UN WELCOMES US COMMITMENT TO BOOST AGRICULTURE IN POORER COUNTRIES

A senior United Nations official today welcomed United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's recent statements in Kenya as a clear signal that Washington is committed to boost sustainable agricultural development in the world's poorer countries as a way to root out global hunger and poverty.

Mrs. Clinton's comments, in which she called for more agricultural aid money to be spent in poorer countries, show a clear US resolve to act upon the $20-billion pledge for sustainable agricultural development made at last month's G8 summit of industrialized nations in L'Aquila, Italy, UN Fund for Agricultural Development (<"http://www.ifad.org/media/press/2009/37.htm">IFAD) President Kanayo F. Nwanze said in a news release.

"After the historic pledge of $20 billion for sustainable agriculture development, the world is eager to see concrete actions that will translate into improvements in the lives of poor people in developing countries. There is no time to lose," he declared.

"The initiative, as well as Secretary Clinton's remarks, reflects a shift in emphasis – from dependence on food aid to greater investment in agriculture as a key to eradicating poverty."

In a speech at the 8th Forum of the African Growth and Opportunity Act in Nairobi, Mrs. Clinton noted that while past US assistance has yielded gains, "we have spent too many dollars and too many decades on efforts that have not delivered the desired long-term results," according to a State Department transcript.

"Too much money, for example, has stayed in America, paid salaries to Americans, furnished overhead to the contractors that were used. Too little has reached the intended target or contributed to lasting progress," she added.
Mr. Nwanze thanked Mrs. Clinton for keeping the global spotlight on agriculture and rural poverty. "Investing in agriculture – and in particular smallholder agriculture – is indeed the most cost-effective way of reducing poverty, saving and improving lives," he said.

The L'Aquila Food Security Initiative has been hailed as a major commitment to root out hunger and poverty, prompted mainly by the recognition that the global economic slowdown has pushed 90 million more people into extreme poverty.

"With a significant increase in the flow of external resources to agriculture, much will still depend on how these resources are spent; most importantly, whether higher commitments for agricultural development will trigger a matching response from developing countries by putting in place the right policy framework to support farmers," Mr. Nwanze said.

Rome-based IFAD works with poor rural people to enable them to grow and sell more food, increase their incomes, and determine the direction of their own lives. Since 1978, it has invested over $11 billion in grants and low-interest loans to developing countries, empowering some 340 million people to break out of poverty.

CHILDREN’S SCHOOLING UNDER THREAT FROM DEEPENING POVERTY, WARNS UN OFFICIAL

Poverty is the biggest threat to the educational development of children around the world, a senior United Nations official today warned hundreds of students gathered for the start of the first ever Global Model UN (GMUN) conference.

"Poverty, like conflict, today continues to deprive young people of the opportunity and right to be educated," UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Kiyo Akasaka told over 500 student delegates meeting at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

Some "72 million children are out of school, denied the right to education," despite passing the mid-way point for reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a series of targets set by world leaders – including the slashing of poverty and the achievement of universal primary education – by 2015, noted Mr. Akasaka.

He said that any progress in the eradication of hunger had been reversed largely due to last year's hike in food and fuel prices, and that an estimated 55 to 90 million more people were forced into extreme poverty in 2009 – a forecast calculated before the current economic crisis took hold.

With more than 1 billion people around the world trapped in poverty, many nations in Africa and Asia are not on track to achieve the MDGs, said Mr. Akasaka. "The global financial and economic crises are hitting the poorest and the most vulnerable hardest of all.

"Poverty is the number one enemy of children," Mr. Akasaka stressed in his address to the students, who represent 120 of the 192 UN Member States. "Poverty is the number one enemy of a decent society. We must stand up and fight against poverty."

The Under-Secretary-General said that the challenges faced in achieving the MDGs are "great, daunting and humbling," and that it would take enormous multilateral efforts to solve them.

"That is why governments are taking collective action to address them, including through the United Nations, the world's only truly universal organization," he said.

"Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has repeatedly urged nations not to lose sight of the Goals," said Mr. Akasaka, highlighting the Secretary-General's call "to accelerate progress towards the MDGs and to strengthen the global partnership for development."

Mr. Akasaka said that civil society also plays a critical role in these efforts and young people are making important contributions around the world to the achievement of the MDGs.

"Many campaigns that raise awareness and focus on reaching specific Millennium Development Goals have been initiated by young people. At a time when young people are often the ones hardest hit by poverty, there is no one better to speak on behalf of youth people than the young themselves."

Mr. Akasaka reminded delegates that efforts to achieve the MDGs are closely connected to those combating global warming. "Climate change is the challenge of our – and your – generation," he said. "In tackling the climate challenge, we will find solutions for economic recovery, food security for the poor, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals."

Encouraging delegates to join the UN campaign pressing governments to "seal the deal" on a "fair, balanced and effective agreement on climate change" when they meet at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen in December, Mr. Akasaka said that as "pioneers of GMUN, you are living history and you will become legends. We would not be here without the help of so many."

Delegates at the inaugural three-day GMUN conference, organized by the UN Department of Public Information (DPI) with partial funding from Switzerland, were chosen from regional model UN programmes.
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NEW UN SCHEME TO HELP POOR COUNTRIES WEATHER ECONOMIC CRISIS, CLIMATE CHANGE

The United Nations is setting up a new system to mitigate the impact of the global economic crisis on poorer countries, such as those in the Pacific region that are already being hobbled by climate change, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.

