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New York: Sierra Leone has made considerable progress in its efforts to combat the problems of illicit drug trafficking and corruption, but little has been done to implement programmes to create employment for the youth in the West African country, a senior United Nations official has said.

The European Bank Coordination (“Vienna”) Initiative, launched at the height of the global financial crisis in January 2009, has been a success and can now broaden its scope to support the region's return to a sustainable growth path. While maintaining parent bank engagement, this will focus on remaining challenges, including excessive reliance on external financing, weak credit growth, and large exposures in foreign exchange.

New York: More people die from unsafe water than from all forms of violence, including war, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said, calling for better protection and sustainable management of one of the Earth's most precious resources on the occasion of World Water Day.

Mr. John Lipsky, First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has concluded his visit to China and said in a statement in Beijing that the country need visilant on three counts.

Macroeconomic performance during the second half of 2009 was satisfactory. Economic growth is estimated to have slowed from 6.2 percent in 2008 to 2.8 percent in 2009 owing to the effects of the global financial and economic crisis on the country. After continuing to decline in August, inflation increased in September and October on account of increases in the money supply and the depreciation of the Congolese franc vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar.

New York: After six years of intensive discussions, some 500 delegates have gathered at a United Nations meeting in Cali, Colombia, to hammer out an international agreement on access to the Earth's genetic resources and the fair and equitable share in benefits from their use.

New York: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has described appalling living conditions in slums as a violation of human rights, saying that helping the urban poor reclaim their rights strengthened societies and stemmed environmental degradation.

At a conference held in Hanoi today, organized by the State Bank of Vietnam and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), senior government officials, business people, academics, representatives of NGOs, and members of the media, discussed growth and poverty reduction in developing countries in Asia following the global economic crisis. The participants thanked the State Bank of Vietnam for its excellent organization and warm hospitality.

Despite the global financial crisis, economic growth in Côte d'Ivoire accelerated to 3.8 percent in 2009—achieving a positive per capita growth rate for the first time since 1998. Benefiting from abundant rainfall and the rise in world cocoa prices, in particular, agriculture achieved significant progress. Industry and services followed this good dynamic. The general consumer price index declined, reflecting improvements in supply at the national level and in import prices. The external current account shows a sizeable surplus, owing to a substantial improvement in the terms of trade.

At its meeting on 19 March 2010 the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) elected Ambassador Yonov Frederick Agah of Nigeria as its new chairman. China stated full compliance with DSB rulings in trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS) case, and the EU announced agreement with Argentina in biotech dispute.