Areas of Direct Interest
I would now like to identify some of the areas which are of direct interest to non-aligned and developing countries. On the political side, an important issue is the question of de-colonisation. While the liberation movements in the erstwhile colonies have naturally been in the vanguard of this process, the U.N. organisation can also claim considerable success in this area. But pockets of colonialism still exist. Let us hope that, instead of engaging in a futile, last ditch struggle, the colonial rulers would see the writing on the wall. Whether they like it or not, the "new world" of today cannot tolerate colonialism or emergence of neo-colonialism in any part of the world.
A second area on which non-aligned and developing countries have succeeded in persuading the U.N. to focus attention is racialism and apartheid. The U.N. has taken a large number of concrete and useful measures, including adoption of the universal declaration of human rights, international convenants on economic, social, civil, political and cultural rights, and declaration on elimination of all forms of racial discrimination. All these documents stress the dignity and equality of human beings.
The U.N. has also specifically condemned the policies of apartheid and racial discrimination in southern Africa and urged Member States to maintain diplomatic, economic and social boycott of the racist regimes. It is a matter of regret, however, that the racist regimes in southern Africa still persist and refuse to face realities. But time is running out for them. The struggle for liberation is bound to be completed sooner than later. We hope that efforts by the U.N. in this direction will be successful.
Non-aligned and developing countries have also attained a measure of success in getting the U.N. to pay greater attention to the maintenance of peace and questions of disarmament and international security.
But perhaps the most significant achievement of non-aligned and developing countries at the U.N. over the years has been to focus attention on international economic co-operation and the variety of problems facing developing countries, including unfavourable trade patterns and extremely heavy debt burdens.
The spirit of co-operation that was manifest during the seventh special session held last year is a testimony to the unity of the non-aligned group and its efforts to give a lead to developing countries in such matters. However, actual implementation has fallen short of expectations.