Global Problems Require Solutions Transcending Borders, Secretary-General Says

 

in Message to Global Creative Leaders Summit

 

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the Global Creative Leaders Summit, delivered by Amir Dossal, Executive Director, United Nations Office for Partnerships, in New York today, 23 September:

The United Nations is pleased to participate in this Summit.

The year ahead will require decisive action by the international community on a variety of fronts.  Facing multiple crises but also numerous opportunities, the world needs a renewed multilateralism that delivers.

We are now more than halfway towards the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.  I am pleased that your agenda addresses issues directly related to this effort, including global health, urbanization and Africa’s development.  Yet the global economic crisis is making our efforts more difficult.  While there is talk of green shoots of recovery, United Nations data show another picture.

A new crisis is spreading.  It is not the chronic poor who are most affected, but the near and working poor, whose lives had improved significantly over the last decade.  The near poor are becoming the new poor.  Our response demands bold action and generosity, but also good, up-to-date information.  That is why the United Nations is developing a Global Impact Vulnerability and Alert System, or GIVAS ‑‑ a networked, twenty-first-century system for real-time monitoring of the impacts of this and future global crises.  I issued a report on it today and urge you to give it your attention.

I also welcome your support for sealing a deal at the forthcoming United Nations Climate Change conference in Copenhagen.  No issue better demonstrates the need for global solidarity.  No challenge so powerfully compels us to widen our horizons.  Yesterday’s Summit was the largest ever gathering of Heads of State and Government on this issue, and was aimed at mobilizing political momentum at the highest level in order to accelerate the negotiations, which are moving too slowly.  I will look to you to press your leaders for action.

These and other problems transcend borders.  So must our solutions.  That puts a premium on creativity.  Your Summit is well placed to find fresh ideas and forge new partnerships.  I am especially pleased that Ted Turner, a dear friend of the United Nations family, will share his thoughts on how business leaders and private citizens can use their resources and knowledge to tackle today’s most challenging issues.  I wish you every success in these timely and important discussions.

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For information media • not an official record