UN's Ban Ki-moon: World faces development emergency
Ban Ki-moon wants attention to focus on the "bottom billion"
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Wednesday, 13, Feb 2008 07:53
United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon has renewed his call for the international community to step up its efforts against global poverty.
The South Korean called for renewed effort from around the world to help meet the millennium development goals, which aim to halve poverty and hunger by 2015.
Focussing on agriculture in a message to the governing council of the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development, Mr Ban warned the world faces a "development emergency".
"This must be the year the international community renews its commitment to the needs of the weak, the disadvantaged, those who have been excluded from the mainstream of global society," Mr Ban said.
He described climate change as a "daunting obstacle" to progress in fighting poverty because of its direct negative impacts on agricultural production.
"Coupled with the dramatic increase in food prices over the past year, global warming could prompt a potentially severe food crisis," he added.
"Better support for agriculture is crucial to address these worrying developments."
According to the UN the last three decades have seen agricultural spending drop "dramatically" while its share of development aid has fallen from 18 per cent of the total in 1979 to under three per cent in 2006.
Assessing the impact of climate change, IFAD president Lennart Bage said: "Put simply, the price of development just went up.
"Substantial and additional money will be needed to help poor countries adapt to climate change and make our investments 'climate-proof'."