November 2, 1953
“It is apparent that the United Nations is
doing the utmost, within the limits of human possibility, to maintain
world peace. Nor can it be doubted that, although outside of God’s
will man can accomplish nothing, this world organization has made
great strides towards the preservation of world peace. So far no one
has made practical suggestions concerning any organization which could
replace it more efficiently. If Korea and world peace still exist
today, it is certainly solely because of the United Nations. In the
absence of this organization, even political and military agreements
between and among the Great Powers of the world would not have
prevented the simultaneous disappearance of Korea and world peace.
Because of the existence of the United Nations, for the first time in
history, peaceful nations have joined togather to check aggression by
the force of arms, a precedent which Ethiopia regards as having
profound significance.”
June 1, 1954
“The League of Nations failed and failed
basically because of its inability to prevent aggression against my
country. But neither the depth of that failure nor the intervening
catastrophes could dull the perception of the need and the search for
peace through Collective Security. SO it is that here in the United
Nations we have dedicated ourselves anew to those high and indeed
essential ideals, essential if the world is to continue on the path of
peace.”
November 2, 1958
“As We have stated time and time again, We are
firmly persuaded that the path to guaranteeing the peace of the world
lies in supporting the principle of Collective Security and the United
Nations Charter, combined with a progressive reduction of the
armaments which are being built up throughout the world. The billions
of dollars which are now wasted on this fruitless effort could with
great benefit be diverted into the constructive channels of aid for
the economic growth of under-developed countries.”
November 2, 1960
“It is today the duty of each state which is
dedicated to the cause of peace to be prepared to fulfill its
commitments to the United Nations in defense of the principle of
Collective Security and to stand ready at all times to discharge these
obligations.”
September 3, 1961
“How often have we all, at the United Nations,
witnessed the sorry spectacle of nations voting against their will,
against their own self-interest at times, as part of a bloc. And now
have we applauded the occasions when members of a group, in defiance,
of the politics and wishes of the group'’ leaders, have voted in
accordance with principle and right as they saw it. . . .
This leads Us into the next matter of which We
would like to speak to you: the supreme importance which we, and
particularly the smaller nations among us, must continue to attach to
the role played by the United Nations in the field of international
relations. The United Nations, in the first instance, provides the
forum wherein we, who claim the freedom and the position to speak
frankly and openly against injustice, against desertion of principle,
against the intimidation, the oppression, the subjugation of the weak
by the powerful, can make our voices heard. We must be ever vigilant
to assure that such an institution is preserved to us. The year 1960
has been called the year of Africa -- and rightly so. We would ask our
fellow Africans to assess in their own minds the significance of the
role which the very existence of the United Nations played in the
liberation of the millions of Africans who in the past few years have
cast off the yoke of subjugation. This is not to say that the United
Nations is directly responsible for the coming of age of Africa. We do
assert, however, that without the medium provided by the United
Nations, wherein the African struggle for freedom could be brought
before the conscience of the world, the forces of colonialism would
remain far more firmly entrenched on the African continent than they
do today.
Equally important, the United Nations provides
the instrumentality whereby the principle of Collective Security, to
which We personally have devoted Our lifetime, achieves real and
tangible existence and meaning. If force must be employed in the world
today in resistance to aggression and in the maintenance of world
peace, surely it is preferable that it be employed through an
institution such as the United Nations. In pursuance of international
decisions legally and openly arrived at there. . . .
Let us not delude ourselves, it is not the great
powers that need or benefit from the existence of the United Nations.
It is the small powers, which depend on and require and demand that it
live. It is we who have the most to gain through the successful
achievement of its goals, it is we who have the most to lose should it
one day be relegated to a tidy niche in history, a niche already
occupied by the League of Nations. We have had sad occasions to
observe in the not too distant past that the great powers are capable
of injustice and of abuse of power. We are all too well aware, as
recent events and utterances should convince any but the most
sceptical and disbelieving, that the great powers, while prepared to
use the United Nations when it suits their convenience, have been
equally willing to ignore and by-pass it and act independently of it
when their interests so dictated. Unilateral action outside the United
Nations is, however, a luxury denied to the poorer and weaker nations.
But, in the face of world opinion, massed in
support of right and justice, We venture to suggest that even the
great nations, powerful as they are, will hesitate to breach the peace
and violate fundamental rights of mankind and of nations, in defiance
of the United Nations, and thus face universal condemnation. This is
our hope, our only hope, and it is our obligation to insure that the
full weight of our influence is solidly ranged on the side of right
and justice in this forum.
In our appraisal of the United Nations, of its
structure and the field of action proper and appropriate to it, we
must recognize the historically demonstrated fact that a willful and
deliberate violation by any member state of its obligations under the
United Nations Charter weakens the United Nation’s prestige and
threatens its destruction. Let us speak frankly; he who acts
deliberately and with calculation to the injury of the United Nations,
to weaken it or to endanger its existence as an effective and
energetic international institution, is the enemy of all of us. He
robs the world of the last, best hope for peace, robs the small
nations of that bulwark which the United Nations provides against
oppression and he deprives them of the forum where their voice may be
raised against injustice and oppression. It is, perhaps, no accident
that the United Nations headquarters resembles a structure of glass.
It is a fragile, not an indestructible, institution.
At the same time, we need not delude ourselves,
that the performance of the United Nations has been, at all times and
on all questions, that which we might have wished. The United Nations
is man-conceived and man-run, and hence, by its nature and by the
nature of man, imperfect. We must be constantly alert to improve and
perfect its machinery, to minimize the risk that in time of crisis it
will fail us, to assure that its decisions are founded on principle
and not on bias and prejudice.
The most obvious defect which We observe in the
United Nations today derives from the fact that this Organization, in
1961, remains the self-same entity which was created sixteen years ago
at San Francisco. Its membership has more than doubled from 46 to 99
nations, but its structure remains the same, an no measures have been
taken to assure that adequate representation in its constituent organs
is guaranteed to the peoples who have, since 1945, taken their places
in this world body. We must not and we shall not be denied this right
– for this is a right and not a privilege. The increased
participation of the Non-Aligned nations in the day-to-day activities
of the United Nations is the best safeguard against the arbitrary
abuse of its powers and functions by and for the benefit of a single
group, and such a development would enhance immeasurably its
effectiveness as a bulwark against aggression and a guarantor of the
peace.
We must too, observe that the United Nations can
scarcely fulfill the role envisaged for it by its founders so long as
hundreds of millions of people remain unrepresented there. We refer
now not merely to those whose independence is yet to be attained but,
as well, to those states, primary among which is the People’s
Republic of China, which have thus far been excluded from a seat in
its councils. We can hardly speak with true sincerity of a universal
meeting place or of an organization whose decisions will be binding
upon the world community of nations when when states which we, the
Non-Aligned Countries, would wish to influence are not present to hear
our words or to feel the weight of our opinions. We urge both the
proponents and the opponents of the admission of such states to seek
an acceptable formula whereby those to whom We refer may soon be
counted among the members of the Organization. . . .
In considering the specific problems before us,
We find hardly more cause for optimism or for hopes of easy and early
solutions. But, to revert to a theme earlier sounded, that upon which
Ethiopia’s foreign policy is founded, it is to the United Nations
that we must look for the final decisions concerning these crisis
areas. . . .
And so again, We come to the United Nations. . .
. For us, the small, the weak, the under-developed, there is nowhere
else to go. If we turn to one or another of the major power groups, we
risk engorgement, that gradual process of assimilation which destroys
identity and personality. We must, by force of circumstances, look to
the United Nations, however imperfect, however deficient, to preserve
the peace and to lend us its support in our endeavours to secure a
better life for our peoples, and we must concentrate our efforts,
little or great, to the achievement of its stated ends, for only thus
can we secure our free and continued existence.”
May 23, 1963
We would not close without making mention of the
United Nations. . . . It would be worse than folly to weaken the one
effective world organization which exists today and to which each of
us owes so much. It would be sheer recklessness for any of us to
detract from this organization which, however imperfect, provides the
best bulwark against the incursion of any forces which would deprive
us of our hard-won liberty and dignity.”
October 6, 1963
“Today, I stand before the world organization
which has succeeded to the mantle discarded by its discredited
predecessor. In this body is enshrined the principle of collective
security which I unsuccessfully invoked at Geneva. Here, in this
Assembly, reposes the best – perhaps the last – hope for the
peaceful survival of mankind. . . .
The Charter of the United Nations expresses the
noblest aspirations of man: abjuration of force in the settlement of
disputes between states; the assurance of human rights and fundamental
freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or
religion; the safeguarding of international peace and security. . . .
.
This Organization and each of its members bear a
crushing and awesome responsibility: to absorb the wisdom of history
and to apply it to the problems of the present, in order that future
generations may be born, and live, and die, in peace.
The record of the United Nations during the few
short years of its life affords mankind a solid basis for
encouragement and hope for the future. The United Nations has dared to
act, when the League dared not – in Palestine, in Korea, in Suez, in
the Congo. There is not one among us today who does not conjecture
upon the reaction of this body when motives and actions are called
into question. The opinion of this Organization today acts as a
powerful influence upon the decisions of its members. The spotlight of
world opinion, focused by the United Nations upon transgressions of
the renegades of human society, has thus far proved an effective
safeguard against unchecked aggression and unrestricted violation of
human rights.
The United Nations continues to serve as the
forum where nations whose interests clash may lay their cases before
world opinion. It still provides the essential escape valve without
which the slow build-up of pressures would have long since resulted in
catastrophic explosion. Its actions and decisions have speeded the
achievement of freedom by many peoples on the continent of Africa and
Asia. Its efforts have contributed to the advancement of the standard
of living of peoples in all corners of the world. For this all men
must give thanks. . . .
But each one of us here knows that what has been
accomplished is not enough. The United Nations judgments have been and
continue to be subject to frustration, as individual member-states
have ignored its pronouncements and disregarded its recommendations.
The Organization’s sinews have been weakened, as member states have
shirked their obligations to it. The authority of the Organization has
been mocked, as individual member states have proceeded, in violation
of its commands, to pursue their own aims and ends. The troubles which
continue to plague us virtually all arise among member states of the
Organization, but the Organization remains impotent to enforce
acceptable solutions. As the maker and enforcer of the international
law, what the United nations has achieved still falls regrettably
short of our goal of an international community of nations.
This does not mean the United Nations has failed.
I have lived too long to cherish many illusions about the essential
high-mindedness of men when brought into stark confrontation with the
issue of control over their security, and their property interests.
Not even now, when so much is at hazard would many nations willingly
entrust their destinies to other hands.
Yet, this is the ultimatum presented to us:
secure the conditions whereby men will entrust their security to a
larger entity, or risk annihilation; persuade men that their salvation
rests in the subordination of national and local interests to the
interests of humanity, or endanger man’s future. These are the
objectives, yesterday unobtainable, today essential, which we must
labor to achieve.
Until this is accomplished, mankind’s future
remains hazardous and permanent peace a matter for speculation. There
is no single magic formula, no one simple step, no words written into
the Organization’s Charter or into a treaty between states, which
can automatically guarantee to us what we seek. Peace is a day-to-day
problem, the product of a multitude of events and judgments. Peace is
not an “is”, it is a “becoming”. We cannot escape the dreadful
possibility of catastrophe by miscalculation. But we can reach the
right decisions on the myriad subordinate problems which each new day
poses, and we can thereby make our contribution – and perhaps the
most that can be reasonably expected of us in 1963 –to the
preservation of peace.
It is here that the United Nations has served us
– not perfectly, but well. And in enhancing the possibilities that
the Organization may serve us better, we serve and bring closer our
most cherished goals. . . .
If we are to survive, this Organization must
survive. To survive, it must be strengthened. Its executive must be
vested with greater authority. The means for the enforcement of its
decisions must be fortified, and, if they do not exist, they must be
devised. Procedures must be established to protect the small and the
weak when threatened by the strong and the mighty. All nations which
fulfill the conditions of membership must be admitted and allowed to
sit in the assemblage. Equality of representation must be assured in
each of its organs. The possibilities which exist in the United
Nations to provide the medium whereby the hungry may be fed, the naked
clothed, the ignorant instructed, must be seized on and exploited for
the flower of peace is not sustained by poverty and want. . . .
It is not only the small and the weak who must
scrupulously observe their obligations to the United Nations and to
each other. Unless the smaller nations are accorded their proper voice
in the settlement of the world’s problems, unless the equality which
Africa and Asia have struggled to attain is reflected in expanded
membership in the institutions which make up the United Nations,
confidence will come just that much harder.”
June 27, 1965
Today, the peoples of the world are about to
succeed in overcoming the barriers of time and space by living as
members of a closely linked family of nations as a result of the
advances made by modern science and technology. It can be said,
therefore, that the world has now reached the stage where matters
affecting every individual country concern members of the entire
international community.
How best then could a world more united, peoples
more intimately linked, attain the noble goal of further strengthening
the spirit of international co-operation, establishing an atmosphere
of mutual understanding and comprehension, and of making an effort for
creating a world of supreme peace and happiness? The answer to this
fundamental question must be provided by the United Nations
Organization which is now observing the twentieth anniversary of its
founding. . . .
The peoples of the world draw new moral strength
and hope from considering what the United Nations can do in achieving
the objectives referred to above. Because of the existence of U.N.
disputes arising between two states wherein the interest of one of
them is trampled upon by the other become eventually a matter of
international public opinion which could influence the justice of the
cause. The Organization also has the power and influence to give
international conflicts the opportunity of affording a period for the
reduction of the temper of such conflicts and to mitigate the forces
of evil before they reach a point of explosion that can destroy
mankind.
The activities of the United Nations
Organization can raise the living standards of people throughout the
world. However, how could it be possible for this great task to be
accomplished satisfactorily when some states do not implement the
decisions of the Organization? How could that last hope of mankind
achieve its noble objective when some states are pursuing their own
selfish ends of defying the authority of the international
organization? Does it not mean that, if the solutions to the problems
of the world are not founded by the Organization, and if these, when
found, are not accepted by all member states, the international body
is growing weaker and weaker? We feel the U.N. in its efforts to
provide a body of international law and to secure its respect has
fallen short of expectation. . . .
