WORLD CRISIS CALLS FOR NEW ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE PARTNERSHIP – UN OFFICIAL

WORLD CRISIS CALLS FOR NEW ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE PARTNERSHIP – UN OFFICIAL
New York, Mar 9 2009 9:00PM

The "enormous challenges" facing the world present a unique opportunity to forge a new partnership for governance of the world economy, the chief of the United Nations' development arm told a meeting of advisers that opened in New York today.

The Committee for Development Policy – consisting of 24 experts with diverse development experience who advise the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) – opened its 11th session today, focusing on the achievement of international goals in public health.

In his opening remarks to the body, Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs said that the worst economic crises since the great depression have thrown many more people into poverty.

"But they also present a unique opportunity for the United Nations and, in particular, the Economic and Social Council, to provide leadership in addressing the crisis," he said,

For that purpose, he told the Committee, "the quality and relevance of the work of ECOSOC need to be strengthened further. In this effort, your expert advice is indispensable."

In the area of public health, he noted that developing countries have recently made significant strides towards achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), ambitious targets to slash poverty and other ills by 2015.

He noted, however, that there are still large gaps between what has been achieved and what still needs to be achieved, and the Committee's focus – on persistent inequalities in healthcare – is very timely.

"It is not acceptable that a child has a significantly higher probability of dying before reaching the age of five simply because he or she was born to a poorer family or in a poor country," he said, calling for new donor approaches to the problem.

Turning to the triennial review of the list of Least Developed Countries (LDCs), with which the Committee is also tasked, he acknowledged that both joining and exiting the category seem to provoke a great deal of agitation for countries.

For that reason, he welcomed the dialogue the Committee has held with countries potentially affected by its recommendations, including Equatorial Guinea, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

In that light, he invited Committee members to propose ways by which development partners could further ease the transition out of the category, by reducing the uncertainty caused by the phasing out of special support measures available to LDCs.

"In other words, their vulnerability must be reduced and their graduation must be durable," he said.

The 11th session of the Committee for Development Policy runs through 13 March.
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FOOD, CLIMATE AND FINANCIAL CRISES THREATEN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS – UN OFFICIAL

FOOD, CLIMATE AND FINANCIAL CRISES THREATEN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS – UN OFFICIAL
New York, Feb 23 2009 1:00PM
A range of challenges from food and financial crises to climate change are threatening global efforts to achieve development that is sustainable, or that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, a top United Nations official said today.

"These multi-dimensional challenges do not have purely economic solutions, nor purely social or environmental ones. They require integrated solutions that combine economic, social and environmental elements," Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang told a UN meeting on sustainable development that began today in New York.

He noted that food prices remain high, following on from last year's crisis, and the global financial and economic slowdown has exacerbated the situation.

"Forecasts suggest that this year could produce the worst economic record since the end of the Second World War," Mr. Sha said, noting that growth rates are falling everywhere, unemployment is rising, poverty is deepening, and hunger and malnutrition are on the increase.

In addition, the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (<"http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">MDGs) – the set of globally agreed anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline – is in "jeopardy."

On top of these challenges, the international community faces the threat of climate change, which if left unaddressed will, as Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has stated, only increase poverty and hardship, he noted.

"Now is the time for the champions of sustainable development to step forward," he exhorted the gathering, which is meeting in preparation for the 17th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, which is slated to hold its annual session in May.

All of the present crises put "a new responsibility on the Commission to provide the leadership and guidance that the world needs today," he added.

The themes on the Commission's agenda this year are agriculture, rural development, land, drought, desertification, and Africa.

"Each provides an entry point for addressing the food crisis. Each is central to the pursuit of the MDGs. Each is affected adversely by climate change as well as the global recession," he stated. "And the policy response in each of these agenda areas can contribute to the solutions of these global challenges."
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