanding, peace and development. Today, thanks to man's genius, the talent of our thinkers and the astonishing progress of science and technology, some great Powers have succeeded in accumulating terrible instruments of our own collective destruction. By dominating the atom and the laser and through the power of computers, two super-Powers, and others increasing in number and ambition, are zealously vying with each other to acquire and upgrade laboratories to gain what they believe to be the attributes of military superiority or perfect deterrence. Let us look for a moment at the stunning figures and facts of that armament, or rather over-armament. We see vaulting ambition and at the same time enormous financial resources being mobilized for war and, consequently, the ruin of civilizations and the certain death of hundreds of millions of men and women on this earth, if Inad powers were one day to press the buttons and controls of a nuclear war. These are the first terrifying sentences of a very penetrating work entitled Nuclear Battlefields: (spqke in English) "Every minute of every day, at thousands of locations around the world ~ from the plains of North Dakota and Montana, from the Ukraine and Siberia, from southern France and central China, to beneath the Arctic Icepack, to the Sea of Okhotsk, to the Yellow Sea - nuclear missiles si t ready to be launched. In Western Europe nuclear aircraft sit cocked on alert. On and under the high seas, nuclear-armed ships and sUbmarines partrol, waiting for their day to go into battle. The weapons co'uld reach their targets thousands of miles away quicker than it takes moBt people to ge t to vorkin the morning.· (continued in French) Thus, in all the United States, the Soviet Union, the United KingdOlilil, France and China - to list but a few - possess between them approximately 49,000 and 59,000 nuclear warheads. No reason of State, no ideological or imperial ambition, could Justify this rush towards the abyss and the annihilation of what many generations of creators and builders have constructed to ensure the progress and haPPlnass of mankind. Most fortunately certain encouraging signs have appeared. Painstaking and complex negotiations seemed to have led to sOOIe agreements. However limited and modest, those results should be encouraged and welcOt11iled. When the Soviet Union and the United States recently reached agreement on intermediate-range nu,clear missiles, my country - and, I am sure, many other nations to,o - applauded with a sense of relief this beginning of the end of our c~nrnon anguish. These efforts must be continued and amplified on the basis of mutual, courageous concessions, so that those that have a virtual mono~oly of nuclear terror on our ~eas, on our continents and in space may finally give us grounds for hope. They have that duty and that responsibility to history and the world. 11 September 1987, established that there was a logical link and an almost mathematical relationship between disarmament and development. Thus, it takes only a few statistics to prove that if a small fraction of the expenditure on military and research development - the millions of dollars, intellectual energy, technological creativity devoted to the production of arms - were used to finance the development of the poorest and most deprived, many of the hapless and least developed of our earth would receive additional, invaluable, precious resources with which to feed, care for and educate their citizens. Thus, in 1985 one of the super-Powers had a military bUdget of $305 billion. Compared to that the total national budget of several countries of the third world taken together, with their paltry figures, is Lilliputian. It is towards that rechannelling of military expenditure to peaceful purposes that our Organization, surmounting the poor excuses of national selfishness, should immediately urge certain Powers to commit themselves seriously to the greater good of future generations. In this finite, truly interdependent, world, despite our diversities, differences and divergence, and despite hegemonistic rivalries, peace cannot and must not remain elusive. Development depends on it; health and the balance of our economies would gain additional resources and renewed vigour from it. Thus we see in the third world the weakness of their economies, the scarcity of resources and the worsening destitution, which carry the threat of social explosions. Today the debt, with its unbearable burden and destabilizing effects, haunts the days and the work of our Governments. As our great comrade-in-arms President Mathieu Kerekou asked at the recent Francophone Summit in Quebec, can we at the same time suffer the crushing debt-servicing and see our export earnings whittled away so scandalously, thanks to the cynical games of the stockmarkets and the wealthy Powers? President Kerekou went on to say: " Indeed, how can we understand and interpret objectively the figures of the underdeveloped countries debt, which in 1970 was $76 billion and in 1986 greatly exceeded $1,000 billion? "How can we understand and interpret objectively the net transfer of capital from third-world countries to the developed countries of more than $30 billion at the end of 1986 compared to $11 billion in 1984? "How can we understand and blithely accept that the export earnings of the developing countries, based essentially on commodity prices, are constantly falling because of the law of the stockmarkets of the rich countries?" We are not inviting the rich of the world to the spectacle of our tears and lamentations so that because of their pity or compassion we may live on their largesse or their heartfelt generosity. We are simply asking that disorder and injustice give way to the establishment of a new order that respects our dignity and recognizes our demands as just. The force and passion of our appeal simply reflect the tragic backwardness of our economies, which is the result of so many centuries of foreign exploitation and domination. We know how to manage our enterprises by correcting what needs to be corrected, rectifying the mistakes that have been made and, in particular, making the sacrifices required by certain structural adjustment programmes. But, the economies of the industrialized and developed North cannot get fat on our weakness and impoverishment without imperilling their own stability. While the special session of the General Assembly held from 27 May to 1 June 1986, were able to outline the problems and take a hard look at the magnitude of the crisis and Africa's development needs - to confine myself to the agonizing tur~oil of our great continent - it is for the masters of international finance and the captains of industry of the countries of the North to help us to resolve them and emerge from the backwaters of poverty and underdevelopment, where we can no longer agree to suffer and languish. It is intolerable that abundance should exist side by side with the atrocious hunger, poverty and disease so characteristic of entire regions of the third world. Mankind is facing here one of the greatest challenges in its history of struggle, battles and crises. It has the capacity to meet this challenge to put an end to certain scandalous inequalities and injustices that are unacceptable in the light of the very richness of our planet and the infinite capacity of the creative genius of mankind. While the malfunctions of the world economic machine are one of the gravest causes of disquiet in our time, the world is beset by grave anomalies and dangerous anachronisms of other kinds, which all cry out for attention. To what extent is a political doctrine derived from the principles of our Charter consonant with the phenomena of oppression which we observe in the contemporary international society? How great is the gap of distortion, indeed sometimes the gulf, between what we preach and proclaim in every solemn statement and the acts that flout and trample underfoot the rights and dignity of peoples and individuals? In our continent in particular, but also elsewhere in the world, there are living large-scale examples which attest to the way in which these practices and this conduct lag behind the fervour and the cogency of our pledges of non-interference and respect for the rights/sovereignty and independence of peoples and nations. Let us look, for example, at the aQartheid of the Pretoria regime. The conscience of the world as a whole has condemned this with unequalled force and no country or Government is so bold as to seek to justify or legitimize it. None the less, state racism in the purest tradition of fascism continues in the south of our continent to terrorize and slaughter and to deny the black majority its most elementary democratic and national rights. However, those who by their influence and their in~ense means of bringing pressure to bear might use comprehensive mandatory sanctions, as permitted by the Charter, to bring the anachronistic champions of colonialism as it was in its days of glory to see reason and accept reality hold back and put forward ever more sophisticated arguments to support their culpable abdication of responsibility. And, nevertheless, that same Pretoria r~ime, with the support of its powerful accomplices, refuses to decolonize Namibia because the internationalist Cuban combatants - invited by independent, sovereign Angola - would then be close to its territory. Furthermore, this group of racist usurpers practising State terrorism cherishes the open and naked ambition of destabilizing the neighbouring front-line States by means of legions of mercenaries, bombing attacks, air raids and the murder of the patriots of the African National Congress and the South west Africa People's Organization. In Mozambique, hated by Pretoria for its capacity for sacrifice and its patriotic courage, "the bandits" are engaging in butchery, rape and terror in a mounting wave of cruelty, all this redounding to the greater profit and welfare of apartheid. For more than 25 years Nelson Mandela, who has gone down in history as a living legend of his race, has been held hostage. For a number of months, in which South Africa's hideous face has been increasingly revealed, hundreds of black women and children have been persecuted, imprisoned, tortured and massacred by the shameful South African regime. At this session our Assembly - and not by rote or reflex - should advocate without compromise or qualification the implementation of comprehensive mandatory sanctions against the Pretoria regime, which has already chosen to inflict the greatest and most humiliating sanctions on our black brothers, depriving them of their freedom and dignity as human beings, causing many premature deaths and destroying many innocent lives. In Western Sahara, can we not reconcile policy with the recognized right? Why do not Morocco and the Saharan Arab Democratic RepUblic, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity, through direct negotiations, bring an end to hostilities so as to create the necessary conditions for a straightforward referendum on self-determination for the Sahraoui people? As for the Palestinian people, do they not have the right to an independent homeland? The Palestine Liberation Organization, with the blood of its heroes and the sacrifices of its fighters, has won a unique place in the illustrious records of history. Benin hopes that the international conference on the Mid41e.East will meet in the best possible circumstances, and that in a Middle East reconciled and restored to peace the Palestinian people may recover its full national rights, in Justice and dignity, protected from all hegemonistic designs and the illegal territorial occupation maintained and practised by the State of Israel. In Afghanistan and Kampuchea, meddling and intervention by foreign Powers should cease so that through negotiations and concerted action, led and guided by this Organization, the peoples may re-establish peace and the refugees return to their homes and their lands. Real advances are being made through diplomatic negotiation, which needs to be encouraged and supported on both these fronts so as to eliminate from our agenda in the near future these two problems which are so divisive and destructive of international harmony and understanding. In Korea, the cold-war spirit being perpetuated by military manoeuvres and a very shortsighted anti-communist campaign must be eradicated so that, through negotiation and other peaceful channels, the divided Korean people may be restored to its former unity and grandeur. Turning now to the crises and war in Central America, Benin cannot accept that the contras should be enabled to use death and terror, financed quite officially from abroad, to destabilize a sovereign country. Today, the peoples and States of the region are working together to codify and regulate their fraternal relations on the basis of good-neighbourliness and reciprocal non-interference in internal affairs. All the countries of the hemisphere, in particular the most powerful and highly developed among them, should support those efforts and co-operate in this quest for regional peace and stability. And in the case of the war in the Gulf, where so many lives are being shattered, and physical facilities and wealth blindly destroyed, will reason and tolerance finally prevail? In this very place, the most powerful among us, at first military accomplices or arms suppliers and now, in addition, principal actors, are striving jointly to bring peace once again to that precious part of the third world, today so torn and devastated. My country hopes their efforts will succeed, so that this ultimately absurd tragedy of violence and hate may not escalate and extend but may finally be resolved through an armistice and peace talks. Given the scale of the crises I have just mentioned and the violence involved, it would be tempting to give way to despair or to be deeply sceptical about the history of the world and its future, to believe that it is condemned to a fatalistic cycle of war and peace. But on earth there are inexhaustible stores of generosity, a capacity for vision and inventiveness, and even for dreaming, which should teach us to have hope, beyond the "sound and the fury" of our century. The main task in our Organization should be to identify lines of conduct, adapt them to new problems and realities and to put them into effect methodically and courageously as we organize our relationships on the basis of equality and In this quest for balances of international peace and understanding we, as Africans, have certain privileges conferrea on us by centuries of history, bondage, enslavement and oppression, endured with so much dignity and a spirit of national resistance. We are particularly well equipped, therefore, to cUltivate tolerance and dialogue, while remaining jealous of our independence. We are also ready to accept differences and very vigilant regarding justice in international relations, despite the fragility - the temporary fragility - of our economies. That justice must prevail in all sectors and in all the major institutions that we have set up. Thus, in the Food and Agriculture Organization, Africa, united and in solidarity, is seeking, through the talent and competence of its candidate, our compatriot Moise Mensah, to take a leading role. Benin and the increasing number of very different States which have supported this candidacy, hope to be able to count, in a few weeks time, in Rome, on the votes of others that have not yet lent us their support. Despite the ebb and flow of the tides of war and the mounting resurgence of certain fanaticisms, we should work for times to come and plan for the future with faith and imagination. These thoughts are our modest contribution to this general debate and we invite representatives to give them their consideration. Mr .. MATIABE (Papua New Guinea): On behalf of the Gaver nmen t and people of Papua New Guinea, I have the honour to congra tula te you, Sir, on your election to the important post of President of the General Assembly at this session. My delegation shares the confidence that the members of this august body have placed in your leadership. Let me assure you of my delegation's full co-operation in the discharge of the high du ties en tr us ted to you. I wish to take this opportunity to record my country's appreciation of your predecessor, Mr. Humayun Rasheed Choudh ury for a job well done. We were impr essed by the manner in which he conducted the work of the General Assembly at its last session. My delega tion also commends the Secr etary-Gener ai, Mr. Jav ier Perez de Cuellar, for h is unwavering effor ts in upholding the pr inciples and purposes set forth in the United Nations Charter. His report (A/42/l) I which we have studied with great interest, will make an important contribution to our del iber ations. My Gaver nmen t's policy of independent conuni tInen t to inter nation~l co-oper ation includes a firm commi tmen t to the purpos es and pr inci pi es of the Uni ted Na tions. For