Has the United Nations Organization the
authority for achieving these ends? Is the Organization showing a
zealous spirit to pursue these ends consistently? If it has not
authority for doing these things, are we ready and willing to vest it
with enough power for the organization to carry out its task
satisfactorily? If we are to survive the Organization has also got to
survive. If it has to survive, it should be strengthened. And, to
strengthen its structure, the Organization must get the requisite
authority. The weak must not be mauled or molested by the strong. All
states fulfilling conditions entitling them to membership should be
admitted to the Organization. . . . .
Today the Great Powers should also wake up to
the realization of the fact that the key to their destiny and future happiness
does not lie in their own hands alone. There is no peace without
co-operation. Be it known that the principles enshrined in the Charter
and the resolutions adopted by the Organization are not there only for
the small nations to respect and to implement. In efforts being made
to ease the gravity of world problems, the small nations should have a
say. Their voices should be heard. An atmosphere of mutual trust and
confidence cannot be established when the rights of small nations are
not accorded the same respect as those of the Big Powers. In order to
accomplish these tasks, it is essential to rouse the conscience of
mankind. Anyway, strength and mutual trust are two indispensable
qualities for achieving the common goal. Even if there is strength,
the common ground of mutual confidence must be established. To
establish this, we must work diligently. Once we are able to do what
is humanly possible, the rest could be left to the Almighty God. So
that man whom He has created in his own image may not be destroyed,
let us repose our faith in God
March 1, 1967
I would like to add that after much sacrifice
the world has created the United Nations Organization; but the UN can
only be effective provided its members are willing to make it strong
by giving their whole-hearted support in each and every case where
justice, decency and fair-mindedness so demand. It is of the utmost
importance that the UN should have at all times the confidence and
support of all its members.
September 2, 1970
At the United Nations, our struggle this year
will have to be more intense and persistent than ever before. The time
is due for all small nations to take a concerted stand in defense of
the principles of the charter, for we cannot afford to have that body
made a mockery of by its less enlightened members who are intent on
making it ineffective. In order to strengthen it and to make it
effective we will have to use the weapons at our disposal, namely, our
united stand and collective conscience.
We must therefore be prepared to make all issues
affecting our continent figure prominently and perverse in our efforts
to have the United Nations reassert its historic obligation to
liberate territories still under foreign domination. In this context,
the United Nations must strive to have all its adopted resolutions
implemented, so that the decisions of the majority would prevail and
that the minority of its members would not be able to flout them.
September 9, 1970
In the context of international co-operation, We
would like to stress the importance of and our need for the United
Nations. This world organization, though imperfect in many ways, is
still man’s best hope for peace. The rich and strong stand less in
need of the world body. The precarious state of peace in the world
should not entirely be blamed on the United Nations. We must remember
that the United Nations is weak because it is the sum total of the
imperfections and haphazard support of its members. It is Our firm
conviction, therefore, that for the maintenance and promotion
international peace and security as well as for safeguarding the
rights of the small nations, the United Nations must not only be
strengthened, but its decisions must also be respected and upheld.
It is Our considered opinion that a world body
like the United Nations should have a universal character and
membership should be considered irrespective of the country’s
social, economic or political system. If the United Nations is to
become more effective in its role and more representative in its
views, the People’s Republic of China must occupy its rightful place
in this organization. Therefore, We should reaffirm here the principle
of the universality of the United Nations.
October 24, 1970 25th UN Anniversary
“Throughout the history of man, there often
appear to be periods when the worst and the best products of man’s
resourceful genius have been precariously poised, vying with each
other or in mere juxtaposition. There have also been occasions when
the better part of human nature has turned the scale in favour of man’s
constructive wisdom, to the benefit of mankind at large. The emergence
of the United Nations out of the havoc of the Second World War
impresses me personally as being one such phenomenon.
As we are assembled here today for the purpose
of observing the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the founding of the
United Nations, I believe it is proper that we should focus our
thoughts on the constants of human nature and the historical
circumstances surrounding the birth and growth of this organization.
And I say this for a variety of reasons.
In recent times it has been broadly suggested
that the United Nations is undergoing a crisis of confidence; that,
judged by its performance so far, its ability to cope with the
manifold problems of the world we live in is progressively on the
wane; that some provisions of the Charter have become anachronistic;
that, as a result of the combination of a variety of factors and the
exacting challenges of our time, the United Nations has failed
pathetically to achieve the purpose of the Charter and thus, has
almost forfeited its right to exist.
Pessimistic though they may seem, these
allegations are prompted in the main, not only by a deeply-felt
concern for the imperfection of what is basically a human institution,
but even more, by anxiety for the very survival of mankind, its
accumulated civilization, and its uncertain destiny. Nor could there
be a more fitting moment than this unique gathering to pause and
ponder on basic issues such as those I have just mentioned.
The very fact that we are assembled here today
on an historic occasion without precedent in the annals of our times,
is a credit to the United Nations. Consider, for instance, the fate of
the League of Nations whose death knell was sounded while it was still
in its formative years. It fell ingloriously after its first real test
at a time when it could have done well by the scrupulous application
of the provisions of its Covenant.
