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Friday, Oct 31, 2008
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U.N. chief wary of crises impacting social schemes

Sandeep Dikshit

Says the world needs a collective response; lauds India’s role in peacekeeping

Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

For collective response: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi during ninth Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Lecture in New Delhi on Thursday. —

NEW DELHI: The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, on Thursday hoped that the upcoming meeting of world leaders in Washington on November 15 would take measures to minimise the risk of financial crises impacting poverty alleviation and climate change goals.

“These are perilous times. The world is grappling with higher food and fuel prices. I am very worried that development will suffer and investors might pull back from emerging markets. A slowdown in consumer spending would reduce the demand for developing country goods and commodities. We could see a spike in employment. Remittances would plummet, poor countries might end up with even fewer resources for social spending. People who have striven so hard to rise out of poverty could fall back into destitution,” Mr. Ban observed while delivering the Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Lecture here.

Describing the fear of the fallout of the financial crises as widespread, he said the world needed an urgent and collective response as also recognise the need to address systematic weaknesses at the root of the crises. “We need to find institutional mechanisms that will help minimise the risk of both market and regulatory failures. We at the U.N. are determined to see that this does not happen. Here or anywhere,” he declared.

Against the backdrop of the crises, a recent high-level meeting on millennium development goals saw new financial commitment of $17.5 billion. The Secretary-General felt these promises would soon be put to test when world leaders gather for a meeting of the G-20 and for the Doha conference on financing for development. He also saw an urgent need for reviving global trade negotiations with India expected to play a key role in reopening the stalled talks.

“We must not allow the crises to become an excuse for deferring or backing away from the fight against climate change. All countries need to be part of the solution. They must contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the impacts that are already inevitable. The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities must guide us,” he observed.

The Secretary-General also spoke on Myanmar and Pakistan. He regretted that there had not been much progress on issues of concern to the international community, including the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners and initiating a credible dialogue between the Myanmar government and the Opposition. “The U.N. will not give up. A shared approach by key interested member-states such as India will be essential,” he said. On the opening of across the Line of Control trade with Pakistan, Mr. Ban drew encouragement from the process and hoped small steps such as these would be the harbinger of bigger changes to come.

Big role

He noted that India is the third biggest contributor to the U.N. peacekeeping operations with more than 8,700 of its personnel currently deployed at various global trouble spots. He paid tribute to the 128 Indian peacekeepers who sacrificed their lives while serving the United Nations. India also heeded the call to help off the coast of Somalia and though this engagement was not under the auspices of the U.N., India’s willingness to help police these waters was a “valuable contribution.”

In her welcome speech, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation chairperson Sonia Gandhi pointed out that though the world had woken up now to climate change, Rajiv Gandhi had given a call as far back as in 1989 for the formation of a Planet Protection Fund to help developing countries meet the threat of global warming.

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