all coun tr ies, r egardl ess of size, weal th or migh t, the Un i ted Na tions is an Organ iza tion we all need despi te some of the problems and ch allenges it faces. The United Nations bears the banner of hope for international co-operation based on mutual respect. My delegation views with serious concern the track record of the United Nations Security COlUlciL We believe there is a need to resensi tize the role of the Council because, more often than not, it has failed to live up to the high expectations placed on it. The increasing tendency for the Security Council to be used as a forum for East-West power brokerage is most unsatisfactory. My Government is concerned that the United Nations should be held hostage to such trends. Furthermore, we support the calls for an increase in the number of permanent seats in the security Council. The provisions regarding the veto should also be reviewed in order to fully protect and proroote the pr inciples and purposes set for th in the Uni ted Na tions Char ter. The complex issues of South Africa, Namibia, the Middle East, Kampuchea, Afghanistan, the Korean Peninsula, the Iran-Iraq conflict, the situations in Cyprus and Central America all require genuine efforts on the part of all ooncerned for their resolution. It is evident that some among us are prepared to allow the situation in South Africa to continue, the struggle for a Palestinian homeland to continue, and the Iran-Iraq war to oontinue. The situation in Kampuchea remains unresolved. The narrow self-interest and indifference on the part of some Members of this Organization are deplorable. Since the adoption of the historic 1960 Decla~ation on decolonization, many countries, including my own, have attained independence. The concerns which brough t about the 1960 Declaration still exist today. Al though the number of colonial terri tories has decreased, there are some who s till con tinue to suffer the indignities of colonialism. The United Nations has before it the important task of bringing these situations to an end. The colonialists, and those who benefit from the outdated legacy of colonialism, continue to do so without the slightest sign of a sense of guilt. Namibia continues to be subjected to the worst form of colonialism. Its resources are plundered. The overwhelming international support for Namibian independence has not moved SOuth Africa and the other sponsors of colonialism in that territory. When will those who collaborate with South Africa come to realize that their actions and self-serving pol icies per pe tua te South Afr ica' s pol icy of apartheid? We commend SWAPO for its fine leadership in the struggle for Namibia's independence. We express our solidarity with the people of Namibia and appeal to all to unite in the struggle to achieve the ultimate aim of independence. Whether it be in Namibia, New Caledonia or in any other of the remaining colonial territories, the colonialists and those who collaborate with them advance untenable arguments to defend their interests. SOme who ought to know better because they too were victims of colonialism readily subscr ibe to such absurdi ties. It is of gr eat concern to my coun try tha t the process of decolon iza tion in the Pacific has not been completed. The situation in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, especially that in Palau, causes some degree of uncertainty and apprehension. We urge the Administering Authority to ensure that the termination of the Tr us teeship Agreemen t is achieved as soon as pass ible, and is cons is ten t with the aspirations of the people of that Territory. May I be permitted, on behalf of my Government, to applaud the members of this august body who derocmstrated their solidarity with the people of New Caledonia and said "No" to colonialism during the last session of the General Assenbly. Many said "No" to colon ialism when they gave their suppor t to Gener al Assembly resolution 41/41 A by which New Caledonia was reinscribed on the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. Those who stood up to be counted for the principles they believe in did so despite enormous economic and political pressures. In this day and age there is no defence for colonialism. It is my delegation's hope that those who gave France the benefit of the doubt will now come out in support of self-determination and independence for New Caledonia. The current situation in New Caledonia is one of great uncertainty. France refuses to co-operate with the United Nations, thereby reneging on the responsibilities entrusted to it under the Charter as an Administering Authority. Such disregard for an important responsibility is most regrettable for a country which occupies a permanent seat on the united Nations Security Council and boasts of its democratic institutions. The people of New Caledonia, particularly the indigenous people, the Kanaks, are de termined to secure independence for themselves with the guidance of the united Nations. To ensure a legitimate and genuine act of self-determination, France must address the important issue of franchise. Without doing so, any act of self-determination would be meaningless. The countries members of the South Pacific Forum are as determined as ever to see New Caledonia exercise its right to self-determination and gain independence in accordance with the principles and practices of the United Nations. We ask for no more and no less. We appeal to France to honour its obligations under the United Nations Charter as an administering Power to decolonize New Caledonia in co-opera tion wi th the United Nations. France must come to terms with the fact that the independence of New Caledonia is inevi table and that the responsibility for achieving that end peacefully rests with the Administering Authority. Papua New Guinea stands firm with the South Pacific Forum countries in our condemnation of the so-called referendum which the French Government staged on 13 September of this year in New Caledon ia, an exercise which the Kanak people have rejected outr ight. The French-sponsored referendum in New Caledonia proved nothing and achieved nothing. It has created more tension in New Caledonia and within the region. The boycott of the referendum by the indigenous people showed the strength Papua New Guinea's relations with countries and organizations in the south Pacific and South-East Asia are among those we regard to be of pr imary concern to our country. Papua New Guinea is an active participant in South Pacific affairs through major regional organizations, particularly the South Pacific Forum and its related bodies. Coun tr ies of the South Pacific have impor tan t economic links wi th the European Economic Communi ty, Japan, the Uni ted States of AIDed ca, Aus tral ia and New Zealand. We welcome the contribution these countries make in prolOOting economic development in our region. The region's relations with other countries in the North Pacific, including China, the Soviet Union and South Korea, are becoming stronger and more diverse. There are changing trends in the Pacific. Our region is gaining more attention from other countries and organizations than in the past. Papua New Guinea highly values its relations with the South Pacific Forum and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Both organizations play a constructive role in promoting understanding and co-operation among countries within these two regions and beyond. Countries of the South Pacific are keen to promote a stable and peaceful environment that is conducive to economic advancement by all Pacific Island communities. We welcome the constructive involvement of other countries and international organizations in the South Pacific. Their involvement should recognize the special problems of island countries in the Pacific, and their legitimate interests, particularly in advancing economic co-operation. My Government's priority since taking office has been to stimulate economic development in the country and to improve the welfare of our people. Our efforts to achieve results to large a extent depends on conditions in the wider international environment. We are not immune from the influences of the world economy, especially the trend towards restrictive traoe, fluctuations in the prices for commodities, and the slowdown in the flow of capital resources from developed countries to developing countries. Efforts to promote the cause of international co-operation are not meaningful unless they address such vital issues which directly bear