In contrast, the United Nations, whose Silver
Jubilee we are assembled here to celebrate, has reached maturity
through a life span of a generation. And since longevity in itself,
unredeemed by genuine achievement. Is a barren and sterile thing, it
is gratifying to note that this is not so, as far as the United
Nations is concerned.
True, the attainment of the noble purposes of
the Charter remains elusive in practice. The success so far recorded
by the United Nations, when set against its existence in time, fall
far short of the vision of its founding fathers; its successes fall
far short also of the hopes the vast majority of peace-loving peoples
everywhere continue to place in it as the supreme instrument of peace,
justice and progress for all mankind.
Yet, during the past twenty-five years, the
achievements of the United Nations, particularly in the socio-economic
filed, and it salutary effect on the process of decolonization are, on
the balance, to its credit.. And although the same cannot be said of
its efforts in handling the major political problems which still grip
the world community, the role the organization has played as a
peace-keeping force is surely instructive and worthwhile.
In this connection, it should be noted that the
armed conflicts of the past twenty-five years have not led to the
carnage of 1935-1945. I am not suggesting that the armed conflicts of
these later years are inconsiderable, or that the lives lost and
resources wasted should be ignored. What I am implying is that given
the technology of modern warfare, we must be prayerfully thankful that
we have had more than one opportunity to redirect our energies to more
useful service for mankind. By giving us this opportunity and making
us realize the choice between extinction and survival, I believe the
United Nations has played a vital role. If on no other count, this
alone justifies its existence and our devotion to it.
And in those instances where the organization
has failed, the situation obviously reflects the reluctance on the
part of the international community to promote the effective
realization of the aims and purposes of the Charter. Thos of us who
have a sad recollection of the crippled inaction of the League of
Nations at the moment of its most acid test are compelled to view the
predicaments of the United Nations with the gravest concern and
apprehension, and surely, the need to reduce and eventually eliminate
such predicaments should steel our hearts and minds, and spur us on to
greater effort as responsible members of the international community.
I have already alluded to the fact that the
emergence and development of any human institution, whether national
or international, cannot be seriously considered, nor properly
appreciated, if the interplay of forces and circumstances which
brought it about is left out of the reckoning. Concisely stated, the
United Nations, like any other institution, is essentially a product
of its time. Its Charter was conceived and drafted by people who were
not at liberty to indulge in futile exercises divorced from reality.
Theirs was a task to prepare a document of aims and purposes at once
acceptable in theory and applicable in practice. That task was
completed when, after intricate negotiations and inevitable
compromises, the Charter was duly signed at San Francisco in 1945. Its
provisions are in themselves a living testimony to the foresight and
wisdom of its authors.
It took two world wars and enormous sacrifice of
human life and property before man, once again, returned to sanity
when the founding fathers of the United Nations entered into a solemn
written pledge to live in peace amongst themselves, and actively
cooperate one with another.
Like the Covenant of the League of Nations which
preceded it, the Charter of the United Nations was based on certain
fundamental assumptions, the first of which was that the signatory
States would discharge their obligations under the Charter in all good
faith, was precisely this assumption. While the motives of the
Covenant and the Charter are not in doubt, it is clear that the
conduct of the members of the respective organizations is directly
responsible for the premature liquidation of the League, and the
continuing predicaments of the United Nations.
Nor should this sound curious or
incomprehensible, for it is a fact that people often prove to be the
undoing of their own most constructive actions. Abundant proof is
furnished by the ambivalent traits in human nature and the lack of
consistency of the conduct of international relations.
I consider my presence here today as a link
between the past and the present. When in 1936, my ancient country,
after a gallant resistance against the unprovoked aggressor, fell prey
to its remorseless enemy, it became my painful duty, as Emperor of
Ethiopia, to appear before the League of Nations to appeal for help
for my suffering people. Over and above the fate of a nation brutally
invaded, I also pleaded at that time the cause of the more fundamental
issues of international morality and collective security. Though the
ideas I enunciated then were by no means novel, it happened that both
my appearance before the League, as leader of a nation, and my
pronouncements were without precedent.
Twenty-seven years later, I also had the
opportunity to address the Twentieth Session of this august organ of
the United Nations, and share my preoccupations concerning this
Organization and the world situation in general.
Today, as I stand once more in this hall, I find
myself unhappy about the world situation and the state of this
Organization. Even as I speak here now, in Asia and the Middle East
men are either locked in mortal combat, or are dug in trenches, ready
to unleash the full fury of modern weaponry on the adversary, upon the
slightest move or pretext. Racialism and bigotry continue to oppress
and degrade millions of my fellow Africans in their own fatherland.
The ever widening economic gap between the affluent and the developing
societies on our planet continue unimpeded.