"The full repercussions (of the economic crisis) have yet to be felt, but already we know we must do our utmost to prevent the unfavourable economic climate from undermining our efforts to fight climate change and achieve the Millennium Development Goals [that seek to slash poverty, hunger and a host of other social ills by 2015]," Mr. Ban said in a message read out to the 40th Pacific Leaders Forum in Cairns, Australia.

"For the Pacific, the downturn is likely to hit hard, limiting resources for development, leading to job losses and a decline in exports, and creating a risk of instability," he added in the message, delivered by Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

"As part of the UN system's wide-ranging response to the crisis, we are establishing a Global Impact and Vulnerability Alert System to better track the impact of the crisis – and thereby better respond."

Noting that climate change is at the top of the Forum's agenda, Mr. Ban called on participants to show "dynamic engagement" in sealing a deal at the international meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December which will strive to reach a far-reaching new pact on global warming 'greenhouse gas' emissions.

"Toward that end, I urge you to attend the climate summit that I will be convening next month in New York, and use that gathering to create the political momentum we need for an agreement," he said.

He pledged full cooperation with the region, including through the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, to address the negative consequences of climate change that are already being experienced, from extreme weather to environmental degradation. "Mitigation and adaptation must both be our urgent priorities," he declared.

Low-lying island States are already concerned about a potential rise in ocean levels while other nations in the region have suffered from torrential rain storms and flooding, as happened in Fiji at the beginning of 2009.
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$65 BILLION NEEDED FOR POPULATION SCHEMES TO CHECK POVERTY IN 2010 – UN

Nearly $65 billion worth of investment is required next year for population programmes to combat poverty, promote development and slash maternal death rates, according to the United Nations Commission on Population and Development.

One-third of this sum, or $22 million, will come from international donors, while the rest will be in the form of domestic investments by developing nations.

The $64.7 billion figure for 2010 is an upwards revision of the $20.5 billion that was adopted at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, marking the first time in 15 years that cost estimates have been reviewed.

The revision was critical due to surging growth in needs in the face of soaring health-care costs, according to a report by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

To implement the Programme of Action adopted at the end of the Cairo conference, UN Member States approved the new figures, expressing their concern for family planning funding which is currently far below what is needed.

The five-day meeting of the Commission, which wrapped up last Friday, examined the extent to which population growth affects the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), globally agreed targets on reducing poverty and eliminating other social ills by 2015.

Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), noted that the new sum more accurately captures current needs and is more in line with investments necessary to achieve the MDGs.

"As the financial crisis unwinds, now is the time to increase social investment and redouble efforts" to achieve the Programme of Action, she said in a statement.
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$50 MILLION US CONTRIBUTION WILL BOOST WOMEN’S RIGHTS, SAYS UN

$50 MILLION US CONTRIBUTION WILL BOOST WOMEN'S RIGHTS, SAYS UN
New York, Mar 12 2009 12:00PM

United States President Barack Obama's release of $50 million to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will help curb poverty and improve the health of women and children in over 150 nations, the agency said today, lauding an action it said will help it continue its "life-saving" work.

Mr. Obama signed legislation yesterday to restore US funding for UNFPA which has been suspended since 2002.

"This is a great day for women, girls and their families around the world," said Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, the agency's Executive Director. "We warmly applaud this action by President Obama, which underlines his support to the protection of the lives and human dignity of women and girls in the poorest countries."

The US contribution will allow UNFPA to "maintain its life-saving work, particularly improving maternal and reproductive health in the world's poorest communities, especially during this financial crisis," she said.

Yesterday's action fulfills a pledge Mr. Obama made during his first days as US leader to resume support for UNFPA and join 180 other donor nations in working towards slashing poverty, boosting the health of women and children, preventing HIV/AIDS and providing family planning assistance to women in 154 countries.

"We are delighted that the United States will once again take a leading role in championing women's reproductive health and rights, alongside all other countries and partners that have supported us over the years," Ms. Obaid noted.
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BAN IN HAITI TO DRAW ATTENTION TO RECOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION EFFORTS

BAN IN HAITI TO DRAW ATTENTION TO RECOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION EFFORTS
New York, Mar 9 2009 3:00PM

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will arrive in Haiti today to raise global awareness of the Caribbean nation's recovery and reconstruction needs.

On his visit, Mr. Ban is being accompanied by former United States President Bill Clinton, potential investors and representatives of non-governmental organizations, including renowned doctor Paul Farmer, who set up a hospital in the village of Canges, and musician Wyclef Jean, whose Yele Ayiti foundation has worked extensively on community projects in Haiti.

During the first part of the afternoon, the Secretary-General and the delegation will visit education projects, such as a feeding programme at a school in Cité Soleil, the impoverished neighbourhood of the capital Port-au-Prince that was formerly controlled by gangs. They will also meet with honour students from severely disadvantaged backgrounds.

Tonight, Mr. Ban and Mr. Clinton will meet with President René Préval and Prime Minister Michele Pierre Louis, as well as with members of the country's private sector and civil society.

Haiti, already the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, was devastated by four successive storms in as many weeks last year, leaving 800 people dead and another 1 million either homeless or badly affected.

Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will head to Washington, where he is scheduled to meet with current US President Barack Obama to discuss a host of issues, including the global economic crisis, Sudan, Afghanistan and the Middle East.

The two leaders are also expected to confer on climate change, non-proliferation, human rights, United Nations reform and US-UN relations. While visiting the US capital from 10 to 11 March, Mr. Ban will also hold talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
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