on the livelihood of our people. The recent important International Conference on the Relationship between Disarmament and Development highlights the increasing need to make better use of available resources for the benefit of mankind, and not for destruction. Like other developing countries, we see the need for urgent measures to be taken to improve and liberalize international trading arrangements, particularly with the major trading nations, and to stimulate the flow of capital resources to promote economic development in developing countries. Urgent measures are also between South Pacific countries and the United States of America. It will contribute towards economic development in our region. We also welcome the interest shown by other countries towards the South Pacific. Development assistance arrangements should be for the purpose of contributing to the social and economic development of the South Pacific countries, and not for other reasons or motives. Any substantial progress towards arms control and disarmament must necessarily begin with the two super-Powers, the United States ana the Soviet union, accompanied by complementary efforts by nuclear-weapon States. W1thout such undertakings, world disarmament efforts will fall far short of expectations. The initiatives and dialogue now underway between the united States and the Soviet Union on disarmament are encouraging. Like most countries, we are anxious to see progress made in this area, which will lead to concrete results. My Government believes that confidence building and resolution of regional conflicts can contribute greatly to an environment conducive for disarmament. The South Pacific is also not immune from nuclear activities. Countries of the South Pacific have taken a step forward in seeking to prevent nuclear activities in the region. A South Pacific Nuclear-Free-Zone Treaty has been concluded between countries of the region, and nuclear-weapon ~tates nave been invited to sign related protocols concerning the operations of the arrangement. In late 1986, a Convention for tne protection and development of the natural resources and environment of the South Pacific was concluded, and is now open for signature. We commend the People's Republic of China and the Soviet union for their positive responses in signing the protocols to the South Pacific Nuclear-Free-Zone Treaty. We call on other nuclear-weapon states to act positively and also sign Despite these initiatives I have outlined above, one country, France, which is involved in our region, still chooses to defy common regional endeavours. .!i'rencn nuclear testing in polynesia, together with increased militarization of New Caledonia, and intimidation of the indigenous people, the Kanaks, in New Caledonia, are a great source of tension and insecurity within the South Pacific. Like other countries, Papua New Guinea remalns totally opposed to French nuclear testing in Polynesia. We call for an immediate halt to French nuclear testing in the Pacific and for that country to respect the efforts of the countries of the South Pacific to keep the region nuclear free, and for the environment and natural resources of that region to be developed for the benefit of the people of our region. We can only encourage negotiation and conclusion of other nuclear-free ZOnes in other parts of the world. The situation in Kampuchea continues to pose a threat to regional peace and stability. The situation is further exacerbated by the continuing presence of foreign forces in Kampuchea against the wishes of the people of that country. Total withdrawal of foreign troops must take place to enable the people of Kampuchea to choose democratically their own government, without outside interference, subversion or coercion. We appeal to the different political factions in Kampuchea to remain united for the common objective of seeking to regain the sovereign entity of Kampuchea. My Government commends ASEAN for its abiding interest and dedication in trying to promote a peaceful resolution to the problems faced by Kampuchea. On the southern tip of Africa the evils of apartheid continue to take their toll. The Papua New Guinea Government shares the view that a comprehensive system of mandatory economic sanctions against South Afr ica is the most effective peacefUl means avai1able to the international community to bring about an end to apartheid. The world has already witnessed an escalation of violence ana bloodshed, of inhuman treatment towards fellow human beings. The problem of South Africa has bec~ne a subject of policy experiments and of hollow rhetoric, and thus an end to apartheid remains an urgent and unfulfilled obligation for the international community. Those who are able to helf> reverse the situation in South Africa continue to find endless excuses and shirk their responsibilities. We appeal to those who have the capacity to influence democratic changes in South Africa to demonstrate the necessary political will, and in solidarity with the international community, dismantle apartheid. In this respect, the Security Council has an urgent task in fUlfilling its reponsibility to ensure peace and security in South Africa. The Security Council has demonstrated its unity of purpose on the Iran-Iraq conflictJ and we expect it to demonstrate a similar spirit in resolv1ng the problems of apartheid in South Africa. I have outlined my Government's views on only a number of issues listed on the agenda of the forty-second session of the General Assembly. In so doing, my delegation does not in any way ignore the importance and urgency of other issues before this session. The many complex problems and challenges confronting the international c~mnunity require genuine efforts and commitment by all States Members of the United Nations in the search for acceptable solutions. Papua New Guinea supports a strengthened United Nations system so that it can fulfil its mandate as well as the high expectations of member countries. My country is committed to fUlfilling its obligations under the Charter of the Uniteo Nations. to join those who have spoken before me in congratulating you, Sir, on your election to the presidency of the forty-second session of the General Assembly. The wealth of experience and knowledge of international affairs as well as the diplomatic skills and patience which you bring with you to this lofty seat are well known. We are certain, therefore, that under your guidance the General Assembly will achieve positive results. In wishing you success in carrying out your duties and responsibilities, I assure you of my delegation's fUll co-operation at all times. My delegation equally wishes to express appreciation to your predecessor, Mr. Choudhury, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, for the remarkable way in which he presided over the forty-first session. Under his stewardship, many important and historic decisions were made by the General Assembly. We wish also to express our great pleasure at the good work undertaken by the Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuel1ar, during the past 12 months, particularly that of mediation between parties in conflict. The Malawi delegation wishes to congratulate Mr. Joseph Reed on his appointment to the post of Under-Secretary-GeneraL for Political and General Assembly Affairs. While the situation as regards internatlona1 peace and security continues to cause much concern, we have been encouraged by some positive developments in the past few months. We welcomed the International Conference on the Relationsnip between Disarmament and Development, which was sponsored by the United Nations and held here in August and September. We welcomed the adoption by consensus of the final document of the Conference. We believe that the document has provided a basis on which to build further towards the achievement of disarmament and therefore the promotion of development around the world. Malawi has also been encouraged by indications of progress at the COnference on Disarmament in Geneva, particularly with regard to the question of chemical weapons. My delegation joins others in welcoming the announcement that the two super-Powers, the united States and the Soviet Union, have reached an agreement in principle on an accord on the elimination of intermediate nuclear forces. We note that this will be the first such accord ever and therefore represents a major step forward in the field of nuclear--weapons disarmament. My delegation wishes to congratulate the two sides on this h~storic