The United Nations and the Problem of African Development

The United Nations is now playing a key role in the economic and technical development of the African continent and will undoubtedly be called upon to assume an even greater responsibility in this field during the next ten years. This development was correctly forecast five years ago by the late Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld. For he saw that the transition from the colonial era, which had made the European countries directly responsible for the development of the vast majority of the territories and peoples in Africa, prior to independence, would thrust upon the United Nations a very specific burden. As it happened, the question of the Congo has overshadowedthe other aspects of UN activity in Africa, although one can note a remarkable continuity in the progressive implementation of a coordinated program where all agencies of the United Nations family have to play their part.