Ban calls on NAM to forge consensus on global crises

UNITED NATIONS - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Monday urged the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) of 118 developing States to forge consensus to tackle poverty, climate change food insecurity and other thorny, intertwined world crises.
Just as these crises are related, and their effects globalised, our responses must also be closely coordinated and based on a shared vision, the UN chief said in his address to the annual meeting of foreign ministers of the group, delivered by Haile Menkerios, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs.
Ban acknowledged that poorer countries have had no part in creating the crises, but stressed that they are likely to feel some of the worst of the consequences, including declining growth, credit, development assistance, remittances and trade.
He told the ministers, who are meeting in Cuba, that consensus should be built as developing countries gain a greater voice in international forums. Our responses should be built on the basis of inclusive global governance that reflects todays realities, he stressed.
In that light, he urged that upcoming opportunities to strengthen collective action be utilized in full, particularly the Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development to be held at the UN in early June.
The Secretary-General stressed, however, that the latest crisis should not overshadow other common efforts, saying that it was important to keep striving to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the internationally-agreed targets to reduce poverty and other global ills by 2015.
We must also move more resolutely towards a green economy, which can stimulate growth and create jobs while addressing climate change at the same time, he maintained, while urging the NAM to help seal a deal at climate change talks later this year in Copenhagen.
Shared efforts to build a world of peace and security must also continue, he said, mentioning the crises in Darfur, the Middle East, Sri Lanka and Haiti in particular.
Pakistan is being represented by a delegation led by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan that includes the countrys U.N. Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon.