UN chief Ban Ki-moon called for a reform of international financial institutions Wednesday at the start of a UN conference looking into ways to help poor countries weather the global financial crisis. "The world institutions created generations ago must be made more accountable, more representative and more effective," he told representatives of nearly 120 UN member states.
"We need to work together to reform global rules and institutions." Ban told the high-level gathering that the world was "still struggling to overcome the worst ever global financial and economic crisis since the founding of the United Nations more than 60 years ago."
He noted that at his initiative, leaders of 20 leading economies agreed at an April summit in London on a 1.1 trillion dollar stimulus package - to be disbursed through the International Monetary Fund and other multilateral aid agencies - to advance the interests of all nations, especially developing countries.
Ban said he had just sent a letter to leaders of eight industrialised nations urging "concrete commitments and specific action to renew our resolve." The three-day conference aimed to "identify emergency and long-term responses to mitigate the impact of the (financial) crisis, especially on vulnerable populations," according to General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann, the organiser of the event.
Nearly 120 UN member states are represented at the parley, including presidents Rafael Correa of Ecuador and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, the vice presidents of Iran and Zimbabwe, and the prime ministers of Bosnia, Serbia, Togo and several Caribbean nations. But in an apparent sign of lack of interest, key developed countries are sending low-level delegations.
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