United Nations Radio

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for a "new solidarity" among countries to face the gathering storm of the global financial crisis. He said the crisis is bound to cause the greatest hardship to those least responsible - the poor in developing countries.

Mr. Ban spoke after a UN inter-agency meeting, in which he said the participants agreed that the UN should act in a coordinated manner to deal with the repercussions of the crisis on the most vulnerable.

"The United States and Europe have so far experienced the brunt of the crisis. We fear the next shoe to drop will be the emerging economies. Hard-won economic gains are in jeopardy."

The executive heads of UN funds, programmes and specialized agencies pledged their proactive leadership in not allowing the financial crisis to plunge millions of people back into extreme poverty, to weaken the resolve for action on climate change, or to reverse globalization through protectionism. They urged states not to reduce their official development assistance and to renew their vigor on the fair trade negotiations.

Reporting for UN Radio, I'm Bissera Kostova.

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