In the area of general and complete disarmament,
although some progress has been made which we all have acclaimed as
shoeing signs of a breakthrough, it still remains true that we live
not only with the danger of a nuclear conflict hanging over us, but
are also helpless witnesses of the wanton waste of world resources
which could otherwise be used to improve the lot of men everywhere. It
is therefore the bounden duty of all leaders and all peoples to
concern themselves with this problem until an appropriate solution is
found.
The Conference of the Non-Aligned States and the
Seventh Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of
the Organization of African Unity were a success, because they were
both dedicated to the principles and purposes of the United Nations
Charter, and particularly to the cause of Africans in Southern Africa
who find themselves, through no fault of their own, serfs in their own
land. It is my conviction that if the United nations is to survive as
an institution worthy of the respect of peoples throughout the world,
it must redouble its efforts to free the colonial peoples from
subjugation. I strongly believe that this Commemorative Session cannot
do less than rekindle the flame of liberty in these oppressed peoples
by adopting a declaration of war against their oppressors. I believe
the United Nations should do more! I believe it should extend material
assistance to them just as the Organization of African Unity does,
until the colonial and racial systems in Southern Africa are brought
to an end. We must not fear that such action would break the United
Nations for the intent in Southern Africa is an alliance of
minorities. On the contrary, as the overwhelming majority of the
family of nations represented here are against this unholy alliance,
the States concerned cannot in any way affect our Organization.
Of one thing we can be sure: that the principles
enshrined in the United Nations Charter are basically sound and
relevant – as sound and relevant today as they were twenty-five
years ago; that the problems faced in translating those principles
into reality are not, therefore, inherent in the Charter; that as has
already been proved by experience, the Charter itself is amenable to
adaptation as the need arises; that, above all, it is in the interest
of the strong no less than the weak nations that this Organization
should survive. Otherwise, this pilgrimage to New York City of so many
leaders of the International community, at this juncture of human
history, would indeed be meaningless and void.
And if, as I believe, we are assembled here
today because we consider the United Nations a vital organization both
for our own time and the future, the question arises whether we have
the will, the courage and the determination to make it more effective,
more worthy of the ideals and principles of its Charter. Are we
willing to inject fresh vigour into its role as the custodian of world
peace and security, and the catalyst of differences which arise
amongst nations? Are we prepared to strengthen and consolidate its
machinery for the protection of human rights and the promotion of the
economic and social well-being of peoples through-out the world? In
sum, have we the courage and determination to back this organization
with unselfish and unstinted support in all its efforts towards the
full realization of the aims and purposes of this Charter?
The greater effectiveness of the United Nations
and the enhancement of its image must ultimately depend on the answers
we give to these questions. And to my mind, the quality and size of
the attendance at this ceremonial session are partial answers to the
questions I have posed. On this unique session and the positive action
we take through frank consultation and concerted measures depend the
future of this Organization, the well-being of mankind and, perhaps,
the very survival of the human race and its civilization accumulated
through the ages.
Never in history have so many leaders of diverse
nations assembled in one place, at the same time, for a purpose so
simple yet so vital and for a need so common yet so distinctive. The
common need is our collective survival in peace, justice, equality,
mutual respect, and material abundance for all, including the world’s
under-privileged. Our purpose in converging upon this hall from
distant places, therefore, could scarcely have been merely to attend a
ceremonial function. We must have come here to endeavour also to seek
in concert ways and means as to how best to strengthen this
Organization for the realization of our collective need. This is
indeed a moment of supreme challenge, an immense opportunity. Having
by bitter experience learnt the lesson taught by the collapse of the
League of Nations, we can neither afford to shirk the challenge nor
fail to seize the opportunity to act and, if need be, to sacrifice.
I am anxious and apprehensive about each one of
these situations, because each carries the germs of a wider conflict
and conflagration; and if left uncorrected and unremedied, each is
capable of driving the world to the very dangers which all of us
believe instinctively must be avoided. With a little more courage,
determination and the will to act before it is too late, we shall be
capable of finding solutions to these and other pressing problems.
In this regard I am deeply concerned that the
untimely death of President Nasser may have an adverse effect on the
search for peace in the Middle East. I trust that the efforts made in
the search for peace in the Middle East will continue until a lasting
peace is established in accordance with the decision of the Security
Council of November 22, 1967.
An example of the type of situation I refer to
is the danger to air transportation, one of the really great
achievements of the human mind, enabling us to surmount the barrier of
distance which for centuries had hindered contact between peoples.
Today, we observe with agony the many acts of unlawful interference to
which air travel has been subjected in recent times. Sabotage and
hijacking of civil aircraft, unless halted immediately, will not only
jeopardize the lives of passengers and crew, but will also affect the
very fabric of international society. In view of this grave peril, the
world community should, as a matter of urgency, take concerted
measures to guarantee the safety and freedom of international civil
travel.
Of no less concern is the state of this
Organization: its chronic financial problems, the paralysis of its
peace-keeping machinery; its progressive relegation to the unenviable
role of a peripheral spectator on a number of crucial matters, namely,
disarmament and the grave conflicts in the Middle East and South East
Asia.
If the United Nations is to be restored to the
central position which it was designed to occupy in the maintenance of
world peace and security, and in the promotion of the general
well-being of mankind, the situation I have just mentioned should
receive urgent attention. It was to this end that member States of the
Organization of African Unity and the Non-Aligned Nations closed their
ranks in their unequivocal support of the United Nations at their
recent summit conferences held, respectively, in Addis Ababa and
Lusaka.
I believe we are all convinced that the United
Nations can discharge its responsibility for peace-keeping if measures
are adopted to avoid a conflict of authority among its organs and also
to make it mandatory for all Member States to share in the expenses of
its peace-keeping efforts, without resorting to devious ways. I
believe it to be in the interest of all States to exert themselves to
the full in this area, for only when these twin problems are solved
can we truly say that we have anything even remotely approaching a
collective security system.
To help solve all these problems, the United
Nations must encourage, as does the Charter, the growth of regional
institutions for, only when it is supported by the peoples of the
world in this manner, will it be able to discharge its obligation as
envisaged in the Charter. Witness the struggle and success of the OAU
in finding solutions to many problems facing Africa which would
otherwise come to these halls. I believe that strong regional
institutions devoted to the furtherance of the cause of peace are
indispensable to the United Nations: they help contain local conflicts
and thereby lessen international tension. A case in point is the
Nigerian civil war whose impact on Africa was successfully contained
by the Organization of African Unity.
In terms of the well-being of mankind, it is my
conviction that the United Nations should play a more vigorous role
than ever before. It is trite to observe that unless the riches of the
world are somehow made to reach the peoples of the developing
countries, the consequences to mankind will be quite as catastrophic
as the results of a nuclear conflict. Surely, it is not beyond human
ingenuity to correct this appalling situation by instituting measures
which would enable the developing countries to attain a more tolerable
standard of life for their peoples.
In the maintenance of international peace and
security, in securing an agreement on general and complete disarmament,
and in reaching a peaceful settlement of the grave conflicts in the
Middle East and South East Asia, I am convinced that the presence of
the representatives of the Peoples Republic of China in these halls is
indispensable. The absence of the representatives of such a great
country, and such an industrious people impresses me as one of those
mistakes which men are wont to commit hardly suspecting their possible
consequences. We therefore urge this Assembly to abandon this course
and to do justice to the great people of China.
The choice of this age and the very future of
humanity is simple: collective survival, or collective extinction.
When the stark choice is thus revealed in all its naked horror, dare
we hesitate as to our choice? The choice we know; the means we can
rediscover in a reinvigorated and mature United Nations. The will to
act, and the courage and determination to implement the decisions we
must take, matter. Let this session by the re-birth of the United
Nations, and the re-affirmation of our faith in the ever-continuing
validity of the purposes and principles for which it was established.
A grave responsibility rests upon us: to ensure our own collective
survival, and the future of unborn generations.
May the Almighty grant us the wisdom, courage
and determination to rise to this supreme challenge and reap a rich
reward!
January 29, 1972
April 15, 1958
“However, as man’s capacity to improve his
own lot has grown, so has his power to spread havoc and destruction
correspondingly increased. The Independent African States must assure
that the growing weight of Africa is enlisted on the side of peace and
justice to the end of avoiding a third holocaust which could well
engulf the entire world and result in the total destruction of
mankind.”
November 2, 1960
“There is, however, one area in which the
United Nations has thus far been unable effectively to marshal the
moral force which it represents and to take effective action toward
the dissipation of a problem which poses the gravest threat to the
world. It is a truism to say that the present world arms race
threatens not only the most destructive warfare which the world has
ever seen, but, indeed, the very existence of man and the conditions
of his life on this planet. The failure of the great Powers to reach
an effective agreement on disarmament cannot be excused or justified
on the ground that the problem is a difficult or a complex one. No
nation, no matter how large or powerful, has the moral right today to
insist that it can follow the policy of unlimited nuclear armaments
when such a policy implies consequences far beyond its power to
control. Those powers which today possess the capacity to wage nuclear
warfare cannot refuse to take all reasonable measures to lessen the
threat of world conflict.
Unfortunately, we today see the nations of the
world, both great and small, invoking their rights as sovereign
states, by following a course which, unless arrested, must lead
irrevocably to disaster. The Powers stubbornly adhere to an armaments
policy which threatens the most dire results for all, and the smaller
states, themselves aspiring to greatness but fearful of incurring the
wrath of those upon whom they today count for assistance, acquiesce
silently. This path can lead only to chaos and destruction. If man is
to survive on this planet, the arms race which today clutches mankind
in its unreasoning and inexorable grip must be halted, and it is to
the United Nations that all nations, both large and small, must look
as the medium to achieve this result. . . . God, the Supreme
Arbitrator, will judge us harshly if we fail . . . . “
May 23, 1963
“We demand an end to nuclear testing and the
arms race because these activities, which pose such dreadful threats
to man’s existence and waste and squander humanity’s material
heritage, are wrong. . . .
