UN chief hails G20 commitment to resist protectionism

Source: Xinhua | 04-03-2009 09:38

UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday extended a welcome to the commitment from the Group of 20 leaders at the London Summit "to resist protectionism and to monitor compliance."

"I welcome the commitment from G20 leaders to resist protectionism and to monitor compliance," the secretary-general, who is in London to attend the G20 summit to make joint efforts to tackle the current financial crisis, said in a statement, read to the press here by his spokesperson Michele Montas.

"I came to the London Summit with the clear message that the economic crisis is turning into a crisis of human development and security in many parts of the world -- and that developing countries will need at least 1 trillion U.S. dollars of support," he said.

"I am pleased that G20 leaders have committed themselves to a 1.1 trillion U.S. dollars package," he said. "But it will be critical that the share of this going to the poorer countries is delivered."

"The G20 leaders have reaffirmed previous commitments to increase aid and help countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals," Ban said.

"This means that they are promising at least 300 billion U.S. dollars in aid over the next two years. For the poorest countries this will be crucial. The world will be watching," he said in the statement.

"In addition to committing significant new resources for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, the G20 also asked the UN to monitor the impacts of this and future crises on poor and vulnerable people -- in order to spur action," he said.

"I was also encouraged that the G20 leaders recognized the inextricable links between addressing the economic crisis and addressing food security and climate change," he said.

"In that regard, G20 leaders promised to make resources available for social protection and investments in long term food security, and stated their commitment to address the threat of irreversible climate change," he said. "Importantly, they pledged to reach agreement at the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen later this year."

Editor:Zhang Pengfei