Developing world needs help to weather crisis - UN

VIENNA (AP) — Most developing countries are innocent victims of the global financial crisis yet wealthy nations have become less willing to help them through difficult times, a senior UN official said Wednesday.      

Jomo Kwame Sundaram, the UN assistant secretary-general for economic development, called for a more inclusive approach to dealing with the devastating economic downturn and urged policy makers to focus more on ensuring long-term growth, employment and development.      

“Most developing countries in particular have been really innocent victims of this crisis - of the financial crisis, and also of the more generalized economic crisis which has followed,” Sundaram said. “And they are doubly cursed now by the fact that we find the willingness to help these developing countries has been greatly undermined.”      

Among other things, resources for developing countries have “fallen far short” of the amount suggested by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a letter to leaders attending the Group of 20 summit in London in April, Sundaram told diplomats and reporters at Vienna’s United Nations complex.      

“Very few countries ... have been willing to enhance their assistance to developing countries in this time of great need,” he said.      

Sundaram also slammed the Group of Seven finance ministers for failing to provide leadership in anticipating and responding to the financial downturn. He acknowledged, however, that the UN and the Bank of International Settlements had consistently warned of the likelihood of a crisis but also were unable to prevent it from taking hold.      

“We were in a situation not incomparable to the Titanic - the iceberg was ahead of us, we knew the iceberg was ahead of us, and we should have taken much more preventive measures, and we should have taken much more early measures to mitigate,” he said.      

Sundaram suggested that, going forward, policy makers should take a more comprehensive approach that is coordinated globally and does not just focus on financial stability.      

“If you look at the current discourse, the emphasis is on restoring financial stability without sufficient concern about ensuring the conditions for growth and employment on the one hand, as well as development on the other – I think this is very, very important,” he said.