We must speak, also of the dangers of the
nuclear holocaust which threatens all that we hold dear and precious,
including life itself. Forced to live our daily existence with this
foreboding and ominous shadow ever at our side, we cannot lose hope or
lapse into despair. The consequences of an uncontrolled nuclear
conflict are so dreadful that no sane man can countenance them. There
must be an end to testing. A programme of progressive disarmament must
be agreed upon. Africa must be freed and shielded, as a de-nuclearized
zone, from the consequences of direct, albeit, involuntary involvement
in the nuclear arms race. . . .
We would not close without making mention of the
United Nations. . . . It would be worse than folly to weaken the one
effective world organization which exists today and to which each of
us owes so much. It would be sheer recklessness for any of us to
detract from this organization which, however imperfect, provides the
best bulwark against the incursion of any forces which would deprive
us of our hard-won liberty and dignity.”
October 6, 1963
I would mention briefly today two particular
issues which are of deep concern to all men: disarmament and the
establishment of true equality among men.
Disarmament has become the urgent imperative of our time. I do not say
this because I equate the absence of arms to peace, or because I
believe that bringing an end to the nuclear arms race automatically
guarantees the peace, or because the elimination of nuclear warheads
from the arsenals of the world will bring in its wake that change in
attitude requisite to the peaceful settlement of disputes between
nations. Disarmament is vital today, quite simply, because of the
immense destructive capacity of which men dispose.
Ethiopia supports the atmospheric test ban
treaty as a step towards this goal, even though only a partial step.
Nations can still perfect weapons of mass destruction by underground
testing. There is no guarantee against the sudden, unannounced
resumption of testing in the atmosphere.
The real significance of the treaty is that it
admits of a tacit stalemate between the nations which negotiated it, a
stalemate which recognizes the blunt, unavoidable fact that none would
emerge from the total destruction which would be the lot of all in a
nuclear war, a stalemate which affords us and the United Nations a
breathing space in which to act.
Here is our opportunity and our challenge. If
the nuclear powers are prepared to declare a truce, let us seize the
moment to strengthen the institutions and procedures which will serve
as the means for the pacific settlement of disputes among men.
Conflicts between nations will continue to
arise. The real issue is whether they are to be resolved by force, or
by resort to peaceful methods and procedures, administered by
impartial institutions. This very Organization itself is the greatest
such institution, and it is in a more powerful United Nations that we
seek, and it is here that we shall find, the assurance of a peaceful
future..
Were a real and effective disarmament achieved
and the funds now spent in the arms race devoted to the amelioration
of man’s state; were we to concentrate only on the peaceful uses of
nuclear knowledge, how vastly and in how short a time might we change
the conditions of mankind. This should be our goal. . . .
The stakes of each one of us identical – life
or death. We all wish to live. We all seek a world in which men are
freed of the burdens of ignorance, poverty, hunger and disease. And we
shall all be hard-pressed to escape the deadly rain of nuclear
fall-out should catastrophe overtake us.”
July 17, 1964
“Our quest, above all else, is to assure to
Africa and to each African state the fullest and most complete measure
of freedom – freedom from all remnants of colonialism, freedom from
neo-colonialism, whatever form it may take; freedom from political and
military threat; freedom from aggression; freedom from interference by
others in our internal affairs; freedom from economic domination;
freedom from the danger of nuclear destruction. This is easy to state;
how infinitely more difficult it is to achieve!”
January 15, 1965
Our age is characterized by notable advances in
the sphere of communications, and is therefore rightly termed an age
of unity and of coming together. . . . As noted in your agenda, you
are to consider the problem of peace, because the world today is
facing a great dilemma: the catastrophical weapons which are the
result of human ingenuity, menace the world to the point of
annihilation, and the human race is more than ever in need of the
prayers and the support of the Church.”
June 27, 1965
At a time when We are striving hard to halt the armaments
race, We are convinced that nuclear war would devastate the whole
world.
October 12 1965
We have often stated as Our deepest and most
abiding faith and conviction, the necessity for continued peace if the
millions, just now emerging into the new era of progress and
enlightenment which their struggles have foretold and promised, are to
reap the fruits of their labours. At this crucial moment, when the
spark of any local conflict can be born on the wind to light a world
holocaust capable of destroying the lives and hopes of millions upon
millions of innocent men and women, the efforts of each one of us must
be redoubled to guard against such a catastrophe.
September 2, 1970
At no period in history has there been a century
like this one when man has lived under the heavy shadow of complete annihilation.
September 9, 1970
The problem of armament has a two-fold negative
effect. In the first instance, the arms race threatens to engulf us in
a nuclear holocaust thereby leaving the whole world in a constant
state of insecurity. Secondly, human and material resources which are
badly needed to improve human conditions are squandered away building
new weapon systems in the false hope of attaining greater security.
