A/RES/3017(XXVII) GA

Resolutions adopt<'d on the repo1·ts of the Second Committee 49 countries, of their fully exercising their rights so as to secure the maximum yield from their natural resources, both on land and in their coastal waters, Taking into account principles II and XI of resolu- tion 46 (III) of 18 May 1972 adopted by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development at its third session, 72 A Isa taking into account resolution 45 ( III) of 18 May 1972, adopted by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development at its third session,'~ en- titled "Charter of the economic rights and duties of States", and having regard to the relevant principles of the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment,73 1. Reaffirms the right of States to permanent sovereignty over all their natural resources, on land within their international boundaries as well as those found in the sea-bed and the subsoil thereof within their national jurisdiction and in the supcrjacent waters; 2. Further reaffirms its resolution 2625 (XXV) of 24 October 1970, containing the Declaration on Prin- ciples of International Law concerning Friendly Rela- tions and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, which pro- claims that no State may use or encourage the use of economic, political or any other type of measures to coerce another State in order to obtain from it the subordination of the exercise of its sovereign rights and to secure from it advantages of any kind; 3. Declares that actions, measures or legislative regulations by States aimed at coercing, directly or indirectly, other States engaged in the change of their internal structure or in the exercise of their sover- eign rights over their natural resources, both on land and in their coastal waters, are in violation of the Charter and of the Declaration contained in resolution 2625 (XXV) and contradict the targets, objectives and policy measures of the International Development Strategy for the Second United Nations Development Decade;74 4. Calls upon Governments to continue their efforts aimed at the implementation of the principles and rec- ommendations contained in the aforementioned resolu- tions of the General Assembly and, in particular, of the principles enunciated in paragraphs 1 to 3 above; 5. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on permanent sovereignty over natural resources75 and requests him to supplement it with a further detailed study on recent developments, taking into account the right of States to exercise permanent sovereignty over their natural resources, as well as the factors impeding States from exercising this right; 6. Requests the Economic and Social Council to ac- cord high priority, at its fifty-fourth session, to the item entitled ''Permanent sovereignty over natural resources of developing countries", together with the report of the Secretary-General and the present resolu- tion, and to report to the General Assembly at its twenty-eighth session. 2113th plenary meeting 18 December 1972 ,2 See Proceedings of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Third Sessinn. vol. I. Report and Annexes (United Nations publication, Sales No.: E.73.II.D.4), annex I.A. 73 See A/CONF.48/14 and Corr.I, chap. I. 74 Resolution 2626 (XXV). 75 E/5170. 3017 (XXVII). Outflow of trained personnel from developing to developed countries The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 2083 (XX) of 20 December 1965, relating to the development and utilization of human resources, 2090 (XX) of 20 December 1965 and 2259 (XXII) of 3 November 1967, relating to the training of national technical personnel for the ac- celerated industrialization of the developing countries, and 2320 (XXII) of 15 December 1967 and 2417 (XXIII) of 17 December 1968, relating to the outflow of trained personnel from the developing countries, and Economic and Social Council resolution 1573 (L) of 19 May 1971, Bearing in mind that an acceleration of the rate of economic growth of the developing countries and a rapid improvement of their social structures through the eradication of mass poverty, inequality and illiteracy require, inter alia, an over-all strategy for technological development, Conscious that the technological development of de- veloping countries, even though concentrated on research and its practical applications with a view to the promotion of local and adapted technologies, should, in the most favourable conditions, benefit from a large-scale transfer of appropriate technological knowledge accumulated mainly in the developed coun- tries, Considering how decisively important it is for the developing countries to have technically and scientifi- cally trained local personnel in order to: (a) Take advantage of the facilities offered by ac- cess to the technology of the developed countries, ( b) Use that technology by adapting it to national conditions, ( c) Develop techniques suited to their production structures, ( cl) Create their own national technologies, Considering further that the objectives mentioned in the preceding paragraph have been adequately enun- ciated in the World Plan of Action for the Application o.f Science and Technology to Development prepared by the Advisory Committee on the Application of Sci- ence and Technology to Development,76 Taking into account that not only has this large- scale transfer of the store of technological knowledge not taken place, but that what has in fact been wit- nessed in recent years is the opposite phenomenon, namely, a constant diminution of the store of techno- logical knowledge in the developing countries through the outflow of trained national personnel who emi- grate chieily to some of the market-economy countries, thus obviously affecting the capacity of the developing countries to cope with the tasks of development through the utilization of trained national personnel, Rl'Cognizing that the outflow of trained personnel from the developing countries has its roots in the phenomenon of under-development itself and that any measures to overcome it must take into consideration that fall. as well as an understanding of the reasons for the outllow. I. lnvitrs the Secretary-General, in co-operation with 1hc organizations of the United Nations system 711 Unitcci Nation~ publication, Sales No.: E.71.II.A.18. 50 General Aasembly-Twenty-1eventh Se1aion concerned and taking due note of the report on the subject being prepared by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Devel- opment and of the work done by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, the Advisory Com- mittee on the Application of Science and Technology to Development and other interested bodies in the United Nations system, and in consultation with the Member States concerned: (a) To prepare a study on the outflow of trained personnel from the developing countries which affects their technological development, bringing out the ne- gative consequences in the developing countries and the advantages reaped by the industrialized countries, and pin-pointing the mechanics of that outflow and identifying the cuuntries to which it is directed; (b) In assessing the negative consequences of this phenomenon in the developing countries, to give special attention to the way in which this outflow hinders the creation of suitable technical infrastructures and pre- judices the capacity to utilize imported technology and the creation of national technologies and to the policy measures which the developing countries themselves may have to take to stem this outflow; 2. Invites the Secretary-General, in collaboration with the organizations of the United Nations system and bearing in mind the study referred to in paragraph 1 above, to draft, in consultation with the Member States concerned, the necessary guidelines for a pro- gramme of action to be elaborated by the Committee on Science and Technology for Development, indicat- ing viable measures that can be taken to deal with the problem and, above all, practical and effective guidance to be followed, mainly by the Governments of indus- trialized countries, to put an end to, and to reverse, that process without prejudice to existing international agreements and in conformity with the Universal Dec- laration of Human Rights; 3. Requests the Secretary-General to take urgent measures to make widely known to the appropriate authorities in developing countries the proposals con- tained in the World Plan of Action for the Application of Science and Technology to Development as one of the means to counterbalance the outflow of trained personnel from developing to developed countries; 4. Requests the, Secretary-General to submit the study referred to in paragraph 1 above to the General Assembly at its twenty-eighth session, through the Economic and Social Council, and the guidelines for a programme of action to the Committee on Science and Tecl1nology for Development at its second session. 2113th plenary meeting 18 December 1972 3018 (XXVII). The problem of mass poverty and unemployment in developing countries The General Assembly, Having considered the report of the Economic and Social Council on its fifty-second and fifty-third ses- sions,77 77 Official Records of the General Assembly, Twenty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 3 ( A!i1701) and Supplement No. JA (A/8703/ Add.I). Inspired by the solemn determination of the peoples of the United Nations, as embodied in the Charter, to promote their economic and social progress and bet- ter standards of life in larger freedom, Reiterating paragraph 7 of the preamble of the In- ternational Development Strategy for the Second United Nations Development Decade,78 which states that the ultimate objective of development must be to bring about sustained improvement in the well-being of the individual and bestow benefits on all and that devel- opment fails in its essential purpose if undue privileges, extremes of wealth and social injustices persist, Noting the report of the Committee for Develop- ment Planning on its eighth session,79 which considered in depth the nature and urgency of the problem of mass poverty and unemployment in developing coun- tries and the inequalities in the distribution of wealth and income in those countries, Recalling Economic and Social Council resolution 1727 (Lill) of 28 July 1972 on mass poverty and un- employment, Deeply concerned that at this stage of the Second United Nations Development Decade there is no mani- fest improvement in the individual lives of the great masses of people in the developing countries, Recalling resolution 62 (III) of 19 May 1972, adopted by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development at its third session, 80 on special measures in favour of the least developed among the developing countries, Aware that a grave problem in developing countries is the critical relationship of social equity to economic growth, Noting the urgent need for more and better quanti- tative data on past and current trends in employment and income distribution in developing countries, Noting further the statement of the President of the World Bank Group81 that, in some ten countries with per capita income averaging $145, the poorest 40 per cent of the population receive inc(')ffles of only $50, and that, in another ten countries with per capita in- comes averaging $275, the poorest 40 per cent of the population receive incomes of only $80, Convinced that these desperately poor people should not be left outside the mainstream of development and that their condition of abject poverty should be im- proved if the danger of widespread social and econo- mic upheaval is to be averted, 1. Endorses Economic and Social Council resolu- tion 1727 (Lill); 2. Invites developing countries where large segments of the population have per capita incomes significantly lower than the national average to continue their pro- grammes and to take such further steps as may be nec- essary to achieve a better income distribution and to create new employment opportunities as a means of improving the livelihood of the poorest sections of their populations within their national plans and priorities. 78 Resolution 2626 (XXV). 79 Official Recordr of the Economic and Social Co1111cil. Fifty-third Session, Supplement No. 7 (E/5126). 80 See Proceedings of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Third Session, vol. I, Report and Annexes (United Nations publication, Sales No.: E. 73.II. 0.4), annex I.A. 81 Statement made to the annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the World Bank Group on 25 September 1972.

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