development. In so doing, it is our hope that the accord, which we understand could be signed soon, will give a much needed impetus to efforts also to attain disarmament in conventional weapons. For, in the end, international peace and security will best be assured only by complete and comprehensive disarmament. The elimination of or reduction in arms production and arms stockpiling cannot by themselves guarantee international security. For international security depends as much on the conscious promotion of peace as it does on the absence of the tools of war. There is, therefore, an equally urgent need to find ways to bring to an end the areas of conflict and tension that exist in the various regions of the world. In all of these we can clearly see that the main causes are either the denial to peoples of their right to self-determination or the deliberate disregard by some States of the sovereignty and integrity of other States. In the early months of this year, our interest was aroused by sudden developments that seemed to promise positive movement towards breakthroughs on tne respective questions of Afghanistan and Kampuchea. Sadly, however, neither the much-heralded reforms and other initiatives announced by the authorities in Kabul in January, nor the flurry of diplomatic activity in Viet Nam a few weeks later would appear to have led to any changes. If anything significant came out of these developments it was perhaps a reaffirmation of what has been repeatedly stated in this Assembly: that only the withdrawal of foreign forces will facilitate a meaningful solution to the two respective questions. The peoples of Afghanistan and Kampuchea must be left to resolve their political Q1fferences and determine their political future by themselves. Another area of concern in the Far East is the Korean peninsula. My Government remains convinced that the political future of that area can best be determined by the Korean people themselves, through genuine dialogue and negotiations between the Governments of North Korea and South Korea. That is why Malawi supports the recent call by South Korea for talks, without pre-condition, at a higher political level than has been the case in the past. It is our hope that all sides will give the call by South Korea serious consideration. In discussing a region which seems beset by seemingly intractable problems, it is a welcome change to be able to applaud something truly and significantly positive. We refer here to the accord signed in July by the Governments of India and Sri Lanka in order to bring about an end to the conflict in northern ~ri Lanka which had threatened permanently to divide the Sri Lankan people while at the same time promoting tension between the neighbouring States of Sr1 Lanka and India. In this regard, we salute the two leaders, President Jayewardene of Sri Lanka and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of India, for their singular act of courage and faith. We see the accord as a concrete example of how States can co-operate to promote international peace and security. As we review the situation in the region of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, we find cause for grave concern in both the apparent widening of the conflict and the threat inherent therein to internat10nal peace and security. We have noted with interest the adoption on 20 July 1987 by the Security Council of resolution 598 (1987), which appears to us to be a reasonable basis for finding a lasting solution to the conflict in the Gulf. With regard to the Middle East, we in Malawi have been encouraged by the growing support for a proposal whicn was made to the General Assembly last year for the convening of an international peace conference, sponsored by the United Nations, to be attended by all parties directly concerned in the conflict. because war cannot address the er ucial issue~ the righ t of all the peoples of the region to self-determination within recognized and secure borders. We have stated before that only through dialogue among all par ties to the conn ict can the framework for a lasting solution that meets the needs and aspirations of all concerned be found. We believe that the time is now right for such dialogue, and we believe it is right and proper that the United Nations should have a central role in facilitating such dialogue. We support the pro'FOsal for an international conference on the Middle East. My delegation notes with encouragement the return to peace in the Mediterranean region .following the sudden heightening of tension there in ea.rly 1986. However, while we deligh t in th is, we r ~r et th a t peace and na tional conciliation in Cyprus continues to elude the people of that island state. we support the efforts of the Secretary-General aimed at keeping open the channels of cornmooica tion between the leaders of the Greek Cypr iot and Turk ish Cypr iot communities. We regret, however, that those efforts have so far not met with success. We therefore appeal to all those concerned in this matter to co-operate wi th the Secretary-General and accept the need to resulI!le the in tercol!'llllunal talks as a way towards finding a formula for the lasting solution the foreign invasion of 1974 was unable to provide. Malawi welcomes the peace plan recently proposed by the leaoor El of the Cen tral American region with a view to bringing about an end to the various conflicts and tensions in that region. We should like to register our supper t for their bold initiatives, and we wish them success in this endeavour. On our own continent of Africa too, tension and conflict, particularlY in the southern African region, continue to pose a threat to international peace and security. There are three main causes of that situation: first, the continued den ial to the peopl e of Namib ia of th e ir r igh t to independence and self-determination) secondly, the attempts by some external forces to impose upon certain countr ies of the region the types of ideology and forms of government preferred by those forces, in complete disregard of the choices of the ci tizens of those oountries) and thirdly, the problem of apartheid, a political system whidl the African people and the en tire wor Id have unequivocally and unanimously condemned and rejected. With regard to Namibia, we reiterate what we have said before: that the independence of Namibia is long overdue. security Council resolution 435 (1978) met all the legi timate concerns of all the par ties to the political dispute over Namibia, and all the parties accepted, and still accept, that resolution as the basis for the granting of independence. We can therefore see no justification for the continuing delay in its implementation. Indeed, the delay is contributing to the growing toll in lives and to the hardships imposed upon the people in that Territory. The Malawi delega tion has stated many times in the past that force and violence are not, and cannot be, the way to resolve poli tical problems or any other differences. Force can at best provide only temporary solutions. We remain convinced that only through contact and dialogue can lasting solutions be found. That is why the Malawi Gover nmen t welcomed the recent courageous initiative by some political leaders in South Africa in starting a dialogue with the African National Congress of South Africa (ANC), particularly in Senegal recently. We are convinced that this development can only be for the good of all SOu th Africans, black and white, and we hope it will lead to more and more contacts and wider dialogue inclUding not only the white liberals, on the one hand, and the ANC, on the other, but eventually also other white leaders - even Government leaders -and other representatives of the black majority, such as the Pan Afr icanist Congress of Azan ia (PAC). We have followed with interest the initiatives and programmes undertaken by the Uni ted Na tions dur ing the past year in the area of social development. Among these, perhaps the major one was the United Nations-sponsored International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, held in Vienna in May. The threat drug abuse poses to our future generations and the social problems it presents, particularly for developing countries, have been analysed. It has also been known for some time that combatting the production and abuse of and illicit trafficking in drugs requires wide co-operation and concerted action by the world's Governments. Yet it somehow appeared that, except at the professional level, co-opera