"In too many parts of the world, frustration has erupted into violent protests, threatening stability and peace," Ban said.

While he said the G20 summit in London took a number of welcome steps and committed more than US$1 trillion, "We have to examine where the funds will come from, and make sure that countries make good on their pledges."

"We need to ensure that a large enough share of the additional resources will flow to developing countries, to help them cope with the crisis," the secretary-general said.

"We must act urgently to keep the financial crisis and economic recession from evolving into a major humanitarian crisis and a breakdown in peace and security," he said. "Our institutions and governance structures must become more representative, credible and effective."

Countries urged to honor London decisions

For his part, Zhang Yesui, the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, said that the G20 Summit in London, held early this month, "put the issue of development high on its agenda. It reaffirmed the historic commitment to meeting the Millennium Development Goals."

"The summit decided to make resources available for the poorest countries through voluntary bilateral contributions to the World Bank's Vulnerability Framework, and provide 6 billion U.S. dollars concessional finance to the poorest countries by using resources from sales of IMF gold and surplus income," he said.

"These decisions are important and timely. We hope the agencies concerned will make earnest efforts to implement them," he said.

As was often heard during the council session he deplored any moves for trade protection by states.

"The financial crisis should not provide any legitimacy for trade protectionism," he said. "On the contrary, in tackling the financial crisis, it is all the more important to consider how to resist trade protectionism."

(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2009)