The United States on Wednesday voiced its support to the multilateral efforts to promote sustainable development worldwide and recognized the unique role of the United Nations to have voices of countries heard.

Suan Rice, the US permanent representative to the United Nations, told a high-level UN conference on world financial crisis that "the United States is here to participate in this important conversation, to listen, to exchange, to work with you in a spirit of cooperation."

"The United States supports multilateral efforts to increase the coherence of economic, social, and sustainable development policies across the globe," she said.

Several global and regional for a now further this goal, such as the UN General Assembly, the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, the UN Commission on the Status of Women, the Annual Ministerial Review of the Economic Community of West African States, the Group of Eight industrialized countries, the Group of 20 largest economies in the world, the Development Committee of the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, all have their own strengths and mandate, and all enjoy representation from both developing and developed countries, she said.

"The subject that we are here to address is of deep matter to us all," she said. "We understand that this conference is particularly important for addressing the needs of the world's most vulnerable populations."

"It offers a truly global platform to discuss how the financial crisis has affected all countries, and it gives us all a chance to exchange views on how to respond," she said.

"We recognize that many countries around the world, especially the poorest and the most vulnerable, are struggling to manage and respond effectively to the crisis, and we are working in many venues to address its causes and its consequences," she said.

On the UN role, Rice said, "The UN's universal membership and its well-institutionalized intergovernmental process gives it a unique advantage in responding to many dimensions of the crisis."

"Our dialogue here should focus on finding practical ways to mitigate the development consequences of the current crisis and to see the UN perform its crucial development roles with new urgency," she said.

The UN is a unique forum where all voices -- small and large countries alike -- can be heard," she said. "We also believe that we should use every instrument at our disposal to tackle different dimensions of the crisis."

Rice made the statement which once again shows that the Obama administration embraces multilateralism, unlike the Bush administration's adherence to unilateralism, attracting criticism from the world.

(Xinhua News Agency June 25, 2009)