tion was never going to be achieved. While the poli tical leaders of some countries saw the need for the problems of drug production, trafficking and abuse to be addressed at the political level, many others did not yet recognize the magnitude and urgency of the problem. At a time when greater attention was suddenly being given to these issues and more countries were beginning to realize the need for co-operation, the convening of the International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking was most timely. We believe it provided an excellent opportunity to bring about a greater understanding of the problem. It provided an opportunity also for those who had already acquired considerable exper ience in dealing wi th the problem to share that exper ience wi th those who ar e new to the problem, and for all countr ies to come up wi th a s tra tegy for in terna tional co-operation. Malawi was represented at the Vienna International Conference on Drug Abuse and. Illicit Trafficking by a three-member delegation. We believe the Conference was a success, and we hope the decisions and plans of action adopted in Vienna will be faithfully implemented. We certainly hope too that a review conference will be held at the appropr la te time to examine how successful or unsuccessful - we have been in achieving the goals enunciated at the Vienna Conference. It is Malawi I s hope that, in the light of experience gained wi th regard to drug abuse, consideration will be given to a similar initiative concerning what is clearly emerging as the single most widespread problem with dire implications for the future. We refer here to the killer epidemic of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). begun to devote its attention to the AIDS problem. However, we hope that from the lesson learned with regard to that drug problem it will be considered that the early convening of an international conference oevoted to the question of AIDS would be most beneficial. Meanwhile we would also like to express our appreciation for the decision by the united Nations to give special attention to the population problems in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this context we welcome the Strategy for United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) assistance to sub-Saharan Africa, which was adopted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Governing Council at its thirty-fourth session last June. We are of the view that the Programme of Action envisaged in the Strategy will contribute greatly to the efforts of the Governments in the region as they seek to attain an equitable balance between the social and economic development needs of their national populations, on the one hand, and the resources available to their Governments to meet those needs, on the other. However, this plan cannot be realized without the UNFPA itself naving sufficient financial resources to carry out its programmes. We sincerely hope that Member States will Join hands in assuring the UNFPA's financial health and that those who are in a position to do so will consider the possibility of making additional voluntary contributions. In the area of economic co-operation between the rich North and the poor boutb there appears to be issues which require urgent attention if the serious poverty of the South is to be halted. These issues are, first, greater access for products from the developing South to the markets of the industrialized North; secondly, higher and more lucrative prices for the goods exported from the South in relation to products manufactured and exported by the North; thirdly, a halt in the reverse net flow of funds from the developing to the developed countries caused basicallY by, fourthly, the repayment of debt to lenders in the North. Naturally we see these matters as being interrelated. Despite the assurances of the industrialized countries to the contrary, we have seen an increase in recent years in both tariff and non-tariff barriers against the exports of developing countries. At the same time, there has been a steady decline in the prices of commodities - most of which are primary goods - from the South while those of manufactures from the North have continued to rise. This is a question of terms of trade. And faced with declining export earnings and soaring import bills, developing countries have been forced to borrow ever more at high interest rates from the same countries of the North in order to sustain their economies. Now, many developing countries nave frigntfully large fractions of their national incomes committed to debt repayment. Herein lies the problem - a source of international dissension. We are glad that at the meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) agreement was reached on the need for greater economic assistance to the least-developed countries. The undertaking by the developed countries to encourage lending institutions in their areas to consider being more flexible in order to ease the debt burden of developing countries is also appreciated. However, it is my delegation's hope that greater practical efforts will be made towards helping the export commodities from the poor South to be Inore lucrative. In this way the debt problem begins to be alleviated. Naturally the developing South would have to follow sensible and workable economic policies, which appears to be what they are doing now. In this regard it is also important for my dele~ation to aCknowledge the crucial role played by all the United ~ations agencies, in particular the United Nations Development Progra~ne (UNDP), in our development efforts, in addition to Economic COmmunity under the Lame Convention and also the World Bank. In addition, we are pleased with the important assistance offered to Malawi by the African Development Bank (ADB). In our opinion the ADS is a very good institution through which the developed countries could increasinyly channel funds for the continent's economic developmentJ I am therefore making an appeal to them. Finally I should like to say tnat, in spite of all that has been said about the uncompleted work, unfulfilled promises and unresolved problems by the United Nations, many a speaker appears by implication and directly to support the continued existence of the Organization. Yes, we need the Organization. For its part Malawi will continue to give the United Nations its fullest support and will always be ready to make its contribution towards ensuring the Organization's continued existence. Mr. CENAC (Saint Lucia): Sir, I take great pleasure in joining those speak ers who have already congra tula ted you upon your election to the high office of President of this venerable world body. I am fully confident that, under your able guidance, our difficult deliberations in the weeks ahead will bear much good fruit. You may rest assured of the full co-operation of my delegation. I should also like to thank your predecessor, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, for his excellent work in conducting our affairs during the forty-first session of the General Assembly. Each session of the United Nations General Assembly is convened, as it were, by a summons to all Member nations, exhorting them: "Come, let us reason together," and in this regard, the words of the Saint Lucian Nobel Prize winner, Sir Arthur Lewis, are instructive: ''We must continue to make the problems of each the official concern of all, that they may be resolved by discussion and mutual concession." In the conduct of our international affairs, Saint Lucia has always been, and will always be, guided by its deep concern for the attainment of lU1iversal peace, respect for human rights and economic developnent and, in reflecting on the four decades that separate us from the end of the 8econa World War and the creation of the United Nations, we are saadened by the realization that the insanity of the last worla conflict has never really receded from in terna tional affa irs dur ing these last 42 years. The world which emergea after the Second World War has been one divided into blocks by two competing super-Powers. Their over-riding objectives of proltOting ana protecting their competing ideologies have led to global suspicions, tension ana hostility, and have dragged nations small, young and tender, like saint Lucia, into regional conflicts completely detr imental to the interests of these small Since 1945, the nations of the world have killed over 40 million of their people in local wars. Today, from Central America to