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Strengthened Political Will Needed to Address Global Inequities, UN Told

Political will must be reinvigorated to address the "endemic crisis of development," the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 developing countries and China known as the G-77, said in New York today.

<"http://www.un.org/ga/63/generaldebate/pdf/antiguaandbarbuda_en.pdf">Addressing the General Assembly's high-level debate, Winston Baldwin Spencer said that development policies have not taken into account the unique needs of countries and regions, resulting in growing imbalances within and across countries.

Despite numerous United Nations resolutions passed that lay out timetables and proposals, "many have become more technically complicated and with less and less political commitment to unified and mutually reinforcing implementation action," he said.

Although there has been some progress in areas such as the fight against HIV/AIDS and malaria, on the whole, the global record has been one worthy of "embarrassment," Mr. Spencer pointed out.

The world faces a confluence of crises, he said, citing climate change, the global economic downturn, energy problems, the food crisis and water supply.

The international community must "move immediately into implementation mode - a mode where our focus is on how to do rather than how not to do," the Prime Minister told the Assembly.

The world is in danger of not achieving the Millennium Development Goals (<"http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">MDGs) by their 2015 deadline due to insufficient resources, as well as the lack of necessary global support and cooperation, he added.

Speaking also as Antigua's representative, Mr. Spencer hailed the efforts of the United States and other developed nations towards assisting Haiti and other hurricane-ravaged Caribbean nations.

"I must, however, call on the international community to lend additional support to the United Nations in his humanitarian efforts in the developing world" by focusing more on new energy sources and fighting crime.

Source: United Nations