express our delight and great satisfaction that at last independent Namibia is occupying its riqhtful place in the Assembly. The special sessioo is additionallY welcome, h0111ever, given the maqnitude and gravity of the ProbleiTS relatinq to qrowth and development facinq the global community at this juncture, which is also a time when the prestiqe and authority of the United Nations in the POlitical domain is higher than ever. The world Orqanization today has both a1 oPPOrtunity and a responsibility to assume a more active role in addressing international economic problems: this session is a positive and Praiseworthy step in that direction. It has been said that the 1980s was a "lost decade" in terms of development for most developing countries in the regions of Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. The parameters of the problem are succinctly set out in the report of the Preparatory Committee on the revitalization of economic growth a1d development of the develoPing countries. I take this opportunity to conqratulate BHS/jg A/S-18/PV. 6 12 (President Vass il iou) the Chairman of the Preparatory Committee and now Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee, Ambassador Zepos of Greece, for his constructive work. The picture is indeed bleak. Sketched briefly, it shows developinq countries to have experienced a serious setback in living conditions in the past 10 years relative to the 1960s and 1970s, reflecting a reversal of the trend for faster gr011th of per capita income in developing countries than in the industrialized nations. Thus, in the 1980s, for developing countries as a whole, real Per caPita income grew by only 1 per cent, compared to over 2 Per cent for the industrialized nations. In particularly hard-hit regions sudh as sub-Saharan Africa, the last decade SCM an even rore ominous 3 per cent drop of per capita income in real terms. 
**Analysis**
The text primarily focuses on the economic situation of developing countries, specifically the decline in living conditions and economic growth in the 1980s. It also touches on the role of the United Nations in addressing international economic problems. While it does not explicitly discuss natural resources, environment, or other categories, its primary concern is with economic development and the challenges faced by developing countries.

**Category**
Economic development, International trade