United Nations Radio

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says that now more than ever is the time to deliver on the promises to help the world's poor.

Ban Ki-moon

This has been a year of multiple shocks, he told heads of State gathered for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Friday. The food crisis, the fuel crisis and now the economic crisis, as well as accelerating climate change and water scarcity pose challenges even for the wealthy countries, but he says we must stand by those who are most vulnerable - the bottom billion, who live on less than a dollar a day.

"To be sure, the economic crisis reduces our resources. It threatens to deflect attention from other global problems - climate change, issues of water and the environment and economic development. We are here, today, to say that this will not happen."

Mr. Ban urged countries to put something aside for their less fortunate neighbors. He identified climate change, poverty, hunger and economic recovery as the most important challenges for the whole international community. They are interlinked and must be dealt with as one, he concluded.

Reporting for UN Radio, I'm Bissera Kostova.

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