United Nations: UN chief Ban Ki-moon and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have called for a swift and concerted global initiative to address the ongoing economic crisis to avoid its impact across the world, particularly on the poor.

The two leaders, who met on the sidelines of the Francophonie Summit in Quebec City in Canada yesterday, underlined the need for the global community to act together to ensure that the negative impact of the financial crisis on the world's economies does not affect the Millennium Development Goals, fight against the effects of climate change and address the food crisis.

Ban expressed full backing for an emergency G-8 summit to address the problem. He also voiced his appreciation of President Sarkozy's invitation to him and the heads of the World Bank and the IMF to participate actively in the summit meeting.

The Secretary-General also said that he fully subscribed to the idea of convening such a forum in early December at the latest. "I am pleased to offer the facilities of the United Nations Secretariat in New York," he added, noting that holding the summit at the United Nations, the symbol of multilateralism, will lend universal legitimacy to this endeavour and demonstrate a collective will to face this serious global challenge.

Source : PTI