North Africa, from Afghanistan to the Persian Gulf to Kampuchea, local wars are raging with the consequential destruction of human life, prosperity and the environment, and from north-east Asia to Central Europe, brothers find themselves hemmed in by hostile creeds, glaring at each other across ideological frontiers. The horrors of international local wars are made worse as brother battles brother from South America to southern Africa, from East Africa to South Asia. While we have been able to avoid a Third World War, it is small comfort that a contributory factor has been the spectre of mutually assured destruction from the nuclear weapons stockpiled by the super-Powers. And although there is general agreement that a second Noah's ark will not emerge from a nuclear deluge, neither will there be a second genesis in another Garden of Eden. The threat of a thermonuclear Armageddon remains an ever constant reality. The arms race is, however, unflagging, and expenditure on arms has continued to soar, diverting into its vortex millions of dollars that could have liberated the world from underdevelopment, hunger and disease. But in recent times there have been some small signs that a semblance of sanity is creeping back into the j udgement of men: some not unpropitious events which give cause for the hope that we may be approaching a new tide in the affairs of men. The announcement early in the life of this session of the General Assembly that the United States and the Soviet Union have agreed in principle to dismantle an entire class of nuclear weapons - the intermediate-range missiles - is one such welcome sign. It is the earnest hope of Saint Lucia, and I am certain of the international community, that the proposed intermediate-range nuclear forces treaty will be but the first step in a journey which we hope will end, not in the total elimination of mankind, but with the total elimination of nuclear weapons. As the super-Powers inch towards nuclear agreements, so too are there small signs of hope in those countr!es that have been the quintessential examples of the East-West ideological divisions that have separated us since the last world war. The recent high-level con tact between the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany was most signi ficant. My delega tion hopes that this historic visi t is but a foretas te of the quali ty of co-operation and under standing yet to come. In the Koreas, we feel ,that many recent activities augur well for the future. Saint Lucia would welcome the peaceful reunifica tion of the Republic of Korea and the Derrocratic People's Republic of Korea on the basis of agreements worked out by the Korean people themselves. We are therefore supportive of all topical proposals aimed at a renewed dialogue between the Korean people on reunification and, in the in terim, "'e believe that full membership of the Uni ted Na Hons for the two Koreas would not hinder the efforts of unity towards this end. We believe that the coming 1988 Olympics presents an opportunity .for dialogue and co-operation that should not be missed. Our region of the wor Id has not escaped the effects of the ideological wars and rivalry of the super-Powers. saint Lucia has for some time now been qui te concerned with the situation in Central America and its implications for the peace and security of the entire region. We have always held the position that the countr ies of the region have the r igh t to live in peace and to decide their own future, free from outside interference or intervention. We have also consistently maintained the view that the problems of the region are rooted in deep-seated local social and economic depr iva tion, and are therefore not amenable to armed or CMr. Cenac, Saint Lucia) We have therefore always supported the efforts of the Contadora Group and, more recently, the Support Group to end the conflict in Central Alnerica. We welcomed the Cancun Declaration on Peace in Central America and the Document of Objectives, which set the foundation for the inauguration of negotiations with a view to ensuring harmonious coexistence in Central America. Saint Lucia expresses its full support for the peace plan signed by the five Central American Presidents and welcomes the creation of a role for both the united Nations and the Organization of American States in the implementation of the plan. We call upon all States to pledge their full co-operation to assist in its realization. Let those who dared to draw their swords, be now courageous enough, not only to sheathe them, but to take a bold leap of faith for peace. Let all men of goodwill remember that what the poor of the region desire is not guns, but simply a better and more· fulfilling way of life, and let them lend their support to the cause of peace. In the Caribbean, the Haitian people have cast off the yoke of oppression and are on the way to establishing a democratic system of government. We therefore look forward, not to the mere holding of elections in November this year, but to elections that will be free and fair and free from fear. We are confident, however, that the people of Haiti, whose forefathers were the first people to establish a free nation in the Caribbean, can and will find the wherewithal to continue on the road to liberation. But we must never forget that democracy is best created and sustained by economic progress. We therefore call upon all those who are in a position to do so to assist the Haitian people in this time of need. Amidst those signs of hope are areas in dire need of redress. And where peace should have been on the throne, it still remains on the scaffold. In Central America, Guatemala still threatens the independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of our sister Caribbean Community partner, Belize, with its persistent claim to its territory. Guatemala's uncompromising attitude on this matter has been a source of much distress to Saint Lucia. We hope that the Guatemalan President, His Excellency Mr. Vincio Cerezo Arevalo, who has shown such leadership and diplomatic skill in dealing with other Central American problems, will be magnanimous in addressing the matter. In the South Atlantic, there has been too little movement towards solving the Falkland/Malvinas problem. The restoration of democracy in Argentina has presented an excellent opportunity for renewed dialogue between two countries that, for almost two centuries, have enjoyed a great degree of friendship. We urge both sides, in the spirit of compromise, to seize this opportunity. The question of Cyprus has been on the agenda of this body for much, much too long. Saint Lucia continues to maintain its full support for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus. We believe that the relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions and the high-level agreements of 10 February 1977 and 19 May 1979 form the basis for a just and lasting settlement of the question. Accordingly, we welcome the' proposal made by the President of Cyprus for the total demilitarization of the state, and the unconditional withdrawal of all troops and settlers of occupatlon. We urge the Secretary-General to continue to use his good offices with a view to facilitating a speedy settlement. In South Africa, the intolerable situation continues to aggravate the international community as the apartheid regime stubbornly maintains its abhorrent system of racial oppression at home and its stranglehold on Namibia in defiance of international law. Has not the dehumanization and brutalization of the oppressed peoples of South Africa been affronting the world long enough? Must South Africa continue to flout every attempt by the United Nations and the Commonwealth to end its racial insanity. and to restore dignity, peace and freedom to that land? Have we not realized that until the evil of apartheid is totally eradicated all of us, no matter who we are or where we are, will be accomplices in the vilest system of degradation ever visited upon man by man himself? Some of the front-line States of southern Africa have known no peace since their independence for having provided support for the just struggles of the oppressed people of South Africa. They, too, require an opportunity for peaceful development. We wish to assure them that, despite our size, they can count on us for whatever assistance we can render in the cause of freedom. The apartheid regime mocks the world even more by perpetuating its intransigence over Namibia in that it continues to use dilatory tactics to Erustrate the legitimate right of the Namibian people to self-determination. 3aint Lucia strongly condemns the apartheid regime for the imposition of the so-called interim government in Namibia on 17 June 1985, in defiance of the resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly. Saint Lucia reiterates its recognition of the national liberation movement, the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), as the sole and authentic representative of the Namibian people, and its support for the inalienable right of the Namibian people to self-determination, freedom and independence, with full territorial integrity. In northern Africa, the tragedy of famine in the Sanel, aggravated by war, continues to haunt us. In the Persian Gulf the war between Iran and Iraq drags on, destroying more and more lives and threatening to erupt into a wider conflagration as other nations dispatch their armadas into the Gulf. The admirable co-operation of all members of the Security Council in adopting resolution 598 (1987), on 20 July last, is to be applauded, but, in the absence of compliance, we urge the members of the Council to find the necessary political will to bring the full weight of the Cnarter to bear on the warring parties. If Member States of the United Nations will not respect the decisions of the Security Council, then we are in fact eroding not only the authority of the Council but also the integrity of the Organization itself. This leads us to examine one more cause for concern today: the role of the United Nations itself. Some credit must be given to the United Nations for general world peace over the last 40-odd yearsJ at the very least, the Organization has served as a palliative, bringing the moral authority of the rest of the world to bear on warring parties, and thereby helping to preclude the general widening of bilateral or regional conflicts. However, we cannot escape the fact that the United Nations has had extremely limited success in preventing, and resolving, local conflicts since the Second World War. We cannot deny that most combatants have circumvented the conflict resolution mechanisms of this Organization before going to war. And, in more recent times, as the super-Powers have jostled for supremacy, as some nations have tried to stamp their point of view on others, there has been a retreat from multilateralism. As a result, the United Nations itself suffers, as nations respond only lethargically to its basic financial needs. Saint Lucia' s aspiration for universal peace is inextricably linked to a vibrant and increasingly strengthened United Nations. We continue to hold the view that the United Nations is the last, best hope for mankind. Its diminution is linked to the failure of nation States to recognize the vital role it has played in maintaining world peace in the past 40 years. It is not coincidental that there has been an almost inverse relationship between military expenditure as a percentage of world gross national product and the influence of the Organization. As that influence reached a nadir about 1980, we saw an acceleration of military expenditure to about 5 per cent per year in real terms. It now nears $1 trillion per year - well above that of the immediate post-war period, when the United Nations was at its most influential. Saint Lucia believes that without a strong United Nations, we cannot continue to hold the line that prevents local conflicts from becoming global, let alone resolve the local conflicts themselves. We must not therefore, through lack of financial support, hold the Organization to ransom for some narrow national goal with which we perceive it to be out of consonance. If the prospects for universal peace are to improve we must reintroduce the necessary political will into the halls of the Security Council and the General Assembly. We can improve on the United Nations, but we cannot do without it. Saint Lucia takes its commitment to regional and international organizations very seriously. Over the years, in the Caribbean, we have lent our full support to the process of greater functional co-operation and integration. In the eastern Caribbean in particular, we have helped forge the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), which includes among other things a single central bank for our several countries. As the unswerving dedication of its member States has blossomed into great strength for the Organization in a few short years, we have decided to accept the challenge of the logic of its success and to take the ultimate ste~ into a full political union of all our willing member States. The implications and logistics of this proposed political union are now being studied. If we can pool our resources - our markets, our capital, our defences, our people - if we can reduce the costs of our administrations, in which we have seven Governors-General, seven Prime Ministers and 60 Ministers, for a total population of about 500,000, we shall be better able to deliver a higher quality of life for our people and play a more effective role in international affairs. We have already received pledges of support from our colleagues in the wider Caribbean community, and we are sure that, as the wisdom of our endeavour unfolds, we shall be able to count on the support of our neighbours in Latin ~erica, and our friends in the rest of the world~ When the Charter of the United Nations was framed, little thought was given to the conception of small States such as Saint Lucia. But countries like ours have special problems wh.ich need to be addressed quite ser iously by this body. Consequently, the slow progress of initiatives in favour of island developing countdes aft.er over a decade of discussions and resolutions in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), t~e General Assembly and elsewhere, . remains a matter of great concern tO,Saint Lucia•. Tpe myriad special problems of those countries, including vulnerability to natural disasters such as that which struck the. eastern Ca.ribbean only-last month, continue to pose major hindrances to the development process. We therefore regret that the comprehensive review of the' progress made in . assisting ·those countries, as mandated by General Assembly resolution 39/212 of 18 December 1984, did not take place last year. My delegation is consequently preparing some new initiatives which will facilitate the General Assembly's action on this question next year. The economic plight of the developing countries continues to be most unsatisfactory. While global output grew by 3 per cent last year, the developing countries lost $94 billion as a result of constantly deteriorating terms of trade, and national income fell by as much as 10 per cent in some developing countries. This rather undesirable state of affairs is further compounded by a seriously diminishing interest in private sector investment in the developing world, and a general weakening of official financial flows. Non-concessional bilateral credits to the developing countries have also decreased, as have credit flows from the International Monetary Fund. In fact, repayments to the Fund from the developing countries last year exceedea new credits by almost $3 billion. All of this, added to the burdensome debt of the developing world and the increasing protectionism in the developed market economies, is the right formula for disaster. The sluggish growth of the global economy already reflects the drag of the developing countries' economies, redressing these imbalances is therefore paramount. Each day the global village grows smaller' and smaller, as all of .us grow more dependent on each other. Upon being told that man would soOn embark on a search for intelligent life in apace, an old lady responded 'that it would be nothing more. than a search for newenelllies. "After all", $hesaid, "if we cannot get .along with the man across the street, how can we expect to get along with the people up there?" In our intercourse with the various peoples of the world, there is only one conclusion that can be reached I we are all essentially one and indivisible, in reason, in form, in movement, in needs and, in ideals. Every man cherishes his liberty. Every man wants to live in peace, to enjoy the good things of life and to see the world rid of ignorance, of poverty and of disease. For our children, and for theirs, we yearn for notning less, and to these ends, the intellectual treasures of the Earth can and should first be harnessed. There is yet time to